diff --git a/externals/kyuubi-spark-sql-engine/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/engine/spark/SparkSQLEngine.scala b/externals/kyuubi-spark-sql-engine/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/engine/spark/SparkSQLEngine.scala
index 0bb583a30..81ad368ba 100644
--- a/externals/kyuubi-spark-sql-engine/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/engine/spark/SparkSQLEngine.scala
+++ b/externals/kyuubi-spark-sql-engine/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/engine/spark/SparkSQLEngine.scala
@@ -18,12 +18,14 @@
 package org.apache.kyuubi.engine.spark
 
 import java.time.Instant
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch
 
 import org.apache.spark.SparkConf
 import org.apache.spark.sql.SparkSession
 
 import org.apache.kyuubi.{Logging, Utils}
 import org.apache.kyuubi.config.KyuubiConf
+import org.apache.kyuubi.engine.spark.SparkSQLEngine.countDownLatch
 import org.apache.kyuubi.ha.HighAvailabilityConf._
 import org.apache.kyuubi.ha.client.{RetryPolicies, ServiceDiscovery}
 import org.apache.kyuubi.service.Serverable
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ private[spark] final class SparkSQLEngine(name: String, spark: SparkSession)
   override private[kyuubi] val backendService = new SparkSQLBackendService(spark)
 
   override protected def stopServer(): Unit = {
+    countDownLatch.countDown()
     spark.stop()
   }
 }
@@ -47,6 +50,8 @@ object SparkSQLEngine extends Logging {
 
   private val user = Utils.currentUser
 
+  private[spark] val countDownLatch = new CountDownLatch(1)
+
   def createSpark(): SparkSession = {
     val sparkConf = new SparkConf()
     sparkConf.setIfMissing("spark.master", "local")
@@ -104,6 +109,8 @@ object SparkSQLEngine extends Logging {
       engine = startEngine(spark)
       exposeEngine(engine)
       info(KyuubiSparkUtil.diagnostics(spark))
+      // blocking main thread
+      countDownLatch.await()
     } catch {
       case t: Throwable =>
         error("Error start SparkSQLEngine", t)
diff --git a/kyuubi-main/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/session/KyuubiSessionImpl.scala b/kyuubi-main/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/session/KyuubiSessionImpl.scala
index 5df94b109..26df13798 100644
--- a/kyuubi-main/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/session/KyuubiSessionImpl.scala
+++ b/kyuubi-main/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/session/KyuubiSessionImpl.scala
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import org.apache.thrift.TException
 import org.apache.thrift.protocol.TBinaryProtocol
 import org.apache.thrift.transport.{TSocket, TTransport}
 
-import org.apache.kyuubi.{KyuubiSQLException, ThriftUtils}
+import org.apache.kyuubi._
 import org.apache.kyuubi.config.KyuubiConf
 import org.apache.kyuubi.config.KyuubiConf._
 import org.apache.kyuubi.engine.spark.SparkProcessBuilder
@@ -96,9 +96,13 @@ class KyuubiSessionImpl(
         info(s"Launching SQL engine: $builder")
         var sh = getServerHost
         val started = System.currentTimeMillis()
+        var exitValue: Option[Int] = None
         while (sh.isEmpty) {
-          if (process.waitFor(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
-            throw builder.getError
+          if (exitValue.isEmpty && process.waitFor(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
+            exitValue = Some(process.exitValue())
+            if (exitValue.get != 0) {
+              throw builder.getError
+            }
           }
           if (started + timeout <= System.currentTimeMillis()) {
             process.destroyForcibly()