diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
index 8fc0f6aa19dad7ebc44fbf95320991831271091f..08e940ecdc966e9247d3f9413946e976c4ddc8be 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
@@ -575,9 +575,12 @@ static struct osnoise_tool
 }
 
 static int stop_tracing;
+static struct trace_instance *top_inst = NULL;
 static void stop_top(int sig)
 {
 	stop_tracing = 1;
+	if (top_inst)
+		trace_instance_stop(top_inst);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -620,6 +623,13 @@ int timerlat_top_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	}
 
 	trace = &top->trace;
+	/*
+	* Save trace instance into global variable so that SIGINT can stop
+	* the timerlat tracer.
+	* Otherwise, rtla could loop indefinitely when overloaded.
+	*/
+	top_inst = trace;
+
 
 	retval = enable_timerlat(trace);
 	if (retval) {
@@ -690,7 +700,7 @@ int timerlat_top_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	return_value = 0;
 
-	if (trace_is_off(&top->trace, &record->trace)) {
+	if (trace_is_off(&top->trace, &record->trace) && !stop_tracing) {
 		printf("rtla timerlat hit stop tracing\n");
 		if (params->trace_output) {
 			printf("  Saving trace to %s\n", params->trace_output);