diff --git a/packages/pynumaflow/pynumaflow/mapper/_servicer/_sync_servicer.py b/packages/pynumaflow/pynumaflow/mapper/_servicer/_sync_servicer.py
index be5f7199..61700f1b 100644
--- a/packages/pynumaflow/pynumaflow/mapper/_servicer/_sync_servicer.py
+++ b/packages/pynumaflow/pynumaflow/mapper/_servicer/_sync_servicer.py
@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@
 from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
 from collections.abc import Iterator
 
+import grpc
 from google.protobuf import empty_pb2 as _empty_pb2
-from pynumaflow.shared.server import exit_on_error
+from pynumaflow.shared.server import update_context_err
 from pynumaflow._metadata import _user_and_system_metadata_from_proto
 
-from pynumaflow._constants import NUM_THREADS_DEFAULT, STREAM_EOF, _LOGGER, ERR_UDF_EXCEPTION_STRING
+from pynumaflow._constants import NUM_THREADS_DEFAULT, _LOGGER, ERR_UDF_EXCEPTION_STRING
 from pynumaflow.mapper._dtypes import MapSyncCallable, Datum, MapError
 from pynumaflow.proto.mapper import map_pb2, map_pb2_grpc
 from pynumaflow.shared.synciter import SyncIterator
@@ -26,6 +27,8 @@ def __init__(self, handler: MapSyncCallable, multiproc: bool = False):
         self.multiproc = multiproc
         # create a thread pool for executing UDF code
         self.executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=NUM_THREADS_DEFAULT)
+        self.shutdown_event: threading.Event = threading.Event()
+        self.error: BaseException | None = None
 
     def MapFn(
         self,
@@ -36,6 +39,7 @@ def MapFn(
         Applies a function to each datum element.
         The pascal case function name comes from the proto map_pb2_grpc.py file.
         """
+        result_queue = None
         try:
             # The first message to be received should be a valid handshake
             req = next(request_iterator)
@@ -57,10 +61,13 @@ def MapFn(
             for res in result_queue.read_iterator():
                 # if error handler accordingly
                 if isinstance(res, BaseException):
-                    # Terminate the current server process due to exception
-                    exit_on_error(
-                        context, f"{ERR_UDF_EXCEPTION_STRING}: {repr(res)}", parent=self.multiproc
-                    )
+                    err_msg = f"{ERR_UDF_EXCEPTION_STRING}: {repr(res)}"
+                    _LOGGER.critical(err_msg, exc_info=True)
+                    update_context_err(context, res, err_msg)
+                    # Unblock the reader thread if it is waiting on queue.put()
+                    result_queue.close()
+                    self.error = res
+                    self.shutdown_event.set()
                     return
                 # return the result
                 yield res
@@ -69,12 +76,22 @@ def MapFn(
             reader_thread.join()
             self.executor.shutdown(cancel_futures=True)
 
+        except grpc.RpcError:
+            _LOGGER.warning("gRPC stream closed, shutting down the server.")
+            if result_queue is not None:
+                result_queue.close()
+            self.shutdown_event.set()
+            return
+
         except BaseException as err:
-            _LOGGER.critical("UDFError, re-raising the error", exc_info=True)
-            # Terminate the current server process due to exception
-            exit_on_error(
-                context, f"{ERR_UDF_EXCEPTION_STRING}: {repr(err)}", parent=self.multiproc
-            )
+            err_msg = f"UDFError, {ERR_UDF_EXCEPTION_STRING}: {repr(err)}"
+            _LOGGER.critical(err_msg, exc_info=True)
+            update_context_err(context, err, err_msg)
+            # Unblock the reader thread if it is waiting on queue.put()
+            if result_queue is not None:
+                result_queue.close()
+            self.error = err
+            self.shutdown_event.set()
             return
 
     def _process_requests(
@@ -91,9 +108,20 @@ def _process_requests(
             # wait for all tasks to finish after all requests exhausted
             self.executor.shutdown(wait=True)
             # Indicate to the result queue that no more messages left to process
-            result_queue.put(STREAM_EOF)
+            result_queue.close()
+        except grpc.RpcError:
+            # The only error that can occur here is the gRPC stream closing
+            # (e.g. client disconnected). UDF exceptions are caught inside _invoke_map
+            # and never propagate here.
+            _LOGGER.warning("gRPC stream closed in reader thread, shutting down the server.")
+            # Let already-submitted UDF tasks finish within the graceful shutdown period
+            self.executor.shutdown(wait=True)
+            # Signal MapFn's read_iterator() loop to exit cleanly
+            result_queue.close()
+            # Trigger server shutdown (not a UDF error, so self.error is not set)
+            self.shutdown_event.set()
         except BaseException as e:
-            _LOGGER.critical("MapFn Error, re-raising the error", exc_info=True)
+            _LOGGER.critical("MapFn Error while reading requests from gRPC stream", exc_info=True)
             # Surface the error to the consumer; MapFn will handle and exit
             result_queue.put(e)
 
diff --git a/packages/pynumaflow/pynumaflow/mapper/sync_server.py b/packages/pynumaflow/pynumaflow/mapper/sync_server.py
index 9c2431b6..a96ceb7f 100644
--- a/packages/pynumaflow/pynumaflow/mapper/sync_server.py
+++ b/packages/pynumaflow/pynumaflow/mapper/sync_server.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import sys
+
 from pynumaflow.info.types import (
     ServerInfo,
     MAP_MODE_KEY,
@@ -112,4 +114,9 @@ def start(self) -> None:
             server_options=self._server_options,
             udf_type=UDFType.Map,
             server_info=serv_info,
+            shutdown_event=self.servicer.shutdown_event,
         )
+
+        if self.servicer.error:
+            _LOGGER.critical("Server exiting due to UDF error: %s", self.servicer.error)
+            sys.exit(1)