diff --git a/src/wikiq/__init__.py b/src/wikiq/__init__.py
index 723469f..ae1efc0 100755
--- a/src/wikiq/__init__.py
+++ b/src/wikiq/__init__.py
@@ -875,6 +875,8 @@ class WikiqParser:
                     new_diffs = []
                     diff_timeouts = []
                     for i, text in enumerate(row_buffer["text"]):
+                        if self.shutdown_requested:
+                            break
                         diff, timed_out = diff_with_timeout(differ, last_text, text)
                         if timed_out:
                             print(f"WARNING! wikidiff2 timeout for rev: {row_buffer['revid'][i]}. Falling back to default limits.", file=sys.stderr)
@@ -882,6 +884,9 @@ class WikiqParser:
                         new_diffs.append(diff)
                         diff_timeouts.append(timed_out)
                         last_text = text
+                    if self.shutdown_requested:
+                        print("Shutdown requested, closing writers...", file=sys.stderr)
+                        break
                     row_buffer["diff"] = [
                         [
                             entry
diff --git a/test/test_resume.py b/test/test_resume.py
index 6bc96c7..b99661d 100644
--- a/test/test_resume.py
+++ b/test/test_resume.py
@@ -191,22 +191,22 @@ def test_resume_with_partition_namespaces():
 
 
 def test_resume_file_not_found():
-    """Test that --resume exits with error when output file doesn't exist."""
+    """Test that --resume starts fresh when output file doesn't exist."""
     tester = WikiqTester(SAILORMOON, "resume_not_found", in_compression="7z", out_format="parquet")
 
     expected_output = os.path.join(tester.output, f"{SAILORMOON}.parquet")
     if os.path.exists(expected_output):
         os.remove(expected_output)
 
-    try:
-        tester.call_wikiq("--resume")
-        pytest.fail("Expected error when --resume is used but output file doesn't exist")
-    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
-        stderr = exc.stderr.decode("utf8")
-        assert "Error: --resume specified but output file not found" in stderr, \
-            f"Expected error message about missing output file, got: {stderr}"
+    # Should succeed by starting fresh
+    tester.call_wikiq("--resume")
 
-    print("Resume file not found test passed!")
+    # Verify output was created
+    assert os.path.exists(expected_output), "Output file should be created when starting fresh"
+    table = pq.read_table(expected_output)
+    assert table.num_rows > 0, "Output should have data"
+
+    print("Resume file not found test passed - started fresh!")
 
 
 def test_resume_simple():