diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdownSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdownSpec.scala
index df67112230..7c3f3a341f 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdownSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdownSpec.scala
@@ -9,16 +9,18 @@ import java.util
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
 import scala.concurrent.Await
 import scala.concurrent.Future
+
 import akka.Done
 import akka.testkit.{ AkkaSpec, EventFilter, TestKit }
 import com.typesafe.config.{ Config, ConfigFactory }
 import akka.actor.CoordinatedShutdown.Phase
 import akka.actor.CoordinatedShutdown.UnknownReason
-
 import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
 import scala.concurrent.Promise
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
 
+import akka.ConfigurationException
+
 class CoordinatedShutdownSpec
     extends AkkaSpec(ConfigFactory.parseString("""
     akka.loglevel=INFO
@@ -320,11 +322,53 @@ class CoordinatedShutdownSpec
       confWithOverrides.getInt("exit-code") should ===(-1)
     }
 
-    // this must be the last test, since it terminates the ActorSystem
     "terminate ActorSystem" in {
-      Await.result(CoordinatedShutdown(system).run(CustomReason), 10.seconds) should ===(Done)
-      system.whenTerminated.isCompleted should ===(true)
-      CoordinatedShutdown(system).shutdownReason() === (Some(CustomReason))
+      val sys = ActorSystem(system.name, system.settings.config)
+      try {
+        Await.result(CoordinatedShutdown(sys).run(CustomReason), 10.seconds) should ===(Done)
+        sys.whenTerminated.isCompleted should ===(true)
+        CoordinatedShutdown(sys).shutdownReason() should ===(Some(CustomReason))
+      } finally {
+        shutdown(sys)
+      }
+    }
+
+    "be run by ActorSystem.terminate" in {
+      val sys = ActorSystem(system.name, system.settings.config)
+      try {
+        Await.result(sys.terminate(), 10.seconds)
+        sys.whenTerminated.isCompleted should ===(true)
+        CoordinatedShutdown(sys).shutdownReason() should ===(Some(CoordinatedShutdown.ActorSystemTerminateReason))
+      } finally {
+        shutdown(sys)
+      }
+    }
+
+    "not be run by ActorSystem.terminate when run-by-actor-system-terminate=off" in {
+      val sys = ActorSystem(
+        system.name,
+        ConfigFactory
+          .parseString("akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off")
+          .withFallback(system.settings.config))
+      try {
+        Await.result(sys.terminate(), 10.seconds)
+        sys.whenTerminated.isCompleted should ===(true)
+        CoordinatedShutdown(sys).shutdownReason() should ===(None)
+      } finally {
+        shutdown(sys)
+      }
+    }
+
+    "not allow terminate-actor-system=off && run-by-actor-system-terminate=on" in {
+      intercept[ConfigurationException] {
+        val sys = ActorSystem(
+          system.name,
+          ConfigFactory
+            .parseString("akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off")
+            .withFallback(system.settings.config))
+        // will only get here if test is failing
+        shutdown(sys)
+      }
     }
 
     "add and remove user JVM hooks with run-by-jvm-shutdown-hook = off, terminate-actor-system = off" in new JvmHookTest {
@@ -332,6 +376,7 @@ class CoordinatedShutdownSpec
       lazy val systemConfig = ConfigFactory.parseString("""
           akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-jvm-shutdown-hook = off
           akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off
+          akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off
         """)
 
       override def withSystemRunning(newSystem: ActorSystem): Unit = {
@@ -347,6 +392,7 @@ class CoordinatedShutdownSpec
       lazy val systemConfig = ConfigFactory.parseString("""
           akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-jvm-shutdown-hook = on
           akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off
+          akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off
         """)
 
       override def withSystemRunning(newSystem: ActorSystem): Unit = {
diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/config/ConfigSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/config/ConfigSpec.scala
index 593be6b6f9..f9cf6fee43 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/config/ConfigSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/config/ConfigSpec.scala
@@ -67,6 +67,12 @@ class ConfigSpec extends AkkaSpec(ConfigFactory.defaultReference(ActorSystem.fin
 
         getBoolean("akka.log-dead-letters-during-shutdown") should ===(true)
         settings.LogDeadLettersDuringShutdown should ===(true)
+
+        getBoolean("akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system") should ===(true)
+        settings.CoordinatedShutdownTerminateActorSystem should ===(true)
+
+        getBoolean("akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate") should ===(true)
+        settings.CoordinatedShutdownRunByActorSystemTerminate should ===(true)
       }
 
       {
diff --git a/akka-actor-typed-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/typed/internal/ActorSystemSpec.scala b/akka-actor-typed-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/typed/internal/ActorSystemSpec.scala
index d13d40dd6e..8b1407c813 100644
--- a/akka-actor-typed-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/typed/internal/ActorSystemSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-typed-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/typed/internal/ActorSystemSpec.scala
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ import scala.concurrent.duration._
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
 import akka.Done
+import akka.actor.CoordinatedShutdown
 import akka.actor.InvalidMessageException
 import akka.actor.testkit.typed.scaladsl.TestInbox
 import akka.actor.typed.scaladsl.Behaviors
+import akka.actor.typed.scaladsl.adapter._
 import org.scalatest._
 import org.scalatest.concurrent.Eventually
 import org.scalatest.concurrent.ScalaFutures
@@ -55,6 +57,8 @@ class ActorSystemSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers with BeforeAndAfterAll with
         }
         inbox.receiveAll() should ===("hello" :: Nil)
         sys.whenTerminated.futureValue
+        CoordinatedShutdown(sys.toUntyped).shutdownReason() should ===(
+          Some(CoordinatedShutdown.ActorSystemTerminateReason))
       }
     }
 
@@ -89,6 +93,8 @@ class ActorSystemSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers with BeforeAndAfterAll with
       // now we know that the guardian has started, and should receive PostStop
       sys.terminate()
       sys.whenTerminated.futureValue
+      CoordinatedShutdown(sys.toUntyped).shutdownReason() should ===(
+        Some(CoordinatedShutdown.ActorSystemTerminateReason))
       inbox.receiveAll() should ===("done" :: Nil)
     }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor-typed/src/main/scala/akka/actor/typed/ActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor-typed/src/main/scala/akka/actor/typed/ActorSystem.scala
index 3946027c1c..93e06100a8 100644
--- a/akka-actor-typed/src/main/scala/akka/actor/typed/ActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-typed/src/main/scala/akka/actor/typed/ActorSystem.scala
@@ -104,8 +104,15 @@ abstract class ActorSystem[-T] extends ActorRef[T] with Extensions { this: Inter
   implicit def executionContext: ExecutionContextExecutor
 
   /**
-   * Terminates this actor system. This will stop the guardian actor, which in turn
-   * will recursively stop all its child actors, then the system guardian
+   * Terminates this actor system by running [[akka.actor.CoordinatedShutdown]] with reason
+   * [[akka.actor.CoordinatedShutdown.ActorSystemTerminateReason]].
+   *
+   * If `akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate` is configured to `off`
+   * it will not run `CoordinatedShutdown`, but the `ActorSystem` and its actors
+   * will still be terminated.
+   *
+   * This will stop the guardian actor, which in turn
+   * will recursively stop all its child actors, and finally the system guardian
    * (below which the logging actors reside).
    *
    * This is an asynchronous operation and completion of the termination can
diff --git a/akka-actor-typed/src/main/scala/akka/actor/typed/internal/adapter/GuardianStartupBehavior.scala b/akka-actor-typed/src/main/scala/akka/actor/typed/internal/adapter/GuardianStartupBehavior.scala
index 35960b7902..29cb359924 100644
--- a/akka-actor-typed/src/main/scala/akka/actor/typed/internal/adapter/GuardianStartupBehavior.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-typed/src/main/scala/akka/actor/typed/internal/adapter/GuardianStartupBehavior.scala
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 package akka.actor.typed.internal.adapter
 
 import akka.actor.typed.Behavior
+import akka.actor.typed.BehaviorInterceptor
+import akka.actor.typed.Signal
+import akka.actor.typed.TypedActorContext
 import akka.actor.typed.scaladsl.AbstractBehavior
 import akka.actor.typed.scaladsl.ActorContext
 import akka.actor.typed.scaladsl.Behaviors
@@ -37,10 +40,50 @@ private[akka] final class GuardianStartupBehavior[T](val guardianBehavior: Behav
     msg match {
       case Start =>
         // ctx is not available initially so we cannot use it until here
-        Behaviors.setup(ctx => stash.unstashAll(ctx.asInstanceOf[ActorContext[T]], guardianBehavior).unsafeCast[Any])
+        Behaviors.setup(
+          ctx =>
+            stash
+              .unstashAll(
+                ctx.asInstanceOf[ActorContext[T]],
+                Behaviors.intercept(new GuardianStopInterceptor[T])(guardianBehavior))
+              .unsafeCast[Any])
       case other =>
         stash.stash(other.asInstanceOf[T])
         this
     }
 
 }
+
+/**
+ * INTERNAL API
+ *
+ * When the user guardian is stopped the ActorSystem is terminated, but to run CoordinatedShutdown
+ * as part of that we must intercept when the guardian is stopped and call ActorSystem.terminate()
+ * explicitly.
+ */
+@InternalApi private[akka] final class GuardianStopInterceptor[T] extends BehaviorInterceptor[T, T] {
+  override def aroundReceive(
+      ctx: TypedActorContext[T],
+      msg: T,
+      target: BehaviorInterceptor.ReceiveTarget[T]): Behavior[T] = {
+    val next = target(ctx, msg)
+    interceptStopped(ctx, next)
+  }
+
+  override def aroundSignal(
+      ctx: TypedActorContext[T],
+      signal: Signal,
+      target: BehaviorInterceptor.SignalTarget[T]): Behavior[T] = {
+    val next = target(ctx, signal)
+    interceptStopped(ctx, next)
+  }
+
+  private def interceptStopped(ctx: TypedActorContext[T], next: Behavior[T]): Behavior[T] = {
+    if (Behavior.isAlive(next))
+      next
+    else {
+      ctx.asScala.system.terminate()
+      Behaviors.ignore
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.x.backwards.excludes b/akka-actor/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.x.backwards.excludes
index 5a85a3b507..fbad9af603 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.x.backwards.excludes
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.x.backwards.excludes
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ ProblemFilters.exclude[MissingClassProblem]("akka.actor.ActorDSL")
 ProblemFilters.exclude[MissingClassProblem]("akka.actor.ActorDSL$*")
 ProblemFilters.exclude[MissingClassProblem]("akka.actor.dsl.*")
 
+# #25213 CoordinatedShutdown from ActorSystem.terminate
+ProblemFilters.exclude[ReversedMissingMethodProblem]("akka.actor.ExtendedActorSystem.finalTerminate")
+
 # #26190 remove actorFor
 ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.actor.ActorCell.actorFor")
 ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.actor.ActorRefProvider.actorFor")
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index f2b3fa5be9..0e6e09fdbb 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -1114,6 +1114,11 @@ akka {
     # This property is related to `akka.jvm-shutdown-hooks` above.
     run-by-jvm-shutdown-hook = on
 
+    # Run the coordinated shutdown when ActorSystem.terminate is called.
+    # Enabling this and disabling terminate-actor-system is not a supported
+    # combination (will throw ConfigurationException at startup).
+    run-by-actor-system-terminate = on
+
     # When Coordinated Shutdown is triggered an instance of `Reason` is
     # required. That value can be used to override the default settings.
     # Only 'exit-jvm', 'exit-code' and 'terminate-actor-system' may be
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
index 823618deeb..047dfcd9a4 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
@@ -9,13 +9,13 @@ import java.util.concurrent._
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference
 
 import com.typesafe.config.{ Config, ConfigFactory }
+import akka.ConfigurationException
 import akka.event._
 import akka.dispatch._
 import akka.japi.Util.immutableSeq
 import akka.actor.dungeon.ChildrenContainer
 import akka.util._
 import akka.util.Helpers.toRootLowerCase
-
 import scala.annotation.tailrec
 import scala.collection.immutable
 import scala.concurrent.{ ExecutionContext, ExecutionContextExecutor, Future, Promise }
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import java.util.Optional
 
 import akka.actor.setup.{ ActorSystemSetup, Setup }
 import akka.annotation.InternalApi
-
 import scala.compat.java8.FutureConverters
 import scala.compat.java8.OptionConverters._
 
@@ -387,6 +386,15 @@ object ActorSystem {
     final val JvmExitOnFatalError: Boolean = getBoolean("akka.jvm-exit-on-fatal-error")
     final val JvmShutdownHooks: Boolean = getBoolean("akka.jvm-shutdown-hooks")
 
+    final val CoordinatedShutdownTerminateActorSystem: Boolean = getBoolean(
+      "akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system")
+    final val CoordinatedShutdownRunByActorSystemTerminate: Boolean = getBoolean(
+      "akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate")
+    if (CoordinatedShutdownRunByActorSystemTerminate && !CoordinatedShutdownTerminateActorSystem)
+      throw new ConfigurationException(
+        "akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate=on and " +
+        "akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system=off is not a supported configuration combination.")
+
     final val DefaultVirtualNodesFactor: Int = getInt("akka.actor.deployment.default.virtual-nodes-factor")
 
     if (ConfigVersion != Version)
@@ -571,12 +579,19 @@ abstract class ActorSystem extends ActorRefFactory {
   def registerOnTermination(code: Runnable): Unit
 
   /**
-   * Terminates this actor system. This will stop the guardian actor, which in turn
-   * will recursively stop all its child actors, the system guardian
+   * Terminates this actor system by running [[CoordinatedShutdown]] with reason
+   * [[CoordinatedShutdown.ActorSystemTerminateReason]].
+   *
+   * If `akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate` is configured to `off`
+   * it will not run `CoordinatedShutdown`, but the `ActorSystem` and its actors
+   * will still be terminated.
+   *
+   * This will stop the guardian actor, which in turn
+   * will recursively stop all its child actors, and finally the system guardian
    * (below which the logging actors reside) and then execute all registered
    * termination handlers (see [[ActorSystem#registerOnTermination]]).
    * Be careful to not schedule any operations on completion of the returned future
-   * using the `dispatcher` of this actor system as it will have been shut down before the
+   * using the dispatcher of this actor system as it will have been shut down before the
    * future completes.
    */
   def terminate(): Future[Terminated]
@@ -682,6 +697,11 @@ abstract class ExtendedActorSystem extends ActorSystem {
    */
   private[akka] def printTree: String
 
+  /**
+   * INTERNAL API: final step of `terminate()`
+   */
+  @InternalApi private[akka] def finalTerminate(): Unit
+
 }
 
 /**
@@ -936,9 +956,25 @@ private[akka] class ActorSystemImpl(
   def registerOnTermination(code: Runnable): Unit = { terminationCallbacks.add(code) }
 
   override def terminate(): Future[Terminated] = {
+    if (settings.CoordinatedShutdownRunByActorSystemTerminate && !aborting) {
+      // Note that the combination CoordinatedShutdownRunByActorSystemTerminate==true &&
+      // CoordinatedShutdownTerminateActorSystem==false is disallowed, checked in Settings.
+      // It's not a combination that is valuable to support and it would be complicated to
+      // protect against concurrency race conditions between calls to ActorSystem.terminate()
+      // and CoordinateShutdown.run()
+
+      // it will call finalTerminate() at the end
+      CoordinatedShutdown(this).run(CoordinatedShutdown.ActorSystemTerminateReason)
+    } else {
+      finalTerminate()
+    }
+    whenTerminated
+  }
+
+  override private[akka] def finalTerminate(): Unit = {
+    // these actions are idempotent
     if (!settings.LogDeadLettersDuringShutdown) logDeadLetterListener.foreach(stop)
     guardian.stop()
-    whenTerminated
   }
 
   @volatile var aborting = false
@@ -946,8 +982,8 @@ private[akka] class ActorSystemImpl(
   /**
    * This kind of shutdown attempts to bring the system down and release its
    * resources more forcefully than plain shutdown. For example it will not
-   * wait for remote-deployed child actors to terminate before terminating their
-   * parents.
+   * run CoordinatedShutdown and not wait for remote-deployed child actors to
+   * terminate before terminating their parents.
    */
   def abort(): Unit = {
     aborting = true
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdown.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdown.scala
index 6248345acb..372cc7cce3 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdown.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdown.scala
@@ -120,10 +120,20 @@ object CoordinatedShutdown extends ExtensionId[CoordinatedShutdown] with Extensi
    */
   def unknownReason: Reason = UnknownReason
 
+  /**
+   * Scala API: The shutdown was initiated by ActorSystem.terminate.
+   */
+  case object ActorSystemTerminateReason extends Reason
+
+  /**
+   * Java API: The shutdown was initiated by ActorSystem.terminate.
+   */
+  def actorSystemTerminateReason: Reason = ActorSystemTerminateReason
+
   /**
    * Scala API: The shutdown was initiated by a JVM shutdown hook, e.g. triggered by SIGTERM.
    */
-  object JvmExitReason extends Reason
+  case object JvmExitReason extends Reason
 
   /**
    * Java API: The shutdown was initiated by a JVM shutdown hook, e.g. triggered by SIGTERM.
@@ -133,7 +143,7 @@ object CoordinatedShutdown extends ExtensionId[CoordinatedShutdown] with Extensi
   /**
    * Scala API: The shutdown was initiated by Cluster downing.
    */
-  object ClusterDowningReason extends Reason
+  case object ClusterDowningReason extends Reason
 
   /**
    * Java API: The shutdown was initiated by Cluster downing.
@@ -143,7 +153,7 @@ object CoordinatedShutdown extends ExtensionId[CoordinatedShutdown] with Extensi
   /**
    * Scala API: The shutdown was initiated by a failure to join a seed node.
    */
-  object ClusterJoinUnsuccessfulReason extends Reason
+  case object ClusterJoinUnsuccessfulReason extends Reason
 
   /**
    * Java API: The shutdown was initiated by a failure to join a seed node.
@@ -163,7 +173,7 @@ object CoordinatedShutdown extends ExtensionId[CoordinatedShutdown] with Extensi
   /**
    * Scala API: The shutdown was initiated by Cluster leaving.
    */
-  object ClusterLeavingReason extends Reason
+  case object ClusterLeavingReason extends Reason
 
   /**
    * Java API: The shutdown was initiated by Cluster leaving.
@@ -211,7 +221,10 @@ object CoordinatedShutdown extends ExtensionId[CoordinatedShutdown] with Extensi
       .getOrElse(conf)
   }
 
-  private def initPhaseActorSystemTerminate(system: ActorSystem, conf: Config, coord: CoordinatedShutdown): Unit = {
+  private def initPhaseActorSystemTerminate(
+      system: ExtendedActorSystem,
+      conf: Config,
+      coord: CoordinatedShutdown): Unit = {
     coord.addTask(PhaseActorSystemTerminate, "terminate-system") { () =>
       val confForReason = confWithOverrides(conf, coord.shutdownReason())
       val terminateActorSystem = confForReason.getBoolean("terminate-actor-system")
@@ -235,12 +248,11 @@ object CoordinatedShutdown extends ExtensionId[CoordinatedShutdown] with Extensi
       }
 
       if (terminateActorSystem) {
-        system
-          .terminate()
-          .map { _ =>
-            if (exitJvm && !runningJvmHook) System.exit(exitCode)
-            Done
-          }(ExecutionContexts.sameThreadExecutionContext)
+        system.finalTerminate()
+        system.whenTerminated.map { _ =>
+          if (exitJvm && !runningJvmHook) System.exit(exitCode)
+          Done
+        }(ExecutionContexts.sameThreadExecutionContext)
       } else if (exitJvm) {
         System.exit(exitCode)
         Future.successful(Done)
@@ -456,6 +468,7 @@ final class CoordinatedShutdown private[akka] (
     if (runStarted.compareAndSet(None, Some(reason))) {
       implicit val ec = system.dispatchers.internalDispatcher
       val debugEnabled = log.isDebugEnabled
+      log.debug("Running CoordinatedShutdown with reason [{}]", reason)
       def loop(remainingPhases: List[String]): Future[Done] = {
         remainingPhases match {
           case Nil => Future.successful(Done)
@@ -602,7 +615,7 @@ final class CoordinatedShutdown private[akka] (
    * shutdown hooks the standard library JVM shutdown hooks APIs are better suited.
    */
   @tailrec def addCancellableJvmShutdownHook[T](hook: => T): Cancellable = {
-    if (runStarted.get == None) {
+    if (runStarted.get.isEmpty) {
       val currentLatch = _jvmHooksLatch.get
       val newLatch = new CountDownLatch(currentLatch.getCount.toInt + 1)
       if (_jvmHooksLatch.compareAndSet(currentLatch, newLatch)) {
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/typed/scaladsl/ClusterShardingSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/typed/scaladsl/ClusterShardingSpec.scala
index 1956ea27d0..1e1be8cae3 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/typed/scaladsl/ClusterShardingSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/typed/scaladsl/ClusterShardingSpec.scala
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ object ClusterShardingSpec {
       akka.cluster.sharding.number-of-shards = 10
 
       akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off
+      akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off
 
       akka.actor {
         serialize-messages = off
diff --git a/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/java/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterApiTest.java b/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/java/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterApiTest.java
index ecfc434267..c8f18a3d07 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/java/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterApiTest.java
+++ b/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/java/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterApiTest.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ public class ClusterApiTest extends JUnitSuite {
                 + "akka.remote.artery.canonical.hostname = 127.0.0.1 \n"
                 + "akka.cluster.jmx.multi-mbeans-in-same-jvm = on \n"
                 + "akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off \n"
+                + "akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off \n"
                 + "akka.actor { \n"
                 + "  serialize-messages = off \n"
                 + "  allow-java-serialization = off \n"
diff --git a/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ActorSystemSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ActorSystemSpec.scala
index a58db1503c..3ddf16850e 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ActorSystemSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ActorSystemSpec.scala
@@ -10,21 +10,25 @@ import scala.concurrent.duration._
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
 import akka.Done
+import akka.actor.CoordinatedShutdown
 import akka.actor.InvalidMessageException
 import akka.actor.testkit.typed.scaladsl.TestInbox
 import akka.actor.typed.ActorRef
 import akka.actor.typed.ActorSystem
 import akka.actor.typed.Behavior
 import akka.actor.typed.PostStop
+import akka.actor.typed.scaladsl.adapter._
 import akka.actor.typed.scaladsl.Behaviors
 import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory
 import org.scalatest._
 import org.scalatest.concurrent.Eventually
 import org.scalatest.concurrent.ScalaFutures
+import org.scalatest.time.Span
 
 class ActorSystemSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers with BeforeAndAfterAll with ScalaFutures with Eventually {
 
-  override implicit val patienceConfig = PatienceConfig(1.second)
+  implicit val patience: PatienceConfig = PatienceConfig(3.seconds, Span(100, org.scalatest.time.Millis))
+
   val config = ConfigFactory.parseString("""
       akka.actor.provider = cluster
       akka.remote.classic.netty.tcp.port = 0
@@ -65,6 +69,8 @@ class ActorSystemSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers with BeforeAndAfterAll with
         }
         inbox.receiveAll() should ===("hello" :: Nil)
         sys.whenTerminated.futureValue
+        CoordinatedShutdown(sys.toUntyped).shutdownReason() should ===(
+          Some(CoordinatedShutdown.ActorSystemTerminateReason))
       }
     }
 
@@ -99,6 +105,8 @@ class ActorSystemSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers with BeforeAndAfterAll with
       // now we know that the guardian has started, and should receive PostStop
       sys.terminate()
       sys.whenTerminated.futureValue
+      CoordinatedShutdown(sys.toUntyped).shutdownReason() should ===(
+        Some(CoordinatedShutdown.ActorSystemTerminateReason))
       inbox.receiveAll() should ===("done" :: Nil)
     }
 
diff --git a/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterApiSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterApiSpec.scala
index e404c981ec..1e0a386a9c 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterApiSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterApiSpec.scala
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ object ClusterApiSpec {
       akka.remote.artery.canonical.hostname = 127.0.0.1
       akka.cluster.jmx.multi-mbeans-in-same-jvm = on
       akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off
+      akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off
       akka.actor {
         serialize-messages = off
         allow-java-serialization = off
diff --git a/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterSingletonPersistenceSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterSingletonPersistenceSpec.scala
index 85796bfe8e..f35bfab4c3 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterSingletonPersistenceSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-typed/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/typed/ClusterSingletonPersistenceSpec.scala
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ object ClusterSingletonPersistenceSpec {
       akka.remote.artery.canonical.hostname = 127.0.0.1
 
       akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off
+      akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off
 
       akka.actor {
         serialize-messages = off
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/InitialMembersOfNewDcSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/InitialMembersOfNewDcSpec.scala
index 59706f5b93..91b518cc70 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/InitialMembersOfNewDcSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/InitialMembersOfNewDcSpec.scala
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ object InitialMembersOfNewDcSpec extends MultiNodeConfig {
   commonConfig(ConfigFactory.parseString(s"""
     akka.actor.provider = cluster
     akka.actor.warn-about-java-serializer-usage = off
-    akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off
     akka.cluster {
       jmx.enabled                         = off
       debug.verbose-gossip-logging = on
diff --git a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/actors.md b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/actors.md
index c2f5642240..68e7e4ee0f 100644
--- a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/actors.md
+++ b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/actors.md
@@ -1095,6 +1095,8 @@ To enable a hard `System.exit` as a final action you can configure:
 akka.coordinated-shutdown.exit-jvm = on
 ```
 
+The coordinated shutdown process can also be started by calling `ActorSystem.terminate()`.
+
 When using @ref:[Akka Cluster](cluster-usage.md) the `CoordinatedShutdown` will automatically run
 when the cluster node sees itself as `Exiting`, i.e. leaving from another node will trigger
 the shutdown process on the leaving node. Tasks for graceful leaving of cluster including graceful
@@ -1125,6 +1127,7 @@ used in the test:
 ```
 # Don't terminate ActorSystem via CoordinatedShutdown in tests
 akka.coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off
+akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off
 akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-jvm-shutdown-hook = off
 akka.cluster.run-coordinated-shutdown-when-down = off
 ```
diff --git a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/general/actor-systems.md b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/general/actor-systems.md
index 80537bcba9..83a1533064 100644
--- a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/general/actor-systems.md
+++ b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/general/actor-systems.md
@@ -115,9 +115,9 @@ while Akka does the heavy lifting under the hood.
 ## Terminating ActorSystem
 
 When you know everything is done for your application, you can call the
-`terminate` method of `ActorSystem`. That will stop the guardian
-actor, which in turn will recursively stop all its child actors, the system
-guardian.
+`terminate` method of `ActorSystem`. That will run @ref:[`CoordinatedShutdown`](../actors.md#coordinated-shutdown)
+followed by stopping the guardian actor, which in turn will recursively stop all its child actors,
+and finally the system guardian.
 
 If you want to execute some operations while terminating `ActorSystem`,
 look at @ref:[`CoordinatedShutdown`](../actors.md#coordinated-shutdown).
diff --git a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/project/migration-guide-2.5.x-2.6.x.md b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/project/migration-guide-2.5.x-2.6.x.md
index f5d184b4f5..783d657f40 100644
--- a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/project/migration-guide-2.5.x-2.6.x.md
+++ b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/project/migration-guide-2.5.x-2.6.x.md
@@ -153,3 +153,18 @@ The materialized value for `StreamRefs.sinkRef` and `StreamRefs.sourceRef` is no
 The configuration `akka.cluster.sharding.passivate-idle-entity-after` is now enabled by default.
 Sharding will passivate entities when they have not received any messages after this duration.
 Set
+
+## CoordinatedShutdown is run from ActorSystem.terminate
+
+No migration is needed but it is mentioned here because it is a change in behavior.
+
+When `ActorSystem.terminate()` is called, @ref:[`CoordinatedShutdown`](../actors.md#coordinated-shutdown)
+will be run in Akka 2.6.x, which wasn't the case in 2.5.x. For example, if using Akka Cluster this means that
+member will attempt to leave the cluster gracefully.
+
+If this is not desired behavior, for example in tests, you can disable this feature with the following configuration
+and then it will behave as in Akka 2.5.x:
+
+```
+akka.coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off
+```
diff --git a/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testkit/MultiNodeSpec.scala b/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testkit/MultiNodeSpec.scala
index 80d923b1b2..9f4028f32d 100644
--- a/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testkit/MultiNodeSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testkit/MultiNodeSpec.scala
@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ object MultiNodeSpec {
         loglevel = "WARNING"
         stdout-loglevel = "WARNING"
         coordinated-shutdown.terminate-actor-system = off
+        coordinated-shutdown.run-by-actor-system-terminate = off
         coordinated-shutdown.run-by-jvm-shutdown-hook = off
         actor {
           default-dispatcher {