diff --git a/src/basic/io-util.c b/src/basic/io-util.c
index 0037a37f2a..cc6dfa8c1b 100644
--- a/src/basic/io-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/io-util.c
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ int flush_fd(int fd) {
                 .events = POLLIN,
         };
 
+        /* Read from the specified file descriptor, until POLLIN is not set anymore, throwing away everything
+         * read. Note that some file descriptors (notable IP sockets) will trigger POLLIN even when no data can be read
+         * (due to IP packet checksum mismatches), hence this function is only safe to be non-blocking if the fd used
+         * was set to non-blocking too. */
+
         for (;;) {
                 char buf[LINE_MAX];
                 ssize_t l;
diff --git a/src/basic/socket-util.c b/src/basic/socket-util.c
index 0f38f9a0f3..c634f1d564 100644
--- a/src/basic/socket-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/socket-util.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <net/if.h>
 #include <netdb.h>
 #include <netinet/ip.h>
+#include <poll.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -970,3 +971,42 @@ fallback:
 
         return (ssize_t) k;
 }
+
+int flush_accept(int fd) {
+
+        struct pollfd pollfd = {
+                .fd = fd,
+                .events = POLLIN,
+        };
+        int r;
+
+
+        /* Similar to flush_fd() but flushes all incoming connection by accepting them and immediately closing them. */
+
+        for (;;) {
+                int cfd;
+
+                r = poll(&pollfd, 1, 0);
+                if (r < 0) {
+                        if (errno == EINTR)
+                                continue;
+
+                        return -errno;
+
+                } else if (r == 0)
+                        return 0;
+
+                cfd = accept4(fd, NULL, NULL, SOCK_NONBLOCK|SOCK_CLOEXEC);
+                if (cfd < 0) {
+                        if (errno == EINTR)
+                                continue;
+
+                        if (errno == EAGAIN)
+                                return 0;
+
+                        return -errno;
+                }
+
+                close(cfd);
+        }
+}
diff --git a/src/basic/socket-util.h b/src/basic/socket-util.h
index d17a2f35f8..9f6a301368 100644
--- a/src/basic/socket-util.h
+++ b/src/basic/socket-util.h
@@ -135,5 +135,7 @@ int receive_one_fd(int transport_fd, int flags);
 
 ssize_t next_datagram_size_fd(int fd);
 
+int flush_accept(int fd);
+
 #define CMSG_FOREACH(cmsg, mh)                                          \
         for ((cmsg) = CMSG_FIRSTHDR(mh); (cmsg); (cmsg) = CMSG_NXTHDR((mh), (cmsg)))
diff --git a/src/core/socket.c b/src/core/socket.c
index 50912c33dd..091567ed4f 100644
--- a/src/core/socket.c
+++ b/src/core/socket.c
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <linux/sctp.h>
 
-#include "sd-event.h"
 #include "alloc-util.h"
 #include "bus-error.h"
 #include "bus-util.h"
@@ -38,6 +37,7 @@
 #include "exit-status.h"
 #include "fd-util.h"
 #include "formats-util.h"
+#include "io-util.h"
 #include "label.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "missing.h"
@@ -1960,6 +1960,21 @@ fail:
         socket_enter_dead(s, SOCKET_FAILURE_RESOURCES);
 }
 
+static void flush_ports(Socket *s) {
+        SocketPort *p;
+
+        /* Flush all incoming traffic, regardless if actual bytes or new connections, so that this socket isn't busy
+         * anymore */
+
+        LIST_FOREACH(port, p, s->ports) {
+                if (p->fd < 0)
+                        continue;
+
+                (void) flush_accept(p->fd);
+                (void) flush_fd(p->fd);
+        }
+}
+
 static void socket_enter_running(Socket *s, int cfd) {
         _cleanup_(sd_bus_error_free) sd_bus_error error = SD_BUS_ERROR_NULL;
         int r;
@@ -1969,31 +1984,15 @@ static void socket_enter_running(Socket *s, int cfd) {
 
         assert(s);
 
-        /* We don't take connections anymore if we are supposed to
-         * shut down anyway */
+        /* We don't take connections anymore if we are supposed to shut down anyway */
         if (unit_stop_pending(UNIT(s))) {
 
                 log_unit_debug(UNIT(s), "Suppressing connection request since unit stop is scheduled.");
 
                 if (cfd >= 0)
                         cfd = safe_close(cfd);
-                else  {
-                        /* Flush all sockets by closing and reopening them */
-                        socket_close_fds(s);
-
-                        r = socket_open_fds(s);
-                        if (r < 0) {
-                                log_unit_warning_errno(UNIT(s), r, "Failed to listen on sockets: %m");
-                                socket_enter_stop_pre(s, SOCKET_FAILURE_RESOURCES);
-                                return;
-                        }
-
-                        r = socket_watch_fds(s);
-                        if (r < 0) {
-                                log_unit_warning_errno(UNIT(s), r, "Failed to watch sockets: %m");
-                                socket_enter_stop_pre(s, SOCKET_FAILURE_RESOURCES);
-                        }
-                }
+                else
+                        flush_ports(s);
 
                 return;
         }