diff --git a/system/athena/sunnylinkd.py b/system/athena/sunnylinkd.py
index 4715994e48..0bb4c28e16 100755
--- a/system/athena/sunnylinkd.py
+++ b/system/athena/sunnylinkd.py
@@ -202,13 +202,8 @@ def main(exit_event: threading.Event = None):
   ws_uri = SUNNYLINK_ATHENA_HOST
   conn_start = None
   conn_retries = 0
-  while exit_event is None or not exit_event.is_set():
+  while exit_event is None or not exit_event.is_set() and is_sunnylink_enabled:
     try:
-      if not is_sunnylink_enabled:
-        cloudlog.debug("Exiting sunnylinkd.main as SunnylinkEnabled is False but will retry in 60 seconds")
-        time.sleep(60)
-        break
-
       if conn_start is None:
         conn_start = time.monotonic()
 
@@ -238,6 +233,10 @@ def main(exit_event: threading.Event = None):
 
     time.sleep(backoff(conn_retries))
 
+  if not is_sunnylink_enabled:
+    cloudlog.debug("Reached end of sunnylinkd.main while SunnylinkEnabled is False so will wait for 60 seconds before exiting")
+    time.sleep(60)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
   main()