diff --git a/src/core/xtests/symbol_export/symbol_export.c b/src/core/xtests/symbol_export/symbol_export.c
index ef86d00222..f9f4fe59ab 100644
--- a/src/core/xtests/symbol_export/symbol_export.c
+++ b/src/core/xtests/symbol_export/symbol_export.c
@@ -848,6 +848,7 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
   ddsrt_getpid ();
   ddsrt_getprocessname ();
   ddsrt_abort ();
+  ddsrt_exit(0);
 
   // ddsrt/time.h
   ddsrt_mtime_t mt = { .v = 0};
diff --git a/src/ddsrt/include/dds/ddsrt/process.h b/src/ddsrt/include/dds/ddsrt/process.h
index 2869a8a370..a9d9be7391 100644
--- a/src/ddsrt/include/dds/ddsrt/process.h
+++ b/src/ddsrt/include/dds/ddsrt/process.h
@@ -78,6 +78,15 @@ ddsrt_getprocessname(void);
 DDS_EXPORT void
 ddsrt_abort(void);
 
+/**
+ * @brief Performs a normal process termination.
+ *
+ * @param status
+ * @returns The least significant byte of `status` is returned to the parent.
+ */
+DDS_EXPORT void
+ddsrt_exit(int status);
+
 #if defined (__cplusplus)
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/ddsrt/src/process/posix/process.c b/src/ddsrt/src/process/posix/process.c
index a44d6f4e35..9455c21a8e 100644
--- a/src/ddsrt/src/process/posix/process.c
+++ b/src/ddsrt/src/process/posix/process.c
@@ -89,3 +89,9 @@ ddsrt_abort(void)
 {
   abort();
 }
+
+void
+ddsrt_exit(int status)
+{
+  exit(status);
+}
diff --git a/src/ddsrt/tests/thread.c b/src/ddsrt/tests/thread.c
index b1df2dbc02..dcd55d125e 100644
--- a/src/ddsrt/tests/thread.c
+++ b/src/ddsrt/tests/thread.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "dds/ddsrt/cdtors.h"
 #include "dds/ddsrt/retcode.h"
 #include "dds/ddsrt/sync.h"
+#include "dds/ddsrt/process.h"
 #include "dds/ddsrt/threads.h"
 
 static int32_t min_fifo_prio = 250;
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ static uint32_t thread_main(void *ptr)
 #elif _WIN32
   int prio = GetThreadPriority(GetCurrentThread());
   if (prio == THREAD_PRIORITY_ERROR_RETURN)
-    abort();
+    ddsrt_abort();
   if (prio == attr->schedPriority) {
     arg->res = 1;
   }
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ static uint32_t thread_main(void *ptr)
 
   err = pthread_getschedparam(pthread_self(), &policy, &sched);
   if (err != 0) {
-    abort();
+    ddsrt_abort();
   }
   if (((policy == SCHED_OTHER && attr->schedClass == DDSRT_SCHED_TIMESHARE) ||
        (policy == SCHED_FIFO && attr->schedClass == DDSRT_SCHED_REALTIME))
diff --git a/src/tools/ddsperf/ddsperf.c b/src/tools/ddsperf/ddsperf.c
index 8df98517c4..07516a8e75 100644
--- a/src/tools/ddsperf/ddsperf.c
+++ b/src/tools/ddsperf/ddsperf.c
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ static void verrorx (int exitcode, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
   vprintf (fmt, ap);
   fflush (stdout);
-  exit (exitcode);
+  ddsrt_exit (exitcode);
 }
 
 static void error2 (const char *fmt, ...)
@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@ static uint32_t pubthread (void *varg)
       {
         printf ("dds_register_instance failed: %d\n", result);
         fflush (stdout);
-        exit (2);
+        ddsrt_exit (2);
       }
     }
   }
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ static uint32_t pubthread (void *varg)
     {
       printf ("request loan error: %d\n", result);
       fflush (stdout);
-      exit (2);
+      ddsrt_exit (2);
     }
     else
     {
@@ -765,7 +765,7 @@ static uint32_t pubthread (void *varg)
       printf ("write error: %d\n", result);
       fflush (stdout);
       if (result != DDS_RETCODE_TIMEOUT)
-        exit (2);
+        ddsrt_exit (2);
       /* retry with original timestamp, it really is just a way of reporting
          blocking for an exceedingly long time, but do force a fresh time stamp
          for the next sample */
@@ -976,7 +976,7 @@ static int check_eseq (struct eseq_admin *ea, uint32_t seq, uint32_t keyval, uin
   if (keyval >= ea->nkeys)
   {
     printf ("received key %"PRIu32" >= nkeys %u\n", keyval, ea->nkeys);
-    exit (3);
+    ddsrt_exit (3);
   }
   ddsrt_mutex_lock (&ea->lock);
   for (uint32_t i = 0; i < ea->nph; i++)
@@ -1970,7 +1970,7 @@ EXAMPLES:\n\
     running for 10s\n\
 ", argv0, argv0, argv0);
   fflush (stdout);
-  exit (3);
+  ddsrt_exit (3);
 }
 
 struct string_int_map_elem {