diff --git a/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_pybind_state.cc b/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_pybind_state.cc
index 239db50b11..937e8bcbf5 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_pybind_state.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_pybind_state.cc
@@ -938,6 +938,7 @@ void addGlobalMethods(py::module& m, Environment& env) {
           throw std::runtime_error("Error when creating and registering allocator: " + st.ErrorMessage());
         }
       });
+  m.def("unload_shared_providers", &UnloadSharedProviders, "Unload the shared providers (needs to be done for a safe shutdown)");
 
 #ifdef USE_NUPHAR
   // TODO remove deprecated global config
@@ -2097,9 +2098,9 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(onnxruntime_pybind11_state, m) {
     LOGS(default_logger, WARNING) << "Init provider bridge failed.";
   }
 
-  atexit([] {
-    UnloadSharedProviders();
-  });
+//  atexit([] {
+//    UnloadSharedProviders();
+//  });
 #endif
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_TRAINING
diff --git a/onnxruntime/test/python/onnxruntime_test_python.py b/onnxruntime/test/python/onnxruntime_test_python.py
index 316dec756b..14d782573b 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/test/python/onnxruntime_test_python.py
+++ b/onnxruntime/test/python/onnxruntime_test_python.py
@@ -930,5 +930,12 @@ class TestInferenceSession(unittest.TestCase):
                         set())
         print("Create session with customize execution provider successfully!")
 
+    def testUnloadSharedProviders(self):
+
+        print("Unloading shared providers")
+        from onnxruntime.capi import _pybind_state as C
+        C.unload_shared_providers()
+        print("Finished unloading")
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()