diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-reusable.yml b/.github/workflows/build-reusable.yml
index 673c074..8519c8d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-reusable.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-reusable.yml
@@ -263,25 +263,25 @@ jobs:
           # Activate virtual environment
           source .venv/bin/activate || source .venv/Scripts/activate
 
-          # Run all tests with timeout to debug Python 3.13 hanging issue
-          # Using timeout with INT signal to get full traceback when hanging (Linux only)
-          if [[ "${{ matrix.python }}" == "3.13" ]] && [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "Linux" ]]; then
-            echo "Running tests with timeout for Python 3.13 debugging (Linux)..."
-            timeout --signal=INT 120 pytest tests/ --full-trace -v || {
+          # Run all tests with timeout on Linux to prevent hanging
+          if [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "Linux" ]]; then
+            echo "Running tests with timeout (Linux)..."
+            timeout --signal=INT 180 pytest tests/ -v || {
               EXIT_CODE=$?
               if [ $EXIT_CODE -eq 124 ]; then
-                echo "⚠️ Tests timed out after 120 seconds - likely hanging during collection"
-                echo "This is a known issue with Python 3.13 - see traceback above for details"
+                echo "⚠️ Tests timed out after 180 seconds - likely process cleanup issue"
+                echo "Check for lingering ZMQ connections or child processes"
+                # Try to clean up any leftover processes
+                pkill -TERM -P $$ || true
+                sleep 1
+                pkill -KILL -P $$ || true
               fi
               exit $EXIT_CODE
             }
-          elif [[ "${{ matrix.python }}" == "3.13" ]]; then
-            # For macOS/Windows, run with verbose output but no timeout
-            echo "Running tests for Python 3.13 (no timeout on $RUNNER_OS)..."
-            pytest tests/ --full-trace -v
           else
-            # Normal test run for other Python versions
-            pytest tests/
+            # For macOS/Windows, run without GNU timeout
+            echo "Running tests ($RUNNER_OS)..."
+            pytest tests/ -v
           fi
 
       - name: Run sanity checks (optional)
diff --git a/packages/leann-backend-diskann/leann_backend_diskann/diskann_embedding_server.py b/packages/leann-backend-diskann/leann_backend_diskann/diskann_embedding_server.py
index b566ae6..e345568 100644
--- a/packages/leann-backend-diskann/leann_backend_diskann/diskann_embedding_server.py
+++ b/packages/leann-backend-diskann/leann_backend_diskann/diskann_embedding_server.py
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ def create_diskann_embedding_server(
         socket = context.socket(
             zmq.REP
         )  # REP socket for both BaseSearcher and DiskANN C++ REQ clients
+        socket.setsockopt(zmq.LINGER, 0)  # Don't block on close
         socket.bind(f"tcp://*:{zmq_port}")
         logger.info(f"DiskANN ZMQ REP server listening on port {zmq_port}")
 
diff --git a/packages/leann-backend-hnsw/leann_backend_hnsw/hnsw_embedding_server.py b/packages/leann-backend-hnsw/leann_backend_hnsw/hnsw_embedding_server.py
index bf36883..df0e44b 100644
--- a/packages/leann-backend-hnsw/leann_backend_hnsw/hnsw_embedding_server.py
+++ b/packages/leann-backend-hnsw/leann_backend_hnsw/hnsw_embedding_server.py
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ def create_hnsw_embedding_server(
         """ZMQ server thread"""
         context = zmq.Context()
         socket = context.socket(zmq.REP)
+        socket.setsockopt(zmq.LINGER, 0)  # Don't block on close
         socket.bind(f"tcp://*:{zmq_port}")
         logger.info(f"HNSW ZMQ server listening on port {zmq_port}")
 
diff --git a/packages/leann-core/src/leann/api.py b/packages/leann-core/src/leann/api.py
index daae62d..15c865e 100644
--- a/packages/leann-core/src/leann/api.py
+++ b/packages/leann-core/src/leann/api.py
@@ -87,21 +87,23 @@ def compute_embeddings_via_server(chunks: list[str], model_name: str, port: int)
     # Connect to embedding server
     context = zmq.Context()
     socket = context.socket(zmq.REQ)
+    socket.setsockopt(zmq.LINGER, 0)  # Don't block on close
     socket.connect(f"tcp://localhost:{port}")
 
-    # Send chunks to server for embedding computation
-    request = chunks
-    socket.send(msgpack.packb(request))
+    try:
+        # Send chunks to server for embedding computation
+        request = chunks
+        socket.send(msgpack.packb(request))
 
-    # Receive embeddings from server
-    response = socket.recv()
-    embeddings_list = msgpack.unpackb(response)
+        # Receive embeddings from server
+        response = socket.recv()
+        embeddings_list = msgpack.unpackb(response)
 
-    # Convert back to numpy array
-    embeddings = np.array(embeddings_list, dtype=np.float32)
-
-    socket.close()
-    context.term()
+        # Convert back to numpy array
+        embeddings = np.array(embeddings_list, dtype=np.float32)
+    finally:
+        socket.close(linger=0)
+        context.term()
 
     return embeddings
 
diff --git a/packages/leann-core/src/leann/searcher_base.py b/packages/leann-core/src/leann/searcher_base.py
index ff368c8..5b9b80a 100644
--- a/packages/leann-core/src/leann/searcher_base.py
+++ b/packages/leann-core/src/leann/searcher_base.py
@@ -132,10 +132,13 @@ class BaseSearcher(LeannBackendSearcherInterface, ABC):
         import msgpack
         import zmq
 
+        context = None
+        socket = None
         try:
             context = zmq.Context()
             socket = context.socket(zmq.REQ)
             socket.setsockopt(zmq.RCVTIMEO, 30000)  # 30 second timeout
+            socket.setsockopt(zmq.LINGER, 0)  # Don't block on close
             socket.connect(f"tcp://localhost:{zmq_port}")
 
             # Send embedding request
@@ -147,9 +150,6 @@ class BaseSearcher(LeannBackendSearcherInterface, ABC):
             response_bytes = socket.recv()
             response = msgpack.unpackb(response_bytes)
 
-            socket.close()
-            context.term()
-
             # Convert response to numpy array
             if isinstance(response, list) and len(response) > 0:
                 return np.array(response, dtype=np.float32)
@@ -158,6 +158,11 @@ class BaseSearcher(LeannBackendSearcherInterface, ABC):
 
         except Exception as e:
             raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to compute embeddings via server: {e}")
+        finally:
+            if socket:
+                socket.close(linger=0)
+            if context:
+                context.term()
 
     @abstractmethod
     def search(
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 075778f..d03feba 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -60,8 +60,9 @@ dev = [
 
 test = [
     "pytest>=8.3.0",  # Minimum version for Python 3.13 support
-"pytest-timeout>=2.3",
-"anyio>=4.0",  # For async test support (includes pytest plugin)
+    "pytest-timeout>=2.3",
+    "anyio>=4.0",  # For async test support (includes pytest plugin)
+    "psutil>=5.9.0",  # For process cleanup in tests
     "llama-index-core>=0.12.0",
     "llama-index-readers-file>=0.4.0",
     "python-dotenv>=1.0.0",
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1e45a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+"""Global test configuration and cleanup fixtures."""
+
+import os
+import signal
+import time
+from collections.abc import Generator
+
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
+def global_test_cleanup() -> Generator:
+    """Global cleanup fixture that runs after all tests.
+
+    This ensures all ZMQ connections and child processes are properly cleaned up,
+    preventing the test runner from hanging on exit.
+    """
+    yield
+
+    # Cleanup after all tests
+    try:
+        import zmq
+
+        # Set a very short linger on any remaining contexts
+        # This prevents blocking on context termination
+        ctx = zmq.Context.instance()
+        ctx.linger = 0
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+    # Kill any leftover child processes
+    try:
+        import psutil
+
+        current_process = psutil.Process()
+        children = current_process.children(recursive=True)
+
+        if children:
+            print(f"\n⚠️  Cleaning up {len(children)} leftover child processes...")
+
+            # First try to terminate gracefully
+            for child in children:
+                try:
+                    child.terminate()
+                except (psutil.NoSuchProcess, psutil.AccessDenied):
+                    pass
+
+            # Wait a bit for processes to terminate
+            gone, alive = psutil.wait_procs(children, timeout=2)
+
+            # Force kill any remaining processes
+            for child in alive:
+                try:
+                    print(f"  Force killing process {child.pid} ({child.name()})")
+                    child.kill()
+                except (psutil.NoSuchProcess, psutil.AccessDenied):
+                    pass
+    except ImportError:
+        # psutil not installed, try basic process cleanup
+        try:
+            # Send SIGTERM to all child processes
+            os.killpg(os.getpgid(os.getpid()), signal.SIGTERM)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Warning: Error during process cleanup: {e}")
+
+    # List any remaining threads (for debugging)
+    try:
+        import threading
+
+        threads = [t for t in threading.enumerate() if t is not threading.main_thread()]
+        if threads:
+            print(f"\n⚠️  {len(threads)} non-main threads still running:")
+            for t in threads:
+                print(f"  - {t.name} (daemon={t.daemon})")
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def cleanup_after_each_test():
+    """Cleanup after each test to prevent resource leaks."""
+    yield
+
+    # Force garbage collection to trigger any __del__ methods
+    import gc
+
+    gc.collect()
+
+    # Give a moment for async cleanup
+    time.sleep(0.1)
+
+
+def pytest_configure(config):
+    """Configure pytest with better timeout handling."""
+    # Set default timeout method to thread if not specified
+    if not config.getoption("--timeout-method", None):
+        config.option.timeout_method = "thread"