diff --git a/docs/resources/virtual_environment_vm.md b/docs/resources/virtual_environment_vm.md
index e7235fc6..4c87eea7 100644
--- a/docs/resources/virtual_environment_vm.md
+++ b/docs/resources/virtual_environment_vm.md
@@ -475,6 +475,7 @@ output "ubuntu_vm_public_key" {
   resource. You may use the `ignore_changes` lifecycle meta-argument to ignore
   changes to this attribute.
 - `template` - (Optional) Whether to create a template (defaults to `false`).
+- `stop_on_destroy` - (Optional) Whether to stop rather than shutdown on VM destroy (defaults to `false`)
 - `timeout_clone` - (Optional) Timeout for cloning a VM in seconds (defaults to
   1800).
 - `timeout_create` - (Optional) Timeout for creating a VM in seconds (defaults to
diff --git a/proxmoxtf/resource/vm.go b/proxmoxtf/resource/vm.go
index a1fff42d..0d265cd0 100644
--- a/proxmoxtf/resource/vm.go
+++ b/proxmoxtf/resource/vm.go
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ const (
 	dvResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMVGAMemory                         = 16
 	dvResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMVGAType                           = "std"
 	dvResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMSCSIHardware                      = "virtio-scsi-pci"
-
-	dvResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMHookScript = ""
+	dvResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMStopOnDestroy                     = false
+	dvResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMHookScript                        = ""
 
 	maxResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMAudioDevices   = 1
 	maxResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMNetworkDevices = 8
@@ -299,6 +299,7 @@ const (
 	mkResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMVMID                              = "vm_id"
 	mkResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMSCSIHardware                      = "scsi_hardware"
 	mkResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMHookScriptFileID                  = "hook_script_file_id"
+	mkResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMStopOnDestroy                     = "stop_on_destroy"
 )
 
 // VM returns a resource that manages VMs.
@@ -1576,6 +1577,12 @@ func VM() *schema.Resource {
 				Optional:    true,
 				Default:     dvResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMHookScript,
 			},
+			mkResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMStopOnDestroy: {
+				Type:        schema.TypeBool,
+				Description: "Whether to stop rather than shutdown on VM destroy",
+				Optional:    true,
+				Default:     dvResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMStopOnDestroy,
+			},
 		},
 		CreateContext: vmCreate,
 		ReadContext:   vmRead,
@@ -1747,6 +1754,20 @@ func vmShutdown(ctx context.Context, vmAPI *vms.Client, d *schema.ResourceData)
 	return diag.FromErr(vmAPI.WaitForVMState(ctx, "stopped", shutdownTimeout, 1))
 }
 
+// Forcefully stop the VM, then wait for it to actually stop.
+func vmStop(ctx context.Context, vmAPI *vms.Client, d *schema.ResourceData) diag.Diagnostics {
+	tflog.Debug(ctx, "Stopping VM")
+
+	stopTimeout := d.Get(mkResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMTimeoutStopVM).(int)
+
+	e := vmAPI.StopVM(ctx, stopTimeout+30)
+	if e != nil {
+		return diag.FromErr(e)
+	}
+
+	return diag.FromErr(vmAPI.WaitForVMState(ctx, "stopped", stopTimeout, 1))
+}
+
 func vmCreateClone(ctx context.Context, d *schema.ResourceData, m interface{}) diag.Diagnostics {
 	config := m.(proxmoxtf.ProviderConfiguration)
 
@@ -6126,15 +6147,22 @@ func vmDelete(ctx context.Context, d *schema.ResourceData, m interface{}) diag.D
 
 	vmAPI := api.Node(nodeName).VM(vmID)
 
-	// Shut down the virtual machine before deleting it.
+	// Stop or shut down the virtual machine before deleting it.
 	status, err := vmAPI.GetVMStatus(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return diag.FromErr(err)
 	}
 
+	stop := d.Get(mkResourceVirtualEnvironmentVMStopOnDestroy).(bool)
 	if status.Status != "stopped" {
-		if e := vmShutdown(ctx, vmAPI, d); e != nil {
-			return e
+		if stop {
+			if e := vmStop(ctx, vmAPI, d); e != nil {
+				return e
+			}
+		} else {
+			if e := vmShutdown(ctx, vmAPI, d); e != nil {
+				return e
+			}
 		}
 	}