diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 56fe7075..19db7a80 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import gc
 import glob
 import random
+from unittest.mock import patch
 
 import dask
 import pandas as pd
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
 
 from merlin.core.compat import cudf
 from merlin.core.compat import numpy as np
+from merlin.dataloader.loader_base import LoaderBase
 
 if cudf:
     try:
@@ -241,3 +243,17 @@ def np_embeddings_from_pq(rev_embeddings_from_dataframe, tmpdir_factory):
         paths, embeddings_file, lookup_ids_file
     )
     return npy_filename, lookup_filename
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="function", autouse=True)
+def cleanup_dataloader():
+    """After each test runs. Call .stop() on any dataloaders created during the test.
+    The avoids issues with background threads hanging around and interfering with subsequent tests.
+    This happens when a dataloader is partially consumed (not all batches are iterated through).
+    """
+    with patch.object(
+        LoaderBase, "__iter__", side_effect=LoaderBase.__iter__, autospec=True
+    ) as patched:
+        yield
+        for call in patched.call_args_list:
+            call.args[0].stop()