diff --git a/drivers/docker/handle.go b/drivers/docker/handle.go
index 34d8e305d5c..50042d0bb8f 100644
--- a/drivers/docker/handle.go
+++ b/drivers/docker/handle.go
@@ -292,12 +292,12 @@ func (h *taskHandle) run() {
 
 	h.startCpusetFixer()
 
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), dockerTimeout)
-	defer cancel()
-
 	var werr error
 	var exitCode containerapi.WaitResponse
-	exitCodeC, errC := h.infinityClient.ContainerWait(ctx, h.containerID, containerapi.WaitConditionNotRunning)
+	// this needs to use the background context because the container can
+	// outlive Nomad itself
+	exitCodeC, errC := h.infinityClient.ContainerWait(
+		context.Background(), h.containerID, containerapi.WaitConditionNotRunning)
 
 	select {
 	case exitCode = <-exitCodeC:
@@ -308,6 +308,9 @@ func (h *taskHandle) run() {
 		h.logger.Error("failed to wait for container; already terminated")
 	}
 
+	ctx, inspectCancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer inspectCancel()
+
 	container, ierr := h.dockerClient.ContainerInspect(ctx, h.containerID)
 	oom := false
 	if ierr != nil {
@@ -331,7 +334,10 @@ func (h *taskHandle) run() {
 	close(h.doneCh)
 
 	// Stop the container just incase the docker daemon's wait returned
-	// incorrectly.
+	// incorrectly. Container should have exited by now so kill_timeout can be
+	// ignored.
+	ctx, stopCancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer stopCancel()
 	if err := h.dockerClient.ContainerStop(ctx, h.containerID, containerapi.StopOptions{
 		Timeout: pointer.Of(0),
 	}); err != nil {