diff --git a/libs/freetdm/src/ftdm_io.c b/libs/freetdm/src/ftdm_io.c
index 5371946993..f6ba9af848 100644
--- a/libs/freetdm/src/ftdm_io.c
+++ b/libs/freetdm/src/ftdm_io.c
@@ -414,9 +414,7 @@ static ftdm_status_t ftdm_span_destroy(ftdm_span_t *span)
 	ftdm_mutex_lock(span->mutex);
 
 	/* stop the signaling */
-	if (span->stop) {
-		status = span->stop(span);
-	} 
+	ftdm_span_stop(span);
 
 	/* destroy the channels */
 	ftdm_clear_flag(span, FTDM_SPAN_CONFIGURED);
@@ -514,12 +512,12 @@ static void ftdm_span_add(ftdm_span_t *span)
 
 FT_DECLARE(ftdm_status_t) ftdm_span_stop(ftdm_span_t *span)
 {
+	ftdm_status_t status =  FTDM_FAIL;
 	if (span->stop) {
-		span->stop(span);
-		return FTDM_SUCCESS;
+		status = span->stop(span);
+		span->stop = NULL;
 	}
-	
-	return FTDM_FAIL;
+	return status;
 }
 
 FT_DECLARE(ftdm_status_t) ftdm_span_create(const char *iotype, const char *name, ftdm_span_t **span)
diff --git a/libs/freetdm/src/include/freetdm.h b/libs/freetdm/src/include/freetdm.h
index 495e3cdc40..4cc9fd244e 100644
--- a/libs/freetdm/src/include/freetdm.h
+++ b/libs/freetdm/src/include/freetdm.h
@@ -1125,6 +1125,9 @@ FT_DECLARE(ftdm_status_t) ftdm_span_start(ftdm_span_t *span);
 
 /*! 
  * \brief Stop the span signaling (must call ftdm_span_start first)
+ * \note certain signalings (boost signaling) does not support granular span start/stop
+ * so it is recommended to always configure all spans and then starting them all and finally
+ * stop them all (or call ftdm_global_destroy which takes care of stopping and destroying the spans at once).
  *
  * \param span The span to stop
  *