diff --git a/integration/nest-application/sse/e2e/express.spec.ts b/integration/nest-application/sse/e2e/express.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..363dc807f42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/nest-application/sse/e2e/express.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+import { NestExpressApplication } from '@nestjs/platform-express';
+import { Test } from '@nestjs/testing';
+import { expect } from 'chai';
+import * as EventSource from 'eventsource';
+import { AppModule } from '../src/app.module';
+
+describe('Sse (Express Application)', () => {
+  let app: NestExpressApplication;
+  let eventSource: EventSource;
+
+  describe('without forceCloseConnections', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      const moduleFixture = await Test.createTestingModule({
+        imports: [AppModule],
+      }).compile();
+
+      app = moduleFixture.createNestApplication<NestExpressApplication>();
+
+      await app.listen(3000);
+      const url = await app.getUrl();
+
+      eventSource = new EventSource(url + '/sse', {
+        headers: { connection: 'keep-alive' },
+      });
+    });
+
+    // The order of actions is very important here. When not using `forceCloseConnections`,
+    // the SSe eventsource should close the connections in order to signal the server that
+    // the keep-alive connection can be ended.
+    afterEach(async () => {
+      eventSource.close();
+
+      await app.close();
+    });
+
+    it('receives events from server', done => {
+      eventSource.addEventListener('message', event => {
+        expect(JSON.parse(event.data)).to.eql({
+          hello: 'world',
+        });
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('with forceCloseConnections', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      const moduleFixture = await Test.createTestingModule({
+        imports: [AppModule],
+      }).compile();
+
+      app = moduleFixture.createNestApplication<NestExpressApplication>({
+        forceCloseConnections: true,
+      });
+
+      await app.listen(3000);
+      const url = await app.getUrl();
+
+      eventSource = new EventSource(url + '/sse', {
+        headers: { connection: 'keep-alive' },
+      });
+    });
+
+    afterEach(async () => {
+      await app.close();
+
+      eventSource.close();
+    });
+
+    it('receives events from server', done => {
+      eventSource.addEventListener('message', event => {
+        expect(JSON.parse(event.data)).to.eql({
+          hello: 'world',
+        });
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/integration/nest-application/sse/e2e/fastify.spec.ts b/integration/nest-application/sse/e2e/fastify.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4fc1ebf2029
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/nest-application/sse/e2e/fastify.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+import {
+  FastifyAdapter,
+  NestFastifyApplication,
+} from '@nestjs/platform-fastify';
+import { Test } from '@nestjs/testing';
+import { expect } from 'chai';
+import * as EventSource from 'eventsource';
+import { AppModule } from '../src/app.module';
+
+describe('Sse (Fastify Application)', () => {
+  let app: NestFastifyApplication;
+  let eventSource: EventSource;
+
+  describe('without forceCloseConnections', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      const moduleFixture = await Test.createTestingModule({
+        imports: [AppModule],
+      }).compile();
+
+      app = moduleFixture.createNestApplication<NestFastifyApplication>(
+        new FastifyAdapter(),
+      );
+
+      await app.listen(3000);
+      const url = await app.getUrl();
+
+      eventSource = new EventSource(url + '/sse', {
+        headers: { connection: 'keep-alive' },
+      });
+    });
+
+    // The order of actions is very important here. When not using `forceCloseConnections`,
+    // the SSe eventsource should close the connections in order to signal the server that
+    // the keep-alive connection can be ended.
+    afterEach(async () => {
+      eventSource.close();
+
+      await app.close();
+    });
+
+    it('receives events from server', done => {
+      eventSource.addEventListener('message', event => {
+        expect(JSON.parse(event.data)).to.eql({
+          hello: 'world',
+        });
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('with forceCloseConnections', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      const moduleFixture = await Test.createTestingModule({
+        imports: [AppModule],
+      }).compile();
+
+      app = moduleFixture.createNestApplication<NestFastifyApplication>(
+        new FastifyAdapter({
+          forceCloseConnections: true,
+        }),
+      );
+
+      await app.listen(3000);
+      const url = await app.getUrl();
+
+      eventSource = new EventSource(url + '/sse', {
+        headers: { connection: 'keep-alive' },
+      });
+    });
+
+    afterEach(async () => {
+      await app.close();
+
+      eventSource.close();
+    });
+
+    it('receives events from server', done => {
+      eventSource.addEventListener('message', event => {
+        expect(JSON.parse(event.data)).to.eql({
+          hello: 'world',
+        });
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/integration/nest-application/sse/src/app.controller.ts b/integration/nest-application/sse/src/app.controller.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2e36fa3d3df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/nest-application/sse/src/app.controller.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { Controller, MessageEvent, Sse } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { interval, map, Observable } from 'rxjs';
+
+@Controller()
+export class AppController {
+  @Sse('sse')
+  sse(): Observable<MessageEvent> {
+    return interval(1000).pipe(
+      map(_ => ({ data: { hello: 'world' } } as MessageEvent)),
+    );
+  }
+}
diff --git a/integration/nest-application/sse/src/app.module.ts b/integration/nest-application/sse/src/app.module.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..848d4aaa7fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/nest-application/sse/src/app.module.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { AppController } from './app.controller';
+
+@Module({
+  controllers: [AppController],
+})
+export class AppModule {}
diff --git a/integration/nest-application/sse/tsconfig.json b/integration/nest-application/sse/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..261f9bff228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/nest-application/sse/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "module": "commonjs",
+    "declaration": false,
+    "noImplicitAny": false,
+    "removeComments": true,
+    "lib": ["dom"],
+    "noLib": false,
+    "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
+    "experimentalDecorators": true,
+    "target": "es6",
+    "sourceMap": true,
+    "allowJs": true,
+    "outDir": "./dist"
+  },
+  "include": [
+    "src/**/*",
+    "e2e/**/*"
+  ],
+  "exclude": [
+    "node_modules"
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/packages/common/interfaces/nest-application-options.interface.ts b/packages/common/interfaces/nest-application-options.interface.ts
index 5c67cd9d2dc..5d4c89cbc38 100644
--- a/packages/common/interfaces/nest-application-options.interface.ts
+++ b/packages/common/interfaces/nest-application-options.interface.ts
@@ -25,4 +25,9 @@ export interface NestApplicationOptions extends NestApplicationContextOptions {
    * Whether to register the raw request body on the request. Use `req.rawBody`.
    */
   rawBody?: boolean;
+  /**
+   * Force close open HTTP connections. Useful if restarting your application hangs due to
+   * keep-alive connections in the HTTP adapter.
+   */
+  forceCloseConnections?: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/packages/platform-express/adapters/express-adapter.ts b/packages/platform-express/adapters/express-adapter.ts
index 718a3f4fd13..9d02e8b1fa6 100644
--- a/packages/platform-express/adapters/express-adapter.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-express/adapters/express-adapter.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import * as cors from 'cors';
 import * as express from 'express';
 import * as http from 'http';
 import * as https from 'https';
-import { pipeline } from 'stream';
+import { Duplex, pipeline } from 'stream';
 import { ServeStaticOptions } from '../interfaces/serve-static-options.interface';
 import { getBodyParserOptions } from './utils/get-body-parser-options.util';
 
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ type VersionedRoute = <
 export class ExpressAdapter extends AbstractHttpAdapter {
   private readonly routerMethodFactory = new RouterMethodFactory();
   private readonly logger = new Logger(ExpressAdapter.name);
+  private readonly openConnections = new Set<Duplex>();
 
   constructor(instance?: any) {
     super(instance || express());
@@ -139,6 +140,8 @@ export class ExpressAdapter extends AbstractHttpAdapter {
   }
 
   public close() {
+    this.closeOpenConnections();
+
     if (!this.httpServer) {
       return undefined;
     }
@@ -207,9 +210,13 @@ export class ExpressAdapter extends AbstractHttpAdapter {
         options.httpsOptions,
         this.getInstance(),
       );
-      return;
+    } else {
+      this.httpServer = http.createServer(this.getInstance());
+    }
+
+    if (options?.forceCloseConnections) {
+      this.trackOpenConnections();
     }
-    this.httpServer = http.createServer(this.getInstance());
   }
 
   public registerParserMiddleware(prefix?: string, rawBody?: boolean) {
@@ -382,6 +389,21 @@ export class ExpressAdapter extends AbstractHttpAdapter {
     }
   }
 
+  private trackOpenConnections() {
+    this.httpServer.on('connection', (socket: Duplex) => {
+      this.openConnections.add(socket);
+
+      socket.on('close', () => this.openConnections.delete(socket));
+    });
+  }
+
+  private closeOpenConnections() {
+    for (const socket of this.openConnections) {
+      socket.destroy();
+      this.openConnections.delete(socket);
+    }
+  }
+
   private isMiddlewareApplied(name: string): boolean {
     const app = this.getInstance();
     return (
diff --git a/sample/28-sse/src/main.ts b/sample/28-sse/src/main.ts
index e1e10d96995..4d8008da574 100644
--- a/sample/28-sse/src/main.ts
+++ b/sample/28-sse/src/main.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@ import { NestFactory } from '@nestjs/core';
 import { AppModule } from './app.module';
 
 async function bootstrap() {
-  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule);
+  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule, {
+    forceCloseConnections: true,
+  });
+  app.enableShutdownHooks();
   await app.listen(3000);
   console.log(`Application is running on: ${await app.getUrl()}`);
 }