diff --git a/tokio/src/task/local.rs b/tokio/src/task/local.rs
index 8a401fe03b0..6d0adf31c0c 100644
--- a/tokio/src/task/local.rs
+++ b/tokio/src/task/local.rs
@@ -345,8 +345,9 @@ impl Schedule for Scheduler {
         }
     }
 
-    fn release(&self, _: Task<Self>) {
-        unreachable!("tasks should only be completed locally")
+    fn release(&self, task: Task<Self>) {
+        // This will be called when dropping the local runtime.
+        self.pending_drop.push(task);
     }
 
     fn release_local(&self, task: &Task<Self>) {