diff --git a/sdk/metrics/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/export/IntervalMetricReader.java b/sdk/metrics/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/export/IntervalMetricReader.java
index c9a5be8bc6..542d0e2b4a 100644
--- a/sdk/metrics/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/export/IntervalMetricReader.java
+++ b/sdk/metrics/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/export/IntervalMetricReader.java
@@ -33,19 +33,30 @@ public final class IntervalMetricReader {
   private final ScheduledExecutorService scheduler;
 
   /** Stops the scheduled task and calls export one more time. */
-  public void shutdown() {
+  public CompletableResultCode shutdown() {
+    final CompletableResultCode result = new CompletableResultCode();
     scheduler.shutdown();
     try {
       scheduler.awaitTermination(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
-      exporter.run();
+      final CompletableResultCode flushResult = exporter.doRun();
+      flushResult.join(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
     } catch (InterruptedException e) {
       // force a shutdown if the export hasn't finished.
       scheduler.shutdownNow();
       // reset the interrupted status
       Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
     } finally {
-      exporter.shutdown();
+      final CompletableResultCode shutdownResult = exporter.shutdown();
+      shutdownResult.whenComplete(
+          () -> {
+            if (!shutdownResult.isSuccess()) {
+              result.fail();
+            } else {
+              result.succeed();
+            }
+          });
     }
+    return result;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -81,6 +92,12 @@ public final class IntervalMetricReader {
     @Override
     @SuppressWarnings("BooleanParameter")
     public void run() {
+      // Ignore the CompletableResultCode from doRun() in order to keep run() asynchronous
+      doRun();
+    }
+
+    CompletableResultCode doRun() {
+      final CompletableResultCode flushResult = new CompletableResultCode();
       if (exportAvailable.compareAndSet(true, false)) {
         try {
           List<MetricData> metricsList = new ArrayList<>();
@@ -94,18 +111,22 @@ public final class IntervalMetricReader {
                 if (!result.isSuccess()) {
                   logger.log(Level.FINE, "Exporter failed");
                 }
+                flushResult.succeed();
                 exportAvailable.set(true);
               });
         } catch (RuntimeException e) {
           logger.log(Level.WARNING, "Exporter threw an Exception", e);
+          flushResult.fail();
         }
       } else {
         logger.log(Level.FINE, "Exporter busy. Dropping metrics.");
+        flushResult.fail();
       }
+      return flushResult;
     }
 
-    void shutdown() {
-      internalState.getMetricExporter().shutdown();
+    CompletableResultCode shutdown() {
+      return internalState.getMetricExporter().shutdown();
     }
   }