diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/FinalizedFeatureChangeListener.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/FinalizedFeatureChangeListener.scala
index 57413ae931ba..8bcce872c610 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/FinalizedFeatureChangeListener.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/FinalizedFeatureChangeListener.scala
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 package kafka.server
 
-import kafka.server.metadata.ZkMetadataCache
+import kafka.server.metadata.{FeatureCacheUpdateException, ZkMetadataCache}
 
 import java.util.concurrent.{CountDownLatch, LinkedBlockingQueue, TimeUnit}
 import kafka.utils.Logging
@@ -160,10 +160,12 @@ class FinalizedFeatureChangeListener(private val finalizedFeatureCache: ZkMetada
           // safe to ignore the exception if the thread is being shutdown. We raise the exception
           // here again, because, it is ignored by ShutdownableThread if it is shutting down.
           throw ie
-        case e: Exception => {
-          error("Failed to process feature ZK node change event. The broker will eventually exit.", e)
+        case cacheUpdateException: FeatureCacheUpdateException =>
+          error("Failed to process feature ZK node change event. The broker will eventually exit.", cacheUpdateException)
           throw new FatalExitError(1)
-        }
+        case e: Exception =>
+          // do not exit for exceptions unrelated to cache change processing (e.g. ZK session expiration)
+          warn("Unexpected exception in feature ZK node change event processing; will continue processing.", e)
       }
     }
   }