diff --git a/src/main/java/cloud/localstack/Localstack.java b/src/main/java/cloud/localstack/Localstack.java
index c1124b0..f9e2f6a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cloud/localstack/Localstack.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cloud/localstack/Localstack.java
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ public void startup(LocalstackDockerConfiguration dockerConfiguration) {
     public void stop() {
         if (localStackContainer != null) {
             localStackContainer.stop();
+            localStackContainer = null;
         }
         locked = false;
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/cloud/localstack/awssdkv1/docker/LocalstackDockerTest.java b/src/test/java/cloud/localstack/awssdkv1/docker/LocalstackDockerTest.java
index 48aff67..975e489 100644
--- a/src/test/java/cloud/localstack/awssdkv1/docker/LocalstackDockerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/cloud/localstack/awssdkv1/docker/LocalstackDockerTest.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 
 public class LocalstackDockerTest {
 
@@ -52,6 +53,13 @@ public void stop() {
         amazonSQS.createQueue("test-queue").getQueueUrl();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void restart() {
+        Localstack.INSTANCE.startup(DOCKER_CONFIG);
+        Localstack.INSTANCE.stop();
+        assertFalse(Localstack.INSTANCE.isRunning());
+    }
+
     @After
     public void tearDown() {
         Localstack.INSTANCE.stop();