diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4631af6..6405832 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -108,6 +108,29 @@ Format:
 Specifies from and to versions which are supported by the
 in-place-upgrade mechanism.
 
+    aem_cms_stop_timeout_seconds: 1200
+
+Seconds to wait for instance to be stopped until process is killed.
+
+    aem_cms_systemd_unit_template: "aem.service.j2"
+
+Path to the systemd unit template. Use this variable to specify a custom
+template.
+
+    aem_cms_sysvinit_service_template: "aem.init.j2"
+
+Path to the sysvinit service template. Path to the systemd unit
+template. Use this variable to specify a custom template.
+
+    aem_cms_stop_sync_template: "stop-sync.sh.j2"
+
+Path to the synchronous stop script template. Use this variable to
+specify a custom template.
+
+    aem_cms_stop_sync_path: "{{ aem_cms_home }}/crx-quickstart/bin/stop-sync.sh"
+
+Destination path of the synchronous stop script on the instance.
+
 ## Dependencies
 
 This role depends on the
diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 98277a4..0c8bb48 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -65,3 +65,18 @@ aem_cms_in_place_upgrade_paths:
     - "6.4.0"
 # "from_version":
 #    - "to_version" # list of versions that an upgrade is allowed for
+
+# Seconds to wait for instance to be stopped until process is killed
+aem_cms_stop_timeout_seconds: 1200
+
+# Path to the systemd unit template
+aem_cms_systemd_unit_template: "aem.service.j2"
+
+# Path to the sysvinit service template
+aem_cms_sysvinit_service_template: "aem.init.j2"
+
+# Path to the synchronous stop script template
+aem_cms_stop_sync_template: "stop-sync.sh.j2"
+
+# Destination path of the synchronous stop script on the instance
+aem_cms_stop_sync_path: "{{ aem_cms_home }}/crx-quickstart/bin/stop-sync.sh"
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index 10a2202..a443dfc 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@
     state: absent
   when: aem_cms_remove_download
 
+- name: Create stop-sync shell file.
+  template:
+    src: "{{ aem_cms_stop_sync_template }}"
+    dest: "{{ aem_cms_stop_sync_path }}"
+    owner: "{{ aem_cms_user }}"
+    group: "{{ aem_cms_group }}"
+    mode: "0744"
+
 - name: Setup AEM systemd unit.
   include_tasks: systemd.yml
   when: ansible_service_mgr == 'systemd'
diff --git a/tasks/systemd.yml b/tasks/systemd.yml
index 519c0c3..59347f0 100644
--- a/tasks/systemd.yml
+++ b/tasks/systemd.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 - name: Create AEM systemd unit file.
   template:
-    src: aem.service.j2
+    src: "{{ aem_cms_systemd_unit_template }}"
     dest: "/etc/systemd/system/{{ aem_cms_service_name }}.service"
     mode: "0644"
 
diff --git a/tasks/sysvinit.yml b/tasks/sysvinit.yml
index a056e97..b0ccb01 100644
--- a/tasks/sysvinit.yml
+++ b/tasks/sysvinit.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 - name: Create AEM initd service file.
   template:
-    src: aem.init.j2
+    src: "{{ aem_cms_sysvinit_service_template }}"
     dest: "/etc/init.d/{{ aem_cms_service_name }}"
     mode: "0755"
 
diff --git a/templates/aem.init.j2 b/templates/aem.init.j2
index a8d0608..8aaa918 100644
--- a/templates/aem.init.j2
+++ b/templates/aem.init.j2
@@ -1,65 +1,63 @@
-#!/bin/sh -e
-### BEGIN INIT INFO
-# Provides:          {{ aem_cms_service_name }}
-# Required-Start:    $local_fs $remote_fs $network $syslog $named
-# Required-Stop:     $local_fs $remote_fs $network $syslog $named
-# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
-# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
-# Short-Description: Start AEM process
-# Description:       Init script for AEM instance {{ aem_cms_service_name }}
-### END INIT INFO
-
-# Source function library.
-#. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions
-. /lib/lsb/init-functions
-
-SCRIPT_NAME=`basename $0`
-AEM_ROOT={{ aem_cms_home }}
-AEM_USER={{ aem_cms_user }}
-
-
-########
-BIN=${AEM_ROOT}/crx-quickstart/bin
-START=${BIN}/start
-STOP="${BIN}/stop --sync"
-STATUS="${BIN}/status"
-
-aem_start() {
-  if $0 status > /dev/null ; then
-    log_success_msg "$SCRIPT_NAME already started"
-  else
-    log_daemon_msg "Starting $DESC" "$SCRIPT_NAME"
-    su - ${AEM_USER} ${START} > /dev/null
-    log_end_msg 0
-  fi
-}
-
-aem_stop() {
-  if $0 status > /dev/null ; then
-    log_daemon_msg "Stopping $DESC" "$SCRIPT_NAME"
-    su - ${AEM_USER} -c "bash ${STOP}" > /dev/null
-    log_end_msg 0
-  else
-    log_success_msg "$SCRIPT_NAME not started"
-  fi
-}
-
-case "$1" in
-start)
-aem_start
-;;
-stop)
-aem_stop
-;;
-status)
-su - ${AEM_USER} ${STATUS}
-;;
-restart)
-aem_stop
-aem_start
-;;
-*)
-echo "Usage: $SCRIPT_NAME {start|stop|status|restart}"
-exit 1
-;;
-esac
+#!/bin/bash
+### BEGIN INIT INFO
+# Provides:          {{ aem_cms_service_name }}
+# Required-Start:    $local_fs $remote_fs $network $syslog $named
+# Required-Stop:     $local_fs $remote_fs $network $syslog $named
+# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
+# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
+# Short-Description: Start AEM process
+# Description:       Init script for AEM instance {{ aem_cms_service_name }}
+### END INIT INFO
+
+# Source function library.
+. /lib/lsb/init-functions
+
+SCRIPT_NAME=`basename $0`
+AEM_ROOT={{ aem_cms_home }}
+AEM_USER={{ aem_cms_user }}
+PID_PATH={{ aem_cms_home }}/crx-quickstart/conf/cq.pid
+STOP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS={{ aem_cms_stop_timeout_seconds }}
+
+
+########
+BIN=${AEM_ROOT}/crx-quickstart/bin
+START=${BIN}/start
+STOP=${BIN}/stop-sync.sh
+STATUS="${BIN}/status"
+
+aem_start() {
+  pidResult=$(pgrep --pidfile $PID_PATH || true);
+  if [[ $pidResult != "" ]];
+  then
+    log_success_msg "$SCRIPT_NAME already started"
+  else
+    log_daemon_msg "Starting $SCRIPT_NAME"
+    su - ${AEM_USER} ${START} > /dev/null
+    log_end_msg 0
+  fi
+}
+
+aem_stop() {
+  # execute sync stop script
+  su - ${AEM_USER} -c "bash ${STOP}"
+}
+
+case "$1" in
+  start)
+    aem_start
+  ;;
+  stop)
+    aem_stop
+   ;;
+  status)
+    su - ${AEM_USER} ${STATUS}
+  ;;
+  restart)
+    aem_stop
+    aem_start
+  ;;
+  *)
+    echo "Usage: $SCRIPT_NAME {start|stop|status|restart}"
+  exit 1
+  ;;
+esac
diff --git a/templates/aem.service.j2 b/templates/aem.service.j2
index c5ba5da..f7159fa 100644
--- a/templates/aem.service.j2
+++ b/templates/aem.service.j2
@@ -7,11 +7,28 @@ Requires=network.target
 
 [Service]
 Type=forking
-ExecStart={{ aem_cms_home }}/crx-quickstart/bin/start
-ExecStop={{ aem_cms_home }}/crx-quickstart/bin/stop --sync
 PIDFile={{ aem_cms_home }}/crx-quickstart/conf/cq.pid
-User={{ aem_cms_user }}
+
 LimitNOFILE={{ aem_cms_limit_nofile }}
 
+User={{ aem_cms_user }}
+Group={{ aem_cms_group }}
+
+# Do not kill the process because sync stop script is taking care of this
+KillMode=none
+
+ExecStart={{ aem_cms_home }}/crx-quickstart/bin/start
+
+# sleep some time after start to ensure pid file is present for systemd
+ExecStartPost=/bin/sleep 5s
+ExecStop=-{{ aem_cms_stop_sync_path }}
+
+# Configure the time to wait for ExecStop command
+{# Add 30 seconds to aem_cms_stop_timeout_seconds to avoid timeouts when process is killed #}
+TimeoutStopSec={{ aem_cms_stop_timeout_seconds | int + 30}}s
+
+# Wait at least one second before restart
+RestartSec=1
+
 [Install]
-WantedBy=multi-user.target
\ No newline at end of file
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/templates/stop-sync.sh.j2 b/templates/stop-sync.sh.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7c0558
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/stop-sync.sh.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Source function library.
+. /lib/lsb/init-functions
+
+SCRIPT_NAME=`basename $0`
+AEM_ROOT={{ aem_cms_home }}
+AEM_SERVICE_NAME={{ aem_cms_service_name }}
+PID_PATH=${AEM_ROOT}/crx-quickstart/conf/cq.pid
+STOP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS={{ aem_cms_stop_timeout_seconds }}
+
+########
+BIN=${AEM_ROOT}/crx-quickstart/bin
+STOP=${BIN}/stop
+
+# check if instance is running
+pidResult=$(pgrep --pidfile $PID_PATH || true);
+if [[ $pidResult != "" ]];
+then
+  # AEM is running
+  log_daemon_msg "Stopping $AEM_SERVICE_NAME"
+  bash ${STOP} > /dev/null
+  while [ "$STOP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS" != "0" ]; do
+    sleep 1s
+    pidResult=$(pgrep --pidfile $PID_PATH || true);
+    if [[ $pidResult == "" ]];
+    then
+      break;
+    fi
+
+    log_progress_msg "."
+    let STOP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS-=1;
+
+  done
+  # check if AEM process has to be terminated
+  pidResult=$(pgrep --pidfile $PID_PATH || true);
+  if [[ $pidResult != "" ]];
+  then
+    log_daemon_msg "Killed $AEM_SERVICE_NAME because shutdown timeout was reached"
+    kill -9 $(cat $PID_PATH);
+  fi
+  log_end_msg 0
+else
+  # AEM is not running
+  log_success_msg "$AEM_SERVICE_NAME already stopped"
+  log_end_msg 7
+fi