diff --git a/crates/containerd-shim-wasm/src/sandbox/instance.rs b/crates/containerd-shim-wasm/src/sandbox/instance.rs
index 9a0b5f314..6807ca4bc 100644
--- a/crates/containerd-shim-wasm/src/sandbox/instance.rs
+++ b/crates/containerd-shim-wasm/src/sandbox/instance.rs
@@ -112,10 +112,34 @@ pub trait Instance {
     /// This is called after the instance has exited.
     fn delete(&self) -> Result<(), Error>;
     /// wait for the instance to exit
-    /// The sender is used to send the exit code and time back to the caller
-    /// Ideally this would just be a blocking call with a normal result, however
-    /// because of how this is called from a thread it causes issues with lifetimes of the trait implementer.
-    fn wait(&self, send: Sender<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>) -> Result<(), Error>;
+    /// The waiter is used to send the exit code and time back to the caller
+    fn wait(&self, waiter: &Wait) -> Result<(), Error>;
+}
+
+pub struct Wait {
+    tx: Sender<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>,
+}
+
+impl Wait {
+    pub fn new(sender: Sender<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>) -> Self {
+        Wait { tx: sender }
+    }
+
+    pub fn wait_for_exit_code(&self, exit_code: Arc<ExitCode>) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        let sender = self.tx.clone();
+        let code = Arc::clone(&exit_code);
+        thread::spawn(move || {
+            let (lock, cvar) = &*code;
+            let mut exit = lock.lock().unwrap();
+            while (*exit).is_none() {
+                exit = cvar.wait(exit).unwrap();
+            }
+            let ec = (*exit).unwrap();
+            sender.send(ec).unwrap();
+        });
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
 }
 
 /// This is used for the "pause" container with cri and is a no-op instance implementation.
@@ -156,19 +180,8 @@ impl Instance for Nop {
     fn delete(&self) -> Result<(), Error> {
         Ok(())
     }
-
-    fn wait(&self, channel: Sender<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>) -> Result<(), Error> {
-        let code = self.exit_code.clone();
-        thread::spawn(move || {
-            let (lock, cvar) = &*code;
-            let mut exit = lock.lock().unwrap();
-            while (*exit).is_none() {
-                exit = cvar.wait(exit).unwrap();
-            }
-            let ec = (*exit).unwrap();
-            channel.send(ec).unwrap();
-        });
-        Ok(())
+    fn wait(&self, waiter: &Wait) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        waiter.wait_for_exit_code(self.exit_code.clone())
     }
 }
 
@@ -188,9 +201,10 @@ mod noptests {
         let (tx, rx) = channel();
 
         let n = nop.clone();
+        let waiter = Wait::new(tx);
 
         thread::spawn(move || {
-            n.wait(tx).unwrap();
+            n.wait(&waiter).unwrap();
         });
 
         nop.kill(SIGKILL as u32)?;
@@ -205,9 +219,10 @@ mod noptests {
         let (tx, rx) = channel();
 
         let n = nop.clone();
+        let waiter = Wait::new(tx);
 
         thread::spawn(move || {
-            n.wait(tx).unwrap();
+            n.wait(&waiter).unwrap();
         });
 
         nop.kill(SIGTERM as u32)?;
@@ -222,9 +237,10 @@ mod noptests {
         let (tx, rx) = channel();
 
         let n = nop.clone();
+        let waiter = Wait::new(tx);
 
         thread::spawn(move || {
-            n.wait(tx).unwrap();
+            n.wait(&waiter).unwrap();
         });
 
         nop.kill(SIGINT as u32)?;
diff --git a/crates/containerd-shim-wasm/src/sandbox/shim.rs b/crates/containerd-shim-wasm/src/sandbox/shim.rs
index d79b39321..b9d531a78 100644
--- a/crates/containerd-shim-wasm/src/sandbox/shim.rs
+++ b/crates/containerd-shim-wasm/src/sandbox/shim.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use std::sync::mpsc::{channel, Receiver, Sender};
 use std::sync::{Arc, Condvar, Mutex, RwLock};
 use std::thread;
 
-use super::instance::{EngineGetter, Instance, InstanceConfig, Nop};
+use super::instance::{EngineGetter, Instance, InstanceConfig, Nop, Wait};
 use super::{oci, Error, SandboxService};
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 use containerd_shim::{
@@ -147,11 +147,11 @@ where
         })
     }
 
-    fn wait(&self, send: Sender<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>) -> Result<()> {
+    fn wait(&self, waiter: &Wait) -> Result<()> {
         if self.instance.is_some() {
-            return self.instance.as_ref().unwrap().wait(send);
+            return self.instance.as_ref().unwrap().wait(waiter);
         }
-        self.base.as_ref().unwrap().wait(send)
+        self.base.as_ref().unwrap().wait(waiter)
     }
 }
 
@@ -990,7 +990,8 @@ where
         });
 
         let (tx, rx) = channel::<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>();
-        i.wait(tx)?;
+        let waiter = Wait::new(tx);
+        i.wait(&waiter)?;
 
         let status = i.status.clone();
 
@@ -1112,7 +1113,8 @@ where
         }
 
         let (tx, rx) = channel::<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>();
-        i.wait(tx)?;
+        let waiter = Wait::new(tx);
+        i.wait(&waiter)?;
 
         let code = rx.recv().unwrap();
         debug!("wait done: {:?}", req);
diff --git a/crates/containerd-shim-wasmedge/src/instance.rs b/crates/containerd-shim-wasmedge/src/instance.rs
index 8a721fd83..05c46ceee 100644
--- a/crates/containerd-shim-wasmedge/src/instance.rs
+++ b/crates/containerd-shim-wasmedge/src/instance.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use anyhow::Context;
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::error::Error;
 use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::exec;
+use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::instance::Wait;
 use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::oci;
 use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::{EngineGetter, Instance, InstanceConfig};
 use libc::{dup, dup2, SIGINT, SIGKILL, STDERR_FILENO, STDIN_FILENO, STDOUT_FILENO};
@@ -10,10 +11,7 @@ use std::fs::OpenOptions;
 use std::io::ErrorKind;
 use std::os::unix::io::{IntoRawFd, RawFd};
 use std::path::Path;
-use std::sync::{
-    mpsc::Sender,
-    {Arc, Condvar, Mutex},
-};
+use std::sync::{Arc, Condvar, Mutex};
 use std::thread;
 
 use wasmedge_sdk::{
@@ -271,19 +269,9 @@ impl Instance for Wasi {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    fn wait(&self, channel: Sender<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    fn wait(&self, waiter: &Wait) -> Result<(), Error> {
         let code = self.exit_code.clone();
-        thread::spawn(move || {
-            let (lock, cvar) = &*code;
-            let mut exit = lock.lock().unwrap();
-            while (*exit).is_none() {
-                exit = cvar.wait(exit).unwrap();
-            }
-            let ec = (*exit).unwrap();
-            channel.send(ec).unwrap();
-        });
-
-        Ok(())
+        waiter.wait_for_exit_code(code)
     }
 }
 
@@ -377,8 +365,9 @@ mod wasitest {
 
         let w = wasi.clone();
         let (tx, rx) = channel();
+        let waiter = Wait::new(tx);
         thread::spawn(move || {
-            w.wait(tx).unwrap();
+            w.wait(&waiter).unwrap();
         });
 
         let res = match rx.recv_timeout(Duration::from_secs(10)) {
diff --git a/crates/containerd-shim-wasmtime/src/instance.rs b/crates/containerd-shim-wasmtime/src/instance.rs
index 83be8a2fb..4c1ed9c2d 100644
--- a/crates/containerd-shim-wasmtime/src/instance.rs
+++ b/crates/containerd-shim-wasmtime/src/instance.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 use std::fs::OpenOptions;
 use std::path::Path;
-use std::sync::mpsc::Sender;
 use std::sync::{Arc, Condvar, Mutex};
 use std::thread;
 
@@ -8,6 +7,7 @@ use anyhow::Context;
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::error::Error;
 use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::exec;
+use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::instance::Wait;
 use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::oci;
 use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::{EngineGetter, Instance, InstanceConfig};
 use log::{debug, error};
@@ -256,19 +256,9 @@ impl Instance for Wasi {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    fn wait(&self, channel: Sender<(u32, DateTime<Utc>)>) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    fn wait(&self, waiter: &Wait) -> Result<(), Error> {
         let code = self.exit_code.clone();
-        thread::spawn(move || {
-            let (lock, cvar) = &*code;
-            let mut exit = lock.lock().unwrap();
-            while (*exit).is_none() {
-                exit = cvar.wait(exit).unwrap();
-            }
-            let ec = (*exit).unwrap();
-            channel.send(ec).unwrap();
-        });
-
-        Ok(())
+        waiter.wait_for_exit_code(code)
     }
 }
 
@@ -279,6 +269,7 @@ mod wasitest {
     use std::sync::mpsc::channel;
     use std::time::Duration;
 
+    use containerd_shim_wasm::sandbox::instance::Wait;
     use oci_spec::runtime::{ProcessBuilder, RootBuilder, SpecBuilder};
     use tempfile::tempdir;
 
@@ -357,8 +348,9 @@ mod wasitest {
 
         let w = wasi.clone();
         let (tx, rx) = channel();
+        let waiter = Wait::new(tx);
         thread::spawn(move || {
-            w.wait(tx).unwrap();
+            w.wait(&waiter).unwrap();
         });
 
         let res = match rx.recv_timeout(Duration::from_secs(10)) {