diff --git a/src/nwp500/mqtt_connection.py b/src/nwp500/mqtt_connection.py
index d149a8b..ad1e515 100644
--- a/src/nwp500/mqtt_connection.py
+++ b/src/nwp500/mqtt_connection.py
@@ -140,9 +140,23 @@ async def connect(self) -> bool:
             _logger.info("Establishing MQTT connection...")
 
             # Convert concurrent.futures.Future to asyncio.Future and await
+            # Use shield to prevent cancellation from propagating to
+            # underlying future
             if self._connection is not None:
                 connect_future = self._connection.connect()
-                connect_result = await asyncio.wrap_future(connect_future)
+                try:
+                    connect_result = await asyncio.shield(
+                        asyncio.wrap_future(connect_future)
+                    )
+                except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                    # Shield was cancelled - the underlying connect will
+                    # complete independently, preventing InvalidStateError
+                    # in AWS CRT callbacks
+                    _logger.debug(
+                        "Connect operation was cancelled but will complete "
+                        "in background"
+                    )
+                    raise
             else:
                 raise MqttConnectionError("Connection not initialized")
 
@@ -196,8 +210,20 @@ async def disconnect(self) -> None:
 
         try:
             # Convert concurrent.futures.Future to asyncio.Future and await
+            # Use shield to prevent cancellation from propagating to
+            # underlying future
             disconnect_future = self._connection.disconnect()
-            await asyncio.wrap_future(disconnect_future)
+            try:
+                await asyncio.shield(asyncio.wrap_future(disconnect_future))
+            except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                # Shield was cancelled - the underlying disconnect will
+                # complete independently, preventing InvalidStateError
+                # in AWS CRT callbacks
+                _logger.debug(
+                    "Disconnect operation was cancelled but will complete "
+                    "in background"
+                )
+                raise
 
             self._connected = False
             self._connection = None
@@ -232,10 +258,22 @@ async def subscribe(
         _logger.debug(f"Subscribing to topic: {topic}")
 
         # Convert concurrent.futures.Future to asyncio.Future and await
+        # Use shield to prevent cancellation from propagating to
+        # underlying future
         subscribe_future, packet_id = self._connection.subscribe(
             topic=topic, qos=qos, callback=callback
         )
-        await asyncio.wrap_future(subscribe_future)
+        try:
+            await asyncio.shield(asyncio.wrap_future(subscribe_future))
+        except asyncio.CancelledError:
+            # Shield was cancelled - the underlying subscribe will
+            # complete independently, preventing InvalidStateError
+            # in AWS CRT callbacks
+            _logger.debug(
+                f"Subscribe to '{topic}' was cancelled but will complete "
+                "in background"
+            )
+            raise
 
         _logger.info(f"Subscribed to '{topic}' with packet_id {packet_id}")
         return (subscribe_future, packet_id)
@@ -259,10 +297,22 @@ async def unsubscribe(self, topic: str) -> int:
         _logger.debug(f"Unsubscribing from topic: {topic}")
 
         # Convert concurrent.futures.Future to asyncio.Future and await
+        # Use shield to prevent cancellation from propagating to
+        # underlying future
         unsubscribe_future, packet_id = self._connection.unsubscribe(
             topic=topic
         )
-        await asyncio.wrap_future(unsubscribe_future)
+        try:
+            await asyncio.shield(asyncio.wrap_future(unsubscribe_future))
+        except asyncio.CancelledError:
+            # Shield was cancelled - the underlying unsubscribe will
+            # complete independently, preventing InvalidStateError
+            # in AWS CRT callbacks
+            _logger.debug(
+                f"Unsubscribe from '{topic}' was cancelled but will "
+                "complete in background"
+            )
+            raise
 
         _logger.info(f"Unsubscribed from '{topic}' with packet_id {packet_id}")
         return int(packet_id)
@@ -286,6 +336,7 @@ async def publish(
 
         Raises:
             RuntimeError: If not connected
+            asyncio.CancelledError: If operation cancelled during disconnect
         """
         if not self._connected or not self._connection:
             raise MqttNotConnectedError("Not connected to MQTT broker")
@@ -303,11 +354,26 @@ async def publish(
             # Try to JSON encode other types
             payload_bytes = json.dumps(payload).encode("utf-8")
 
-        # Convert concurrent.futures.Future to asyncio.Future and await
+        # Publish and get the concurrent.futures.Future
         publish_future, packet_id = self._connection.publish(
             topic=topic, payload=payload_bytes, qos=qos
         )
-        await asyncio.wrap_future(publish_future)
+
+        # Shield the operation to prevent cancellation from propagating to
+        # the underlying concurrent.futures.Future. This avoids
+        # InvalidStateError when AWS CRT tries to set exception on a
+        # cancelled future.
+        try:
+            await asyncio.shield(asyncio.wrap_future(publish_future))
+        except asyncio.CancelledError:
+            # Shield was cancelled - the underlying publish will complete
+            # independently, preventing InvalidStateError in AWS CRT
+            # callbacks
+            _logger.debug(
+                f"Publish to '{topic}' was cancelled but will complete "
+                "in background"
+            )
+            raise
 
         _logger.debug(f"Published to '{topic}' with packet_id {packet_id}")
         return int(packet_id)
diff --git a/src/nwp500/mqtt_subscriptions.py b/src/nwp500/mqtt_subscriptions.py
index 42eb5ab..e4e37a2 100644
--- a/src/nwp500/mqtt_subscriptions.py
+++ b/src/nwp500/mqtt_subscriptions.py
@@ -214,10 +214,24 @@ async def subscribe(
 
         try:
             # Convert concurrent.futures.Future to asyncio.Future and await
+            # Use shield to prevent cancellation from propagating to
+            # underlying future
             subscribe_future, packet_id = self._connection.subscribe(
                 topic=topic, qos=qos, callback=self._on_message_received
             )
-            subscribe_result = await asyncio.wrap_future(subscribe_future)
+            try:
+                subscribe_result = await asyncio.shield(
+                    asyncio.wrap_future(subscribe_future)
+                )
+            except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                # Shield was cancelled - the underlying subscribe will
+                # complete independently, preventing InvalidStateError
+                # in AWS CRT callbacks
+                _logger.debug(
+                    f"Subscribe to '{redact_topic(topic)}' was cancelled "
+                    "but will complete in background"
+                )
+                raise
 
             _logger.info(
                 f"Subscription succeeded (topic redacted) with QoS "
@@ -259,8 +273,20 @@ async def unsubscribe(self, topic: str) -> int:
 
         try:
             # Convert concurrent.futures.Future to asyncio.Future and await
+            # Use shield to prevent cancellation from propagating to
+            # underlying future
             unsubscribe_future, packet_id = self._connection.unsubscribe(topic)
-            await asyncio.wrap_future(unsubscribe_future)
+            try:
+                await asyncio.shield(asyncio.wrap_future(unsubscribe_future))
+            except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                # Shield was cancelled - the underlying unsubscribe will
+                # complete independently, preventing InvalidStateError
+                # in AWS CRT callbacks
+                _logger.debug(
+                    f"Unsubscribe from '{redact_topic(topic)}' was "
+                    "cancelled but will complete in background"
+                )
+                raise
 
             # Remove from tracking
             self._subscriptions.pop(topic, None)