diff --git a/python/sglang/srt/managers/tokenizer_manager.py b/python/sglang/srt/managers/tokenizer_manager.py
index 5d3b8c9b9a..20da17cde1 100644
--- a/python/sglang/srt/managers/tokenizer_manager.py
+++ b/python/sglang/srt/managers/tokenizer_manager.py
@@ -176,6 +176,17 @@ def __init__(
                 },
             )
 
+        if server_args.grpc_port:
+            t = threading.Thread(
+                target=self._launch_grpc_server_in_loop,
+                name="gRPCServerThread",
+                daemon=True,
+            )
+            t.start()
+            logger.info(
+                f"TokenizerManager: launched gRPC server thread on port {server_args.grpc_port}"
+            )
+
     async def generate_request(
         self,
         obj: Union[GenerateReqInput, EmbeddingReqInput],
@@ -571,8 +582,13 @@ def create_handle_loop(self):
         loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
         loop.create_task(self.handle_loop())
 
-        signal_handler = SignalHandler(self)
-        loop.add_signal_handler(signal.SIGTERM, signal_handler.signal_handler)
+        if threading.current_thread() is threading.main_thread():
+            signal_handler = SignalHandler(self)
+            loop.add_signal_handler(signal.SIGTERM, signal_handler.signal_handler)
+        else:
+            # the thread that is used by grpc server doesn't need to handle the signal
+            logger.warning("Skipping add_signal_handler because not in main thread.")
+
         loop.create_task(self.sigterm_watchdog())
 
     async def sigterm_watchdog(self):
@@ -595,16 +611,6 @@ async def sigterm_watchdog(self):
 
     async def handle_loop(self):
         """The event loop that handles requests"""
-        if self.server_args.grpc_port:
-            server = self._create_grpc_server(
-                host=self.server_args.host,
-                port=self.server_args.grpc_port,
-            )
-            await server.start()
-            logger.info(
-                f"gRPC server started on {self.server_args.host}:{self.server_args.grpc_port}"
-            )
-
         while True:
             recv_obj: Union[
                 BatchStrOut,
@@ -803,24 +809,34 @@ def detokenize_top_logprobs_tokens(
                 ret.append(None)
         return ret
 
-    def _create_grpc_server(
-        self,
-        host: str = "0.0.0.0",
-        port: int = 50051,
-        max_workers: Optional[int] = None,
-    ):
+    def _launch_grpc_server_in_loop(self):
+        loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+        asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)
+        server = loop.run_until_complete(self._create_grpc_server())
+        # Start the server before run_forever()
+        loop.run_until_complete(server.start())
+
+        logger.info(
+            f"gRPC server started, listening on {self.server_args.host}:{self.server_args.grpc_port}"
+        )
+        # Keep this loop alive so the server remains accessible
+        loop.run_forever()
+
+    async def _create_grpc_server(self):
+        # Create the server
         server = grpc.aio.server(
-            futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=max_workers),
             options=[
                 ("grpc.max_send_message_length", 100 * 1024 * 1024),
                 ("grpc.max_receive_message_length", 100 * 1024 * 1024),
-            ],
+            ]
         )
-
         completion_pb2_grpc.add_CompletionServiceServicer_to_server(
             CompletionServicer(self.generate_request), server
         )
-        server.add_insecure_port(f"{host}:{port}")
+
+        server.add_insecure_port(
+            f"{self.server_args.host}:{self.server_args.grpc_port}"
+        )
         return server