diff --git a/.github/actions/build_and_publish_pypi/action.yml b/.github/actions/build_and_publish_pypi/action.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 372b880c..00000000
--- a/.github/actions/build_and_publish_pypi/action.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2020-2024 The MathWorks, Inc.
-
-# Composite Action to Build and Publish in PyPi
-name: Build and Publish in PyPi
-runs:
-  using: "composite"
-  steps:
-    - name: Set up Python 3.8
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-      with:
-        python-version: '3.8'
-
-    - name: Install Python build dependencies
-      run: |
-        python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
-        python3 -m pip install wheel
-      shell: bash
-
-    - name: Build Source and Binary wheel distributions
-      run: python3 setup.py bdist_wheel sdist
-      shell: bash
-
-    - name: Publish to PyPI.
-      uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
diff --git a/matlab_proxy/app_state.py b/matlab_proxy/app_state.py
index 42ae7523..6a86e50f 100644
--- a/matlab_proxy/app_state.py
+++ b/matlab_proxy/app_state.py
@@ -1427,11 +1427,26 @@ async def stop_matlab(self, force_quit=False):
                 else:
                     logger.debug("Sending HTTP request to stop the MATLAB process...")
                     try:
+                        import sys
+
                         # Send HTTP request
                         await self.__send_stop_request_to_matlab()
 
+                        # Close the stderr stream to prevent indefinite hanging on it due to a child
+                        # process inheriting it, fixes https://github.com/mathworks/matlab-proxy/issues/44
+                        stderr_stream = matlab._transport.get_pipe_transport(
+                            sys.stderr.fileno()
+                        )
+                        if stderr_stream:
+                            logger.debug(
+                                "Closing matlab process stderr stream: %s",
+                                stderr_stream,
+                            )
+                            stderr_stream.close()
+
                         # Wait for matlab to shutdown gracefully
                         await matlab.wait()
+
                         assert (
                             matlab.returncode == 0
                         ), "Failed to gracefully shutdown MATLAB via the embedded connector"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 75f928a7..acbbb82c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def run(self):
 
 setuptools.setup(
     name="matlab-proxy",
-    version="0.23.3",
+    version="0.23.4",
     url=config["doc_url"],
     author="The MathWorks, Inc.",
     author_email="cloud@mathworks.com",