diff --git a/sqlite3store/sqlite3store.go b/sqlite3store/sqlite3store.go
index ff2860e..7b05ff0 100644
--- a/sqlite3store/sqlite3store.go
+++ b/sqlite3store/sqlite3store.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ func New(db *sql.DB) *SQLite3Store {
 func NewWithCleanupInterval(db *sql.DB, cleanupInterval time.Duration) *SQLite3Store {
 	p := &SQLite3Store{db: db}
 	if cleanupInterval > 0 {
+		p.stopCleanup = make(chan bool)
 		go p.startCleanup(cleanupInterval)
 	}
 	return p
@@ -96,7 +97,6 @@ func (p *SQLite3Store) All() (map[string][]byte, error) {
 }
 
 func (p *SQLite3Store) startCleanup(interval time.Duration) {
-	p.stopCleanup = make(chan bool)
 	ticker := time.NewTicker(interval)
 	for {
 		select {
diff --git a/sqlite3store/sqlite3store_test.go b/sqlite3store/sqlite3store_test.go
index 71908a5..dd809f1 100644
--- a/sqlite3store/sqlite3store_test.go
+++ b/sqlite3store/sqlite3store_test.go
@@ -269,7 +269,6 @@ func TestCleanup(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	p := NewWithCleanupInterval(db, 200*time.Millisecond)
-	defer p.StopCleanup()
 
 	err = p.Commit("session_token", []byte("encoded_data"), time.Now().Add(100*time.Millisecond))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -287,6 +286,8 @@ func TestCleanup(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	time.Sleep(300 * time.Millisecond)
+	p.StopCleanup()
+
 	row = db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM sessions WHERE token = 'session_token'")
 	err = row.Scan(&count)
 	if err != nil {