diff --git a/clientv3/watch.go b/clientv3/watch.go
index 36bf1a71820..3612d35f165 100644
--- a/clientv3/watch.go
+++ b/clientv3/watch.go
@@ -650,6 +650,12 @@ func (w *watchGrpcStream) run() {
 			return
 
 		case ws := <-w.closingc:
+			w.closeSubstream(ws)
+			delete(closing, ws)
+			// no more watchers on this stream, shutdown, skip cancellation
+			if len(w.substreams)+len(w.resuming) == 0 {
+				return
+			}
 			if ws.id != -1 {
 				// client is closing an established watch; close it on the server proactively instead of waiting
 				// to close when the next message arrives
@@ -665,12 +671,6 @@ func (w *watchGrpcStream) run() {
 					lg.Warning("failed to send watch cancel request", zap.Int64("watch-id", ws.id), zap.Error(err))
 				}
 			}
-			w.closeSubstream(ws)
-			delete(closing, ws)
-			// no more watchers on this stream, shutdown
-			if len(w.substreams)+len(w.resuming) == 0 {
-				return
-			}
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/integration/v3_watch_test.go b/integration/v3_watch_test.go
index de1ee4f295c..4ae371973c3 100644
--- a/integration/v3_watch_test.go
+++ b/integration/v3_watch_test.go
@@ -1245,3 +1245,32 @@ func TestV3WatchCancellation(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected one watch, got %s", minWatches)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestV3WatchCloseCancelRace ensures that watch close doesn't decrement the watcher total too far.
+func TestV3WatchCloseCancelRace(t *testing.T) {
+	clus := NewClusterV3(t, &ClusterConfig{Size: 1})
+	defer clus.Terminate(t)
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	cli := clus.RandClient()
+
+	for i := 0; i < 1000; i++ {
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+		cli.Watch(ctx, "/foo")
+		cancel()
+	}
+
+	// Wait a little for cancellations to take hold
+	time.Sleep(3 * time.Second)
+
+	minWatches, err := clus.Members[0].Metric("etcd_debugging_mvcc_watcher_total")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if minWatches != "0" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected zero watches, got %s", minWatches)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/mvcc/watchable_store.go b/mvcc/watchable_store.go
index 15e2c55f5c2..b74fa375f95 100644
--- a/mvcc/watchable_store.go
+++ b/mvcc/watchable_store.go
@@ -153,10 +153,13 @@ func (s *watchableStore) cancelWatcher(wa *watcher) {
 		s.mu.Lock()
 		if s.unsynced.delete(wa) {
 			slowWatcherGauge.Dec()
+			watcherGauge.Dec()
 			break
 		} else if s.synced.delete(wa) {
+			watcherGauge.Dec()
 			break
 		} else if wa.compacted {
+			watcherGauge.Dec()
 			break
 		} else if wa.ch == nil {
 			// already canceled (e.g., cancel/close race)
@@ -177,6 +180,7 @@ func (s *watchableStore) cancelWatcher(wa *watcher) {
 		}
 		if victimBatch != nil {
 			slowWatcherGauge.Dec()
+			watcherGauge.Dec()
 			delete(victimBatch, wa)
 			break
 		}
@@ -186,7 +190,6 @@ func (s *watchableStore) cancelWatcher(wa *watcher) {
 		time.Sleep(time.Millisecond)
 	}
 
-	watcherGauge.Dec()
 	wa.ch = nil
 	s.mu.Unlock()
 }