diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f0595c568c9..68a388fbc15 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 * Fix #2910: Move crd-generator tests from kubernetes-itests to kubernetes-tests
 * Fix #3005: Make it possible to select which CRD version is generated / improve output
 * Fix #3015: Thread interruption in a nominal case (like closing the client) are now logged in debug
+* Fix #3050: More enforcement of the informer lifecycle
 
 #### Dependency Upgrade
 * Fix #2979: Update Kubernetes Model to v1.21.0
diff --git a/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/SharedInformerFactory.java b/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/SharedInformerFactory.java
index dd08a4b08c7..0a4ecff224d 100644
--- a/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/SharedInformerFactory.java
+++ b/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/SharedInformerFactory.java
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ public synchronized <T> SharedIndexInformer<T> getExistingSharedIndexInformer(Cl
     SharedIndexInformer<T> foundSharedIndexInformer = null;
     for (Map.Entry<String, SharedIndexInformer> entry : this.informers.entrySet()) {
       if (isKeyOfType(entry.getKey(), apiTypeClass)) {
-        foundSharedIndexInformer = (SharedIndexInformer<T>) entry.getValue();
+        foundSharedIndexInformer = entry.getValue();
       }
     }
     return foundSharedIndexInformer;
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ public synchronized void startAllRegisteredInformers() {
     if (!informerExecutor.isShutdown()) {
       informers.forEach(
         (informerType, informer) ->
-          startedInformers.computeIfAbsent(informerType, key -> informerExecutor.submit(informer::run)));
+          startedInformers.computeIfAbsent(informerType, key -> informerExecutor.submit((Runnable)informer::run)));
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/cache/Cache.java b/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/cache/Cache.java
index 67baecdd0a6..cdda0c42505 100644
--- a/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/cache/Cache.java
+++ b/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/cache/Cache.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.function.Supplier;
 
 /**
  * It basically saves and indexes all the entries.
@@ -49,6 +50,8 @@ public class Cache<T> implements Indexer<T> {
 
   // indices stores objects' key by their indices
   private Map<String, Map<String, Set<String>>> indices = new HashMap<>();
+  
+  private Supplier<Boolean> isRunning = () -> false;
 
   public Cache() {
     this(NAMESPACE_INDEX, Cache::metaNamespaceIndexFunc, Cache::deletionHandlingMetaNamespaceKeyFunc);
@@ -59,6 +62,10 @@ public Cache(String indexName, Function<T, List<String>> indexFunc, Function<T,
     this.keyFunc = keyFunc;
     this.indices.put(indexName, new HashMap<>());
   }
+  
+  public void setIsRunning(Supplier<Boolean> isRunning) {
+    this.isRunning = isRunning;
+  }
 
   /**
    * Add objects
@@ -85,6 +92,9 @@ public Map<String, Function<T, List<String>>> getIndexers() {
 
   @Override
   public void addIndexers(Map<String, Function<T, List<String>>> indexersNew) {
+    if (isRunning.get()) {
+      throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot add indexers to a running informer.");
+    }  
     if (!items.isEmpty()) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot add indexers to a Cache which is not empty");
     }
diff --git a/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/impl/DefaultSharedIndexInformer.java b/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/impl/DefaultSharedIndexInformer.java
index e4378466a81..d82868a75ca 100644
--- a/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/impl/DefaultSharedIndexInformer.java
+++ b/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/informers/impl/DefaultSharedIndexInformer.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public class DefaultSharedIndexInformer<T extends HasMetadata, L extends Kuberne
   // value).
   private long defaultEventHandlerResyncPeriod;
 
-  private Indexer<T> indexer;
+  private Cache<T> indexer;
 
   private SharedProcessor<T> processor;
 
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ public DefaultSharedIndexInformer(Class<T> apiTypeClass, ListerWatcher<T, L> lis
 
     this.processor = new SharedProcessor<>();
     this.indexer = new Cache();
+    this.indexer.setIsRunning(this::isRunning);
 
     DeltaFIFO<T> fifo = new DeltaFIFO<>(Cache::metaNamespaceKeyFunc, this.indexer);
 
@@ -127,14 +128,14 @@ public void addEventHandlerWithResyncPeriod(ResourceEventHandler<T> handler, lon
 
   @Override
   public String lastSyncResourceVersion() {
-    if (!started) {
-      return "";
-    }
     return this.controller.lastSyncResourceVersion();
   }
 
   @Override
   public void run() {
+    if (stopped) {
+        throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot restart a stopped informer");
+    }
     if (started) {
       return;
     }
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ public void run() {
 
   @Override
   public void stop() {
-    if (!started) {
+    if (!started || stopped) {
       return;
     }
 
@@ -208,9 +209,6 @@ private void handleDeltas(Deque<AbstractMap.SimpleEntry<DeltaFIFO.DeltaType, Obj
 
   @Override
   public void addIndexers(Map<String, Function<T, List<String>>> indexers) {
-    if (started) {
-      throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot add indexers to a running informer.");
-    }
     indexer.addIndexers(indexers);
   }
 
diff --git a/kubernetes-tests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/mock/DefaultSharedIndexInformerTest.java b/kubernetes-tests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/mock/DefaultSharedIndexInformerTest.java
index 68f93c09926..23deb335233 100644
--- a/kubernetes-tests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/mock/DefaultSharedIndexInformerTest.java
+++ b/kubernetes-tests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/mock/DefaultSharedIndexInformerTest.java
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@
 import static org.awaitility.Awaitility.await;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 
 @EnableKubernetesMockClient
@@ -846,6 +847,13 @@ public void onDelete(Pod oldObj, boolean deletedFinalStateUnknown) {
     assertFalse(podInformer.isRunning());
   }
 
+  @Test public void testRunAfterStop() {
+    SharedIndexInformer<Pod> podInformer = factory.sharedIndexInformerFor(Pod.class, 0);
+    podInformer.run();
+    podInformer.stop();
+    assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, podInformer::run);
+  }
+
   private KubernetesResource getAnimal(String name, String order, String resourceVersion) {
     AnimalSpec animalSpec = new AnimalSpec();
     animalSpec.setOrder(order);