diff --git a/src/core/lib/event_engine/posix_engine/timer_manager.cc b/src/core/lib/event_engine/posix_engine/timer_manager.cc
index 65659b3ce17..70d91df681f 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/event_engine/posix_engine/timer_manager.cc
+++ b/src/core/lib/event_engine/posix_engine/timer_manager.cc
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ void TimerManager::RunSomeTimers(
       // if there's no thread waiting with a timeout, kick an existing untimed
       // waiter so that the next deadline is not missed
       if (!has_timed_waiter_) {
-        cv_.Signal();
+        cv_wait_.Signal();
       }
     }
   }
@@ -151,8 +151,8 @@ bool TimerManager::WaitUntil(grpc_core::Timestamp next) {
       }
     }
 
-    cv_.WaitWithTimeout(&mu_,
-                        absl::Milliseconds((next - host_.Now()).millis()));
+    cv_wait_.WaitWithTimeout(&mu_,
+                             absl::Milliseconds((next - host_.Now()).millis()));
 
     // if this was the timed waiter, then we need to check timers, and flag
     // that there's now no timed waiter... we'll look for a replacement if
@@ -197,13 +197,15 @@ void TimerManager::MainLoop() {
 
 void TimerManager::RunThread(void* arg) {
   std::unique_ptr<RunThreadArgs> thread(static_cast<RunThreadArgs*>(arg));
-  thread->self->MainLoop();
-  {
-    grpc_core::MutexLock lock(&thread->self->mu_);
-    thread->self->thread_count_--;
-    thread->self->completed_threads_.push_back(std::move(thread->thread));
-  }
-  thread->self->cv_.Signal();
+  thread->self->Run(std::move(thread->thread));
+}
+
+void TimerManager::Run(grpc_core::Thread thread) {
+  MainLoop();
+  grpc_core::MutexLock lock(&mu_);
+  completed_threads_.push_back(std::move(thread));
+  thread_count_--;
+  if (thread_count_ == 0) cv_threadcount_.Signal();
 }
 
 TimerManager::TimerManager() : host_(this) {
@@ -227,18 +229,14 @@ bool TimerManager::TimerCancel(Timer* timer) {
 }
 
 TimerManager::~TimerManager() {
-  {
-    grpc_core::MutexLock lock(&mu_);
-    shutdown_ = true;
-    cv_.SignalAll();
-  }
-  while (true) {
-    ThreadCollector collector;
-    grpc_core::MutexLock lock(&mu_);
-    collector.Collect(std::move(completed_threads_));
-    if (thread_count_ == 0) break;
-    cv_.Wait(&mu_);
+  ThreadCollector collector;
+  grpc_core::MutexLock lock(&mu_);
+  shutdown_ = true;
+  cv_wait_.SignalAll();
+  while (thread_count_ > 0) {
+    cv_threadcount_.Wait(&mu_);
   }
+  collector.Collect(std::move(completed_threads_));
 }
 
 void TimerManager::Host::Kick() { timer_manager_->Kick(); }
@@ -249,23 +247,19 @@ void TimerManager::Kick() {
   timed_waiter_deadline_ = grpc_core::Timestamp::InfFuture();
   ++timed_waiter_generation_;
   kicked_ = true;
-  cv_.Signal();
+  cv_wait_.Signal();
 }
 
 void TimerManager::PrepareFork() {
-  {
-    grpc_core::MutexLock lock(&mu_);
-    forking_ = true;
-    prefork_thread_count_ = thread_count_;
-    cv_.SignalAll();
-  }
-  while (true) {
-    grpc_core::MutexLock lock(&mu_);
-    ThreadCollector collector;
-    collector.Collect(std::move(completed_threads_));
-    if (thread_count_ == 0) break;
-    cv_.Wait(&mu_);
+  ThreadCollector collector;
+  grpc_core::MutexLock lock(&mu_);
+  forking_ = true;
+  prefork_thread_count_ = thread_count_;
+  cv_wait_.SignalAll();
+  while (thread_count_ > 0) {
+    cv_threadcount_.Wait(&mu_);
   }
+  collector.Collect(std::move(completed_threads_));
 }
 
 void TimerManager::PostforkParent() {
diff --git a/src/core/lib/event_engine/posix_engine/timer_manager.h b/src/core/lib/event_engine/posix_engine/timer_manager.h
index e3a429e687d..22048bb8805 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/event_engine/posix_engine/timer_manager.h
+++ b/src/core/lib/event_engine/posix_engine/timer_manager.h
@@ -80,13 +80,33 @@ class TimerManager final : public grpc_event_engine::experimental::Forkable {
 
   void StartThread() ABSL_EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(mu_);
   static void RunThread(void* arg);
+  void Run(grpc_core::Thread thread);
   void MainLoop();
   void RunSomeTimers(std::vector<experimental::EventEngine::Closure*> timers);
   bool WaitUntil(grpc_core::Timestamp next);
   void Kick();
 
   grpc_core::Mutex mu_;
-  grpc_core::CondVar cv_;
+  // Condvar associated with decrementing the thread count.
+  // Threads will signal this when thread count reaches zero, and the forking
+  // code *or* the destructor will wait upon it.
+  grpc_core::CondVar cv_threadcount_;
+  // Condvar associated with threads waiting to wakeup and work.
+  // Threads wait on this until either a timeout is reached or another thread is
+  // needed to wait for a timeout.
+  // On shutdown we SignalAll against this to wake up all threads and have them
+  // finish.
+  // On kick we Signal against this to wake up at least one thread (but not
+  // all)! Similarly when we note that no thread is watching timers.
+  //
+  // This is a different condvar than cv_threadcount_!
+  // If this were the same:
+  // - thread exits would require a SignalAll to ensure that the specific thread
+  //   we want to wake is woken up.
+  // - kicks would need to signal all threads to avoid having the kick absorbed
+  //   by a shutdown thread and cause a deadlock, leading to thundering herd
+  //   problems in the common case.
+  grpc_core::CondVar cv_wait_;
   Host host_;
   // number of threads in the system
   size_t thread_count_ ABSL_GUARDED_BY(mu_) = 0;