diff --git a/container_test.go b/container_test.go
index f621cdae9..8a9ff7ebd 100644
--- a/container_test.go
+++ b/container_test.go
@@ -1132,3 +1132,133 @@ func TestWaitStoppedProcess(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	<-finished
 }
+
+func TestTaskForceDelete(t *testing.T) {
+	client, err := newClient(t, address)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer client.Close()
+
+	var (
+		image       Image
+		ctx, cancel = testContext()
+		id          = t.Name()
+	)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	if runtime.GOOS != "windows" {
+		image, err = client.GetImage(ctx, testImage)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+			return
+		}
+	}
+	spec, err := generateSpec(withImageConfig(ctx, image), withProcessArgs("sleep", "30"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	container, err := client.NewContainer(ctx, id, WithSpec(spec), withNewSnapshot(id, image))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	defer container.Delete(ctx, WithSnapshotCleanup)
+
+	task, err := container.NewTask(ctx, Stdio)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	if err := task.Start(ctx); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	if _, err := task.Delete(ctx); err == nil {
+		t.Error("task.Delete of a running task should create an error")
+	}
+	if _, err := task.Delete(ctx, WithProcessKill); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+}
+
+func TestProcessForceDelete(t *testing.T) {
+	client, err := newClient(t, address)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer client.Close()
+
+	var (
+		image       Image
+		ctx, cancel = testContext()
+		id          = t.Name()
+	)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	if runtime.GOOS != "windows" {
+		image, err = client.GetImage(ctx, testImage)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+			return
+		}
+	}
+	spec, err := generateSpec(withImageConfig(ctx, image), withProcessArgs("sleep", "30"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	container, err := client.NewContainer(ctx, id, WithSpec(spec), withNewSnapshot(id, image))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	defer container.Delete(ctx, WithSnapshotCleanup)
+
+	task, err := container.NewTask(ctx, Stdio)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	defer task.Delete(ctx)
+
+	statusC := make(chan uint32, 1)
+	go func() {
+		status, err := task.Wait(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+		}
+		statusC <- status
+	}()
+
+	// task must be started on windows
+	if err := task.Start(ctx); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	processSpec := spec.Process
+	withExecArgs(processSpec, "sleep", "20")
+	execID := t.Name() + "_exec"
+	process, err := task.Exec(ctx, execID, processSpec, empty())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	if err := process.Start(ctx); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	if _, err := process.Delete(ctx); err == nil {
+		t.Error("process.Delete should return an error when process is running")
+	}
+	if _, err := process.Delete(ctx, WithProcessKill); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	if err := task.Kill(ctx, syscall.SIGKILL); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+		return
+	}
+	<-statusC
+}
diff --git a/process.go b/process.go
index 1eb31080f..c2d2119c0 100644
--- a/process.go
+++ b/process.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/runtime"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/typeurl"
 	specs "github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
 
 // Process represents a system process
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ type Process interface {
 	// Start starts the process executing the user's defined binary
 	Start(context.Context) error
 	// Delete removes the process and any resources allocated returning the exit status
-	Delete(context.Context) (uint32, error)
+	Delete(context.Context, ...ProcessDeleteOpts) (uint32, error)
 	// Kill sends the provided signal to the process
 	Kill(context.Context, syscall.Signal) error
 	// Wait blocks until the process has exited returning the exit status
@@ -141,7 +142,19 @@ func (p *process) Resize(ctx context.Context, w, h uint32) error {
 	return err
 }
 
-func (p *process) Delete(ctx context.Context) (uint32, error) {
+func (p *process) Delete(ctx context.Context, opts ...ProcessDeleteOpts) (uint32, error) {
+	for _, o := range opts {
+		if err := o(ctx, p); err != nil {
+			return UnknownExitStatus, err
+		}
+	}
+	status, err := p.Status(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return UnknownExitStatus, err
+	}
+	if status.Status != Stopped {
+		return UnknownExitStatus, errors.Wrapf(errdefs.ErrFailedPrecondition, "process must be stopped before deletion")
+	}
 	if p.io != nil {
 		p.io.Wait()
 		p.io.Close()
diff --git a/task.go b/task.go
index 130d79513..2700b7373 100644
--- a/task.go
+++ b/task.go
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ const (
 	// Pausing indicates that the process is currently switching from a
 	// running state into a paused state
 	Pausing ProcessStatus = "pausing"
+	// Unknown indicates that we could not determine the status from the runtime
+	Unknown ProcessStatus = "unknown"
 )
 
 // IOCloseInfo allows specific io pipes to be closed on a process
@@ -236,7 +238,21 @@ func (t *task) Wait(ctx context.Context) (uint32, error) {
 // Delete deletes the task and its runtime state
 // it returns the exit status of the task and any errors that were encountered
 // during cleanup
-func (t *task) Delete(ctx context.Context) (uint32, error) {
+func (t *task) Delete(ctx context.Context, opts ...ProcessDeleteOpts) (uint32, error) {
+	for _, o := range opts {
+		if err := o(ctx, t); err != nil {
+			return UnknownExitStatus, err
+		}
+	}
+	status, err := t.Status(ctx)
+	if err != nil && errdefs.IsNotFound(err) {
+		return UnknownExitStatus, err
+	}
+	switch status.Status {
+	case Stopped, Unknown, "":
+	default:
+		return UnknownExitStatus, errors.Wrapf(errdefs.ErrFailedPrecondition, "task must be stopped before deletion: %s", status.Status)
+	}
 	if t.io != nil {
 		t.io.Cancel()
 		t.io.Wait()
diff --git a/task_opts.go b/task_opts.go
index 40b178c3c..271c4ee9c 100644
--- a/task_opts.go
+++ b/task_opts.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package containerd
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/linux/runcopts"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/mount"
@@ -25,3 +26,21 @@ func WithExit(r *CheckpointTaskInfo) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// ProcessDeleteOpts allows the caller to set options for the deletion of a task
+type ProcessDeleteOpts func(context.Context, Process) error
+
+// WithProcessKill will forcefully kill and delete a process
+func WithProcessKill(ctx context.Context, p Process) error {
+	s := make(chan struct{}, 1)
+	// ignore errors to wait and kill as we are forcefully killing
+	// the process and don't care about the exit status
+	go func() {
+		p.Wait(ctx)
+		close(s)
+	}()
+	p.Kill(ctx, syscall.SIGKILL)
+	// wait for the process to fully stop before letting the rest of the deletion complete
+	<-s
+	return nil
+}