A method is provided for controlling the shutdown of a wind turbine of the type having a rotor, the rotor including one or more wind turbine blades. The method includes dynamically determining a rotor speed reference; obtaining a measure of the rotor speed of the rotor; determining an error between the rotor speed reference and the rotor speed of the rotor; and controlling a pitch of one or more of the wind turbine blades based on the determined error. A corresponding wind turbine controller and a wind turbine including such a controller are also provided.