A system and method for reducing the corrosive effects of an air/hydrogen front in a fuel cell stack. The method includes shutting down the fuel cell stack and then initiating a hydrogen sustaining process where hydrogen is periodically injected into an anode side of the fuel cell stack while the stack is shut down for a predetermined period of time. The method determines that the hydrogen sustaining process has ended, and then purges the anode side and a cathode side of the fuel cell stack with air after the hydrogen sustaining process has ended and the stack is still shut-down.