diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9ada4815bcf57..975f8bdc7c499 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 ### Fixed
 
 
--
+- Fixed signals being registered within threads ([#10610](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/10610))
 
 
 -
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/signal_connector.py b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/signal_connector.py
index 795145b5be6af..90d0f6928283f 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/signal_connector.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/signal_connector.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import os
 import signal
 import sys
+import threading
 from signal import Signals
 from subprocess import call
 from types import FrameType, FunctionType
@@ -46,10 +47,10 @@ def register_signal_handlers(self) -> None:
         # signal.SIGUSR1 doesn't seem available on windows
         if not self._is_on_windows():
             if sigusr1_handlers and not self._has_already_handler(signal.SIGUSR1):
-                signal.signal(signal.SIGUSR1, HandlersCompose(sigusr1_handlers))
+                self._register_signal(signal.SIGUSR1, HandlersCompose(sigusr1_handlers))
 
             if sigterm_handlers and not self._has_already_handler(signal.SIGTERM):
-                signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, HandlersCompose(sigterm_handlers))
+                self._register_signal(signal.SIGTERM, HandlersCompose(sigterm_handlers))
 
     def slurm_sigusr1_handler_fn(self, signum: Signals, frame: FrameType) -> None:
         if self.trainer.is_global_zero:
@@ -96,3 +97,8 @@ def _has_already_handler(self, signum: Signals) -> bool:
             return isinstance(signal.getsignal(signum), FunctionType)
         except AttributeError:
             return False
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _register_signal(signum: Signals, handlers: HandlersCompose) -> None:
+        if threading.current_thread() is threading.main_thread():
+            signal.signal(signum, handlers)
diff --git a/tests/trainer/connectors/test_signal_connector.py b/tests/trainer/connectors/test_signal_connector.py
index 76dae5e07db35..fbfce158e3675 100644
--- a/tests/trainer/connectors/test_signal_connector.py
+++ b/tests/trainer/connectors/test_signal_connector.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+import concurrent.futures
 import os
 import signal
 from time import sleep
@@ -87,3 +88,16 @@ def test_auto_requeue_flag(auto_requeue):
     # TODO: should this be done in SignalConnector teardown?
     signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, sigterm_handler_default)
     signal.signal(signal.SIGUSR1, sigusr1_handler_default)
+
+
+def _registering_signals():
+    trainer = Trainer()
+    trainer.signal_connector.register_signal_handlers()
+
+
+@RunIf(skip_windows=True)
+@mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"PL_FAULT_TOLERANT_TRAINING": "1"})
+def test_signal_connector_in_thread():
+    with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1) as executor:
+        for future in concurrent.futures.as_completed([executor.submit(_registering_signals)]):
+            assert future.exception() is None