diff --git a/plugin/sdnController/src/main/java/org/zstack/sdnController/SdnControllerApiInterceptor.java b/plugin/sdnController/src/main/java/org/zstack/sdnController/SdnControllerApiInterceptor.java
index 97840150a1e..fa0f9c1932d 100644
--- a/plugin/sdnController/src/main/java/org/zstack/sdnController/SdnControllerApiInterceptor.java
+++ b/plugin/sdnController/src/main/java/org/zstack/sdnController/SdnControllerApiInterceptor.java
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ public APIMessage intercept(APIMessage msg) throws ApiMessageInterceptionExcepti
             validate((APIPullSdnControllerTenantMsg) msg);
         } else if (msg instanceof APIChangeSdnControllerMsg) {
             validate((APIChangeSdnControllerMsg) msg);
+        } else if (msg instanceof APIRemoveSdnControllerMsg) {
+            validate((APIRemoveSdnControllerMsg) msg);
         }
 
         setServiceId(msg);
@@ -311,6 +313,17 @@ private boolean isOverlappedVlanRange(int start, int end, Integer startVlan, Int
                (start <= startVlan && end >= endVlan);
     }
 
+    private void validate(APIRemoveSdnControllerMsg msg) {
+        long poolCount = Q.New(HardwareL2VxlanNetworkPoolVO.class)
+                .eq(HardwareL2VxlanNetworkPoolVO_.sdnControllerUuid, msg.getUuid())
+                .count();
+        if (poolCount > 0) {
+            throw new ApiMessageInterceptionException(argerr(ORG_ZSTACK_SDNCONTROLLER_10031,
+                    "could not remove sdn controller[uuid:%s] because it still has %d L2 vxlan network pool(s) attached. Please detach them first",
+                    msg.getUuid(), poolCount));
+        }
+    }
+
     private void validate(APIChangeSdnControllerMsg msg) {
         if (msg.getVlanRanges() != null && !msg.getVlanRanges().isEmpty()) {
             validateVlanRanges(msg.getVlanRanges());
diff --git a/test/src/test/groovy/org/zstack/test/integration/network/sdnController/HardwareVxlanCase.groovy b/test/src/test/groovy/org/zstack/test/integration/network/sdnController/HardwareVxlanCase.groovy
index d5f0c01eb14..1cebbf68020 100644
--- a/test/src/test/groovy/org/zstack/test/integration/network/sdnController/HardwareVxlanCase.groovy
+++ b/test/src/test/groovy/org/zstack/test/integration/network/sdnController/HardwareVxlanCase.groovy
@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ class HardwareVxlanCase extends SubCase {
 
     @Override
     void clean() {
+        // ZSTAC-80186: delete pools created in createEnv() before env.delete()
+        // removes the SDN controller (which now validates no attached pools)
+        queryL2VxlanNetworkPool {}.each { pool ->
+            deleteL2Network { uuid = pool.uuid }
+        }
         env.delete()
     }
 
diff --git a/utils/src/main/java/org/zstack/utils/clouderrorcode/CloudOperationsErrorCode.java b/utils/src/main/java/org/zstack/utils/clouderrorcode/CloudOperationsErrorCode.java
index a0f09d4f1e9..f3a60d4978a 100644
--- a/utils/src/main/java/org/zstack/utils/clouderrorcode/CloudOperationsErrorCode.java
+++ b/utils/src/main/java/org/zstack/utils/clouderrorcode/CloudOperationsErrorCode.java
@@ -15264,6 +15264,8 @@ public class CloudOperationsErrorCode {
 
     public static final String ORG_ZSTACK_SDNCONTROLLER_10030 = "ORG_ZSTACK_SDNCONTROLLER_10030";
 
+    public static final String ORG_ZSTACK_SDNCONTROLLER_10031 = "ORG_ZSTACK_SDNCONTROLLER_10031";
+
     public static final String ORG_ZSTACK_TEST_INTEGRATION_PREMIUM_ZSV_SNAPSHOT_10000 = "ORG_ZSTACK_TEST_INTEGRATION_PREMIUM_ZSV_SNAPSHOT_10000";
 
     public static final String ORG_ZSTACK_TEST_INTEGRATION_PREMIUM_ZSV_SNAPSHOT_10001 = "ORG_ZSTACK_TEST_INTEGRATION_PREMIUM_ZSV_SNAPSHOT_10001";