diff --git a/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/Main.java b/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/Main.java
index 96207821bc7..9726742630c 100644
--- a/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/Main.java
+++ b/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/Main.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.net.ConnectException;
 import java.net.InetAddress;
 import java.net.Socket;
+import java.net.SocketTimeoutException;
 import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -182,7 +183,7 @@ public class Main
             {
                 int port = Integer.parseInt(Config.getProperty("STOP.PORT","-1"));
                 String key = Config.getProperty("STOP.KEY",null);
-                stop(port,key, false);
+                stop(port,key);
                 return null;
             }
             
@@ -190,7 +191,8 @@ public class Main
             {
                 int port = Integer.parseInt(Config.getProperty("STOP.PORT","-1"));
                 String key = Config.getProperty("STOP.KEY",null);
-                stop(port,key, true);
+                int timeout = Integer.parseInt(Config.getProperty("STOP.WAIT", "0"));
+                stop(port,key, true, timeout);
                 return null;  
             }
 
@@ -1012,11 +1014,11 @@ public class Main
      */
     public void stop(int port, String key)
     {
-        stop (port,key,false);
+        stop (port,key,false, 0);
     }
+
     
-    
-    public void stop (int port, String key, boolean wait)
+    public void stop (int port, String key, boolean wait, int timeout)
     {
         int _port = port;
         String _key = key;
@@ -1035,6 +1037,8 @@ public class Main
             }
 
             Socket s = new Socket(InetAddress.getByName("127.0.0.1"),_port);
+            if (wait && timeout > 0)
+                s.setSoTimeout(timeout*1000);
             try
             {
                 OutputStream out = s.getOutputStream();
@@ -1043,6 +1047,7 @@ public class Main
 
                 if (wait)
                 {
+                    System.err.println("Waiting"+(timeout > 0 ? (" "+timeout+"sec") : "")+" for jetty to stop");
                     LineNumberReader lin = new LineNumberReader(new InputStreamReader(s.getInputStream()));
                     String response=lin.readLine();
                     if ("Stopped".equals(response))
@@ -1054,6 +1059,11 @@ public class Main
                 s.close();
             }
         }
+        catch (SocketTimeoutException e)
+        {
+            System.err.println("Timed out waiting for stop confirmation");
+            System.exit(ERR_UNKNOWN);
+        }
         catch (ConnectException e)
         {
             usageExit(e,ERR_NOT_STOPPED);
diff --git a/jetty-start/src/main/resources/org/eclipse/jetty/start/usage.txt b/jetty-start/src/main/resources/org/eclipse/jetty/start/usage.txt
index db8e8d22c87..54c32d45ce9 100644
--- a/jetty-start/src/main/resources/org/eclipse/jetty/start/usage.txt
+++ b/jetty-start/src/main/resources/org/eclipse/jetty/start/usage.txt
@@ -95,6 +95,11 @@ Properties:
     STOP.KEY=[alphanumeric]
       The passphrase defined to stop the server.
       Requried along with STOP.PORT if you want to use the --stop option above.
+
+    STOP.WAIT=[number]
+      The time (in seconds) to wait for confirmation that the running Jetty server
+      has stopped. If not specified, the stopper will wait indefinitely. Use in 
+      conjunction with the --stop-wait option.
       
     DEBUG=true
       Enable debug on the start mechanism and sets the