diff --git a/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/StartArgs.java b/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/StartArgs.java
index 07415353afa..db758d2c185 100644
--- a/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/StartArgs.java
+++ b/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/StartArgs.java
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ public class StartArgs
     private boolean dryRun = false;
 
     private boolean exec = false;
+    private String exec_properties;
     private boolean approveAllLicenses = false;
 
     public StartArgs()
@@ -582,15 +583,22 @@ public class StartArgs
         ensureSystemPropertySet("STOP.WAIT");
 
         // pass properties as args or as a file
-        if (dryRun)
+        if (dryRun && exec_properties==null)
         {
             for (Prop p : properties)
                 cmd.addRawArg(CommandLineBuilder.quote(p.key) + "=" + CommandLineBuilder.quote(p.value));
         }
         else if (properties.size() > 0)
         {
-            Path prop_path = Files.createTempFile(Paths.get(baseHome.getBase()), "start_", ".properties");
-            prop_path.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+            Path prop_path;
+            if (exec_properties==null)
+            {
+                prop_path=Files.createTempFile(Paths.get(baseHome.getBase()), "start_", ".properties");
+                prop_path.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+            }
+            else
+                prop_path=new File(exec_properties).toPath();
+                
             try (OutputStream out = Files.newOutputStream(prop_path))
             {
                 properties.store(out,"start.jar properties");
@@ -897,6 +905,15 @@ public class StartArgs
             exec = true;
             return;
         }
+        
+        // Assign a fixed name to the property file for exec
+        if (arg.startsWith("--exec-properties="))
+        {
+            exec_properties=Props.getValue(arg);
+            if (!exec_properties.endsWith(".properties"))
+                throw new UsageException(ERR_BAD_ARG,"--exec-properties filename must have .properties suffix: %s",exec_properties);
+            return;
+        }
 
         // Enable forked execution of Jetty server
         if ("--approve-all-licenses".equals(arg))
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 1c368eb4ab1..8a6d10ad2b7 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
@@ -34,7 +34,12 @@ Command Line Options:
                    a sub process. This can be used when start.ini
                    contains -X or -D arguments, but creates an extra
                    JVM instance.
-
+                   
+  --exec-properties=<filename>
+                   Assign a fixed name to the file used to transfer 
+                   properties to the sub process. This allows the 
+                   generated properties file to be saved and reused.
+                   Without this option, a temporary file is used.
 
 Debug and Start Logging:
 ------------------------