diff --git a/doc/man/man8/keepalived.8.in b/doc/man/man8/keepalived.8.in
index f56d6bf07c..9f00ad2ddd 100644
--- a/doc/man/man8/keepalived.8.in
+++ b/doc/man/man8/keepalived.8.in
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ keepalived \- load\-balancing and high\-availability service
 [\fB\-\-perf\fP[={all|run|end}]]
 [\fB\-\-debug\fP[=debug-options]]
 [\fB\-\-no-mem-check\fP]
+[\fB\-\-ignore-sigint\fP]
 [\fB\-v\fP|\fB\-\-version\fP]
 [\fB\-h\fP|\fB\-\-help\fP]
 
@@ -216,6 +217,10 @@ The data recorded is for use with the perf tool.
 \fB --no-mem-check\fP
 Disable malloc() etc mem-checks if they have been compiled into keepalived.
 .TP
+\fB --ignore-sigint\fP
+Disable SIGINT handling (defaults to terminating keepalived). This is needed
+for running keepalived under GDB.
+.TP
 \fB --debug\fP[=debug-options]]
 Enables debug options if they have been compiled into keepalived.
 \fIdebug-options\fP is made up of a sequence of strings of the form Ulll.
diff --git a/keepalived/bfd/bfd_daemon.c b/keepalived/bfd/bfd_daemon.c
index a9d4cc68fb..4d20f159ea 100644
--- a/keepalived/bfd/bfd_daemon.c
+++ b/keepalived/bfd/bfd_daemon.c
@@ -240,7 +240,10 @@ static void
 bfd_signal_init(void)
 {
 	signal_set(SIGHUP, sigreload_bfd, NULL);
-	signal_set(SIGINT, sigend_bfd, NULL);
+	if (ignore_sigint)
+		signal_ignore(SIGINT);
+	else
+		signal_set(SIGINT, sigend_bfd, NULL);
 	signal_set(SIGTERM, sigend_bfd, NULL);
 	signal_set(SIGUSR1, sigdump_bfd, NULL);
 #ifdef THREAD_DUMP
diff --git a/keepalived/check/check_daemon.c b/keepalived/check/check_daemon.c
index 8e4184e641..887b00d5f9 100644
--- a/keepalived/check/check_daemon.c
+++ b/keepalived/check/check_daemon.c
@@ -565,7 +565,10 @@ static void
 check_signal_init(void)
 {
 	signal_set(SIGHUP, sigreload_check, NULL);
-	signal_set(SIGINT, sigend_check, NULL);
+	if (ignore_sigint)
+		signal_ignore(SIGINT);
+	else
+		signal_set(SIGINT, sigend_check, NULL);
 	signal_set(SIGTERM, sigend_check, NULL);
 	signal_set(SIGUSR1, sigusr1_check, NULL);
 #ifdef THREAD_DUMP
diff --git a/keepalived/core/main.c b/keepalived/core/main.c
index 0316e8450c..a52b781f1f 100644
--- a/keepalived/core/main.c
+++ b/keepalived/core/main.c
@@ -211,6 +211,9 @@ static bool create_core_dump = false;
 static const char *core_dump_pattern = "core";
 static char *orig_core_dump_pattern = NULL;
 
+/* Signal handling */
+bool ignore_sigint = false;
+
 /* debug flags */
 #if defined _TIMER_CHECK_ || \
     defined _SMTP_ALERT_DEBUG_ || \
@@ -1289,7 +1292,10 @@ signal_init(void)
 #ifdef _WITH_JSON_
 	signal_set(SIGJSON, propagate_signal, NULL);
 #endif
-	signal_set(SIGINT, sigend, NULL);
+	if (ignore_sigint)
+		signal_ignore(SIGINT);
+	else
+		signal_set(SIGINT, sigend, NULL);
 	signal_set(SIGTERM, sigend, NULL);
 #ifdef THREAD_DUMP
 	signal_set(SIGTDUMP, thread_dump_signal, NULL);
@@ -1886,6 +1892,7 @@ usage(const char *prog)
 	fprintf(stderr, "  -i, --config-id id           Skip any configuration lines beginning '@' that don't match id\n"
 			"                                or any lines beginning @^ that do match.\n"
 			"                                The config-id defaults to the node name if option not used\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "      --ignore-sigint          ignore SIGINT (default means terminate) - used for debugging with GDB\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "      --signum=SIGFUNC         Return signal number for STOP, RELOAD, DATA, STATS, STATS_CLEAR"
 #ifdef _WITH_JSON_
 								", JSON"
@@ -2051,6 +2058,7 @@ parse_cmdline(int argc, char **argv)
 		{"signum",		required_argument,	NULL,  4 },
 		{"config-test",		optional_argument,	NULL, 't'},
 		{"config-fd",		required_argument,	NULL,  8 },
+		{"ignore-sigint",	no_argument,		NULL,  9 },
 #ifdef _WITH_PERF_
 		{"perf",		optional_argument,	NULL,  5 },
 #endif
@@ -2356,6 +2364,9 @@ parse_cmdline(int argc, char **argv)
 		case 8:
 			set_config_fd(atoi(optarg));
 			break;
+		case 9:
+			ignore_sigint = true;
+			break;
 		case '?':
 			if (optopt && argv[curind][1] != '-')
 				fprintf(stderr, "Unknown option -%c\n", optopt);
diff --git a/keepalived/include/main.h b/keepalived/include/main.h
index 814a02157b..90809ac138 100644
--- a/keepalived/include/main.h
+++ b/keepalived/include/main.h
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ extern unsigned os_major;		/* Kernel version */
 extern unsigned os_minor;
 extern unsigned os_release;
 
+extern bool ignore_sigint;
+
 extern void free_parent_mallocs_startup(bool);
 extern void free_parent_mallocs_exit(void);
 extern const char *make_syslog_ident(const char*);
diff --git a/keepalived/vrrp/vrrp_daemon.c b/keepalived/vrrp/vrrp_daemon.c
index d16b192dc6..4a483d40c4 100644
--- a/keepalived/vrrp/vrrp_daemon.c
+++ b/keepalived/vrrp/vrrp_daemon.c
@@ -789,7 +789,10 @@ static void
 vrrp_signal_init(void)
 {
 	signal_set(SIGHUP, sigreload_vrrp, NULL);
-	signal_set(SIGINT, sigend_vrrp, NULL);
+	if (ignore_sigint)
+		signal_ignore(SIGINT);
+	else
+		signal_set(SIGINT, sigend_vrrp, NULL);
 	signal_set(SIGTERM, sigend_vrrp, NULL);
 	signal_set(SIGUSR1, sigusr1_vrrp, NULL);
 	signal_set(SIGUSR2, sigusr2_vrrp, NULL);