diff --git a/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/StressAction.java b/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/StressAction.java
index dfea2fe29d..2cc9868170 100644
--- a/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/StressAction.java
+++ b/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/StressAction.java
@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@ private StressMetrics run(OpDistributionFactory operations,
 
         final StressMetrics metrics = new StressMetrics(output, settings.log.intervalMillis, settings);
 
+        final CountDownLatch anyFailed = new CountDownLatch(1);
         final CountDownLatch releaseConsumers = new CountDownLatch(1);
         final CountDownLatch done = new CountDownLatch(threadCount);
         final CountDownLatch start = new CountDownLatch(threadCount);
@@ -238,7 +239,7 @@ private StressMetrics run(OpDistributionFactory operations,
         for (int i = 0; i < threadCount; i++)
         {
             consumers[i] = new Consumer(operations, isWarmup,
-                                        done, start, releaseConsumers, workManager, metrics, rateLimiter);
+                                        done, start, releaseConsumers, anyFailed, workManager, metrics, rateLimiter);
         }
 
         // starting worker threadCount
@@ -266,7 +267,16 @@ private StressMetrics run(OpDistributionFactory operations,
 
         if (durationUnits != null)
         {
-            Uninterruptibles.sleepUninterruptibly(duration, durationUnits);
+            try {
+                if(settings.errors.failFast) {
+                    // I'm assuming Consumers don't finish successfully ahead of set duration
+                    anyFailed.await(duration, durationUnits);
+                } else {
+                    done.await(duration, durationUnits);
+                }
+            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+            }
             workManager.stop();
         }
         else if (opCount <= 0)
@@ -402,6 +412,7 @@ public class Consumer extends Thread implements MeasurementSink
         private final CountDownLatch done;
         private final CountDownLatch start;
         private final CountDownLatch releaseConsumers;
+        private final CountDownLatch anyFailed;
         public final Queue<OpMeasurement> measurementsRecycling;
         public final Queue<OpMeasurement> measurementsReporting;
         public Consumer(OpDistributionFactory operations,
@@ -409,6 +420,7 @@ public Consumer(OpDistributionFactory operations,
                         CountDownLatch done,
                         CountDownLatch start,
                         CountDownLatch releaseConsumers,
+                        CountDownLatch anyFailed,
                         WorkManager workManager,
                         StressMetrics metrics,
                         UniformRateLimiter rateLimiter)
@@ -417,6 +429,7 @@ public Consumer(OpDistributionFactory operations,
             this.done = done;
             this.start = start;
             this.releaseConsumers = releaseConsumers;
+            this.anyFailed = anyFailed;
             this.metrics = metrics;
             this.opStream = new StreamOfOperations(opDistribution, rateLimiter, workManager);
             this.measurementsRecycling =  new SpscArrayQueue<OpMeasurement>(8*1024);
@@ -462,6 +475,10 @@ public void run()
 
                 while (true)
                 {
+                    if (settings.errors.failFast && anyFailed.getCount() == 0) {
+                        success = false;
+                        break;
+                    }
                     // Assumption: All ops are thread local, operations are never shared across threads.
                     Operation op = opStream.nextOp();
                     if (op == null)
@@ -493,6 +510,7 @@ public void run()
                             output.printException(e);
 
                         success = false;
+                        anyFailed.countDown();
                         opStream.abort();
                         metrics.cancel();
                         return;
@@ -503,6 +521,7 @@ public void run()
             {
                 System.err.println(e.getMessage());
                 success = false;
+                anyFailed.countDown();
             }
             finally
             {
diff --git a/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/settings/SettingsErrors.java b/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/settings/SettingsErrors.java
index 2ddabbe3e5..826757738e 100644
--- a/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/settings/SettingsErrors.java
+++ b/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/settings/SettingsErrors.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ public class SettingsErrors implements Serializable
 {
 
     public final boolean ignore;
+    public final boolean failFast;
     public final int tries;
     public final boolean skipReadValidation;
     public final boolean skipUnsupportedColumns;
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ private enum DelayPolicy {
     public SettingsErrors(Options options)
     {
         ignore = options.ignore.setByUser();
+        failFast = options.failFast.setByUser();
         this.tries = Math.max(1, Integer.parseInt(options.retries.value()) + 1);
         skipReadValidation = options.skipReadValidation.setByUser();
         skipUnsupportedColumns = options.skipUnsupportedColumns.setByUser();
@@ -93,6 +95,7 @@ public static final class Options extends GroupedOptions
     {
         final OptionSimple retries = new OptionSimple("retries=", "[0-9]+", "9", "Number of tries to perform for each operation before failing", false);
         final OptionSimple ignore = new OptionSimple("ignore", "", null, "Do not fail on errors", false);
+        final OptionSimple failFast = new OptionSimple("fail-fast", "", null, "Fail on first thread failure when running for set <duration>", false);
         final OptionSimple skipReadValidation = new OptionSimple("skip-read-validation", "", null, "Skip read validation and message output", false);
         final OptionSimple skipUnsupportedColumns = new OptionSimple("skip-unsupported-columns", "", null, "Skip unsupported columns, such as maps and embedded collections, when generating data for a user profile.", false);
 
@@ -103,7 +106,7 @@ public static final class Options extends GroupedOptions
         @Override
         public List<? extends Option> options()
         {
-            return Arrays.asList(retries, ignore, skipReadValidation, skipUnsupportedColumns,
+            return Arrays.asList(retries, ignore, failFast, skipReadValidation, skipUnsupportedColumns,
                                  delayPolicy, minDelayMs, maxDelayMs);
         }
 
@@ -128,6 +131,7 @@ public boolean happy() {
     public void printSettings(ResultLogger out)
     {
         out.printf("  Ignore: %b%n", ignore);
+        out.printf("  Fail fast setting: %b%n", failFast);
         out.printf("  Tries: %d%n", tries);
         if (delayPolicy == DelayPolicy.CONSTANT && minDelayMs == 0) {
             return;