diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 35fff9cf..79a1dd7d 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ global manipulation. Our goal with **lab** is to keep the execution engine as si
 
 **lab** supports the following command line options:
 - `-a`, `--assert` - name of assert library to use.
+- `--bail` - terminate the process with a non-zero exit code on the first test failure. Defaults to `false`.
 - `-c`, `--coverage` - enables code coverage analysis.
 - `--coverage-path` - sets code coverage path.
 - `--coverage-exclude` - sets code coverage excludes.
diff --git a/lib/cli.js b/lib/cli.js
index 3732cdbb..0cf1c035 100755
--- a/lib/cli.js
+++ b/lib/cli.js
@@ -146,6 +146,11 @@ internals.options = function () {
             description: 'specify an assertion library module path to require and make available under Lab.assertions',
             default: null
         },
+        bail: {
+            type: 'boolean',
+            description: 'exit the process with a non zero exit code on the first test failure',
+            default: null
+        },
         colors: {
             alias: 'C',
             type: 'boolean',
@@ -354,7 +359,7 @@ internals.options = function () {
     };
 
     const defaults = {
-        paths: ['test'],
+        bail: false,
         coverage: false,
         debug: false,
         dry: false,
@@ -367,6 +372,7 @@ internals.options = function () {
         'lint-errors-threshold': 0,
         'lint-warnings-threshold': 0,
         parallel: false,
+        paths: ['test'],
         rejections: false,
         reporter: 'console',
         shuffle: false,
@@ -398,7 +404,7 @@ internals.options = function () {
     const options = Utils.mergeOptions(defaults, internals.rc);
     options.paths = argv._ ? [].concat(argv._) : options.paths;
 
-    const keys = ['assert', 'colors', 'context-timeout', 'coverage', 'coverage-exclude',
+    const keys = ['assert', 'bail', 'colors', 'context-timeout', 'coverage', 'coverage-exclude',
         'coverage-path', 'debug', 'dry', 'environment', 'flat', 'globals', 'grep',
         'lint', 'lint-errors-threshold', 'lint-fix', 'lint-options', 'lint-warnings-threshold',
         'linter', 'output', 'parallel', 'pattern', 'rejections', 'reporter', 'seed', 'shuffle', 'silence',
diff --git a/lib/runner.js b/lib/runner.js
index bce1dc1f..8814e3a5 100755
--- a/lib/runner.js
+++ b/lib/runner.js
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ Error.stackTraceLimit = Infinity;                   // Set Error stack size
 internals.defaults = {
 
     // assert: { incomplete(), count() },
+    bail: false,
     coverage: false,
 
     // coveragePath: process.cwd(),
@@ -326,6 +327,10 @@ internals.executeExperiments = function (experiments, state, skip, callback) {
                 state.report.errors.push(err);
             }
 
+            if (state.report.errors.length && state.options.bail === true) {
+                return callback();
+            }
+
             nextExperiment();
         });
     },
@@ -356,6 +361,10 @@ internals.executeTests = function (experiment, state, skip, callback) {
         return callback();
     }
 
+    // Set to an error when options.bail is set and a test fails
+
+    let bail = null;
+
     // Collect beforeEach and afterEach from parents
 
     const befores = skip ? [] : internals.collectDeps(experiment, 'beforeEaches');
@@ -430,12 +439,14 @@ internals.executeTests = function (experiment, state, skip, callback) {
                         state.report.failures++;
                         test.err = err;
                         test.timeout = err.timeout;
+                        bail = state.options.bail === true ? err : null;
                     }
 
                     test.duration = Date.now() - start;
 
                     state.report.tests.push(test);
                     state.reporter.test(test);
+
                     return next();
                 });
             },
@@ -461,6 +472,10 @@ internals.executeTests = function (experiment, state, skip, callback) {
                 state.report.errors.push(err);
             }
 
+            if (bail) {
+                return callback(bail);
+            }
+
             return nextTest();
         });
     };
diff --git a/test/cli.js b/test/cli.js
index 66174d6d..c90b3247 100755
--- a/test/cli.js
+++ b/test/cli.js
@@ -118,6 +118,21 @@ describe('CLI', () => {
         });
     });
 
+    it('(--bail) exits with code 1 running a directory of tests after one fails', (done) => {
+
+        RunCli(['test/cli_bail', '-m', '2000', '--bail'], (error, result) => {
+
+            if (error) {
+                done(error);
+            }
+
+            expect(result.code).to.equal(1);
+            expect(result.output).to.contain('Expected 1 to equal specified value');
+            expect(result.output).to.contain('1 of 2 tests failed');
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
     it('exits with code 1 when function returns error with multiple reporters', (done) => {
 
         RunCli(['test/cli_failure/failure.js', '-r', 'console', '-r', 'lcov'], (error, result) => {
diff --git a/test/cli_bail/test1.js b/test/cli_bail/test1.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..313de24a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli_bail/test1.js
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+'use strict';
+
+// Load modules
+
+const Code = require('code');
+const _Lab = require('../../test_runner');
+
+
+// Declare internals
+
+const internals = {};
+
+
+// Test shortcuts
+
+const lab = exports.lab = _Lab.script();
+const before = lab.before;
+const after = lab.after;
+const describe = lab.describe;
+const it = lab.it;
+const expect = Code.expect;
+
+
+describe('test1', () => {
+
+    before((done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(done);
+    });
+
+    it('should add numbers', (done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(() => {
+
+            expect(1 + 1).to.equal(2);
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    after((done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(done);
+    });
+});
diff --git a/test/cli_bail/test2.js b/test/cli_bail/test2.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7bae60d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli_bail/test2.js
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+'use strict';
+
+// Load modules
+
+const Code = require('code');
+const _Lab = require('../../test_runner');
+
+
+// Declare internals
+
+const internals = {};
+
+
+// Test shortcuts
+
+const lab = exports.lab = _Lab.script();
+const before = lab.before;
+const after = lab.after;
+const describe = lab.describe;
+const it = lab.it;
+const expect = Code.expect;
+
+
+describe('test2', () => {
+
+    before((done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(done);
+    });
+
+    it('should multiply numbers', (done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(() => {
+
+            expect(1 * 1).to.equal(2);
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    after((done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(done);
+    });
+});
diff --git a/test/cli_bail/test3.js b/test/cli_bail/test3.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fa4c8d98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli_bail/test3.js
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+'use strict';
+
+// Load modules
+
+const Code = require('code');
+const _Lab = require('../../test_runner');
+
+
+// Declare internals
+
+const internals = {};
+
+
+// Test shortcuts
+
+const lab = exports.lab = _Lab.script();
+const before = lab.before;
+const after = lab.after;
+const describe = lab.describe;
+const it = lab.it;
+const expect = Code.expect;
+
+
+describe('test2', () => {
+
+    before((done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(done);
+    });
+
+    it('should multiply numbers', (done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(() => {
+
+            expect(1 * 1).to.equal(1);
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    after((done) => {
+
+        process.nextTick(done);
+    });
+});
diff --git a/test/runner.js b/test/runner.js
index e0068dbd..78382064 100755
--- a/test/runner.js
+++ b/test/runner.js
@@ -786,7 +786,38 @@ describe('Runner', () => {
         });
     });
 
-    it('dry run', (done) => {
+    it('bail will terminate on the first test failure', (done) => {
+
+        const script = Lab.script();
+        script.experiment('test', () => {
+
+            script.test('1', (testDone) => {
+
+                testDone();
+            });
+
+            script.test('2', (testDone) => {
+
+                throw new Error('bailing');
+            });
+
+            script.test('3', (testDone) => {
+
+                testDone();
+            });
+        });
+
+        Lab.execute(script, { bail: true }, null, (err, notebook) => {
+
+            expect(err).not.to.exist();
+            expect(notebook.tests).to.have.length(2);
+            expect(notebook.failures).to.equal(1);
+            expect(notebook.errors[0].message).to.contain('bailing');
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    it('dry run won\'t execute tests', (done) => {
 
         const script = Lab.script();
         script.experiment('test', () => {