diff --git a/job-server-api/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/context/SparkContextFactory.scala b/job-server-api/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/context/SparkContextFactory.scala
index 25d3bffa5..7ff83459d 100644
--- a/job-server-api/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/context/SparkContextFactory.scala
+++ b/job-server-api/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/context/SparkContextFactory.scala
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ trait SparkContextFactory {
     val sparkConf = configToSparkConf(config, contextConfig, contextName)
     makeContext(sparkConf, contextConfig, contextName)
   }
+
+  def updateConfig(config: Config): Config = config
 }
 
 case class ScalaJobContainer(job: api.SparkJobBase) extends JobContainer {
diff --git a/job-server-extras/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/context/StreamingContextFactory.scala b/job-server-extras/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/context/StreamingContextFactory.scala
index 3443a56fd..6f38ff6c2 100644
--- a/job-server-extras/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/context/StreamingContextFactory.scala
+++ b/job-server-extras/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/context/StreamingContextFactory.scala
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 package spark.jobserver.context
 
-import com.typesafe.config.Config
+import com.typesafe.config.{Config, ConfigFactory}
 import org.apache.spark.SparkConf
 import org.apache.spark.streaming.{Milliseconds, StreamingContext}
-import spark.jobserver.{api, ContextLike, SparkStreamingJob}
+import spark.jobserver.{ContextLike, SparkStreamingJob, api}
+import spark.jobserver.util.JobserverConfig
 
 class StreamingContextFactory extends ScalaContextFactory {
 
@@ -22,4 +23,21 @@ class StreamingContextFactory extends ScalaContextFactory {
       }
     }
   }
+
+  override def updateConfig(contextConfig: Config): Config = {
+    contextConfig.hasPath(JobserverConfig.STOP_CONTEXT_ON_JOB_ERROR) match {
+      case true => logger.info(
+        s"${JobserverConfig.STOP_CONTEXT_ON_JOB_ERROR} already configured, not changing the config")
+        contextConfig
+      case false =>
+        logger.warn(
+          s"""${JobserverConfig.STOP_CONTEXT_ON_JOB_ERROR} is not set. Streaming contexts have
+          |default set to true. On any error the context will stop. To change behavior,
+          |set ${JobserverConfig.STOP_CONTEXT_ON_JOB_ERROR} while creating context."""
+          .stripMargin.replaceAll("\n", " "))
+
+        contextConfig.withFallback(
+          ConfigFactory.parseString(s"${JobserverConfig.STOP_CONTEXT_ON_JOB_ERROR}=true"))
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/job-server-extras/src/test/scala/spark/jobserver/StreamingJobSpec.scala b/job-server-extras/src/test/scala/spark/jobserver/StreamingJobSpec.scala
index 932cf2575..cde539afc 100644
--- a/job-server-extras/src/test/scala/spark/jobserver/StreamingJobSpec.scala
+++ b/job-server-extras/src/test/scala/spark/jobserver/StreamingJobSpec.scala
@@ -145,6 +145,16 @@ class StreamingJobSpec extends JobSpecBase(StreamingJobSpec.getNewSystem) {
 
       deathWatch.expectNoMsg(1.seconds)
     }
+
+    it("should automatically stop a streaming context if" +
+      s" job throws an exception (since ${JobserverConfig.STOP_CONTEXT_ON_JOB_ERROR} is by default true)") {
+      val deathWatch = TestProbe()
+      deathWatch.watch(manager)
+
+      triggerFailingStreamingJob(cfg)
+
+      deathWatch.expectTerminated(manager, 3.seconds)
+    }
   }
 
   private def triggerFailingStreamingJob(ctxConfig: Config): Unit = {
diff --git a/job-server/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/JobManagerActor.scala b/job-server/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/JobManagerActor.scala
index 7f4a69380..8e59327f7 100644
--- a/job-server/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/JobManagerActor.scala
+++ b/job-server/src/main/scala/spark/jobserver/JobManagerActor.scala
@@ -344,6 +344,8 @@ class JobManagerActor(daoActor: ActorRef, supervisorActorAddress: String, contex
           jarLoader.addURL(new URL(convertJarUriSparkToJava(jarUri)))
         }
         factory = getContextFactory()
+        // Add defaults or update the config according to a specific context
+        contextConfig = factory.updateConfig(contextConfig)
         jobContext = factory.makeContext(config, contextConfig, contextName)
         jobContext.sparkContext.addSparkListener(sparkListener)
         sparkEnv = SparkEnv.get