diff --git a/Lib/unittest/main.py b/Lib/unittest/main.py
index 3f0f43d..f5b516c 100644
--- a/Lib/unittest/main.py
+++ b/Lib/unittest/main.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
   -h, --help       Show this message
   -v, --verbose    Verbose output
   -q, --quiet      Minimal output
+  -f, --failfast   Stop on first failure
 
 Examples:
   %(progName)s test_module                       - run tests from test_module
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
 
 Options:
   -v, --verbose    Verbose output
+  -f, --failfast   Stop on first failure
   -s directory     Directory to start discovery ('.' default)
   -p pattern       Pattern to match test files ('test*.py' default)
   -t directory     Top level directory of project (default to
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@
   -h, --help       Show this message
   -v, --verbose    Verbose output
   -q, --quiet      Minimal output
+  -f, --failfast   Stop on first failure
 
 Examples:
   %(progName)s                               - run default set of tests
@@ -69,7 +72,7 @@
     def __init__(self, module='__main__', defaultTest=None,
                  argv=None, testRunner=None,
                  testLoader=loader.defaultTestLoader, exit=True,
-                 verbosity=1):
+                 verbosity=1, failfast=False):
         if isinstance(module, basestring):
             self.module = __import__(module)
             for part in module.split('.')[1:]:
@@ -80,6 +83,7 @@
             argv = sys.argv
 
         self.exit = exit
+        self.failfast = failfast
         self.verbosity = verbosity
         self.defaultTest = defaultTest
         self.testRunner = testRunner
@@ -100,9 +104,9 @@
             return
 
         import getopt
-        long_opts = ['help','verbose','quiet']
+        long_opts = ['help', 'verbose', 'quiet', 'failfast']
         try:
-            options, args = getopt.getopt(argv[1:], 'hHvq', long_opts)
+            options, args = getopt.getopt(argv[1:], 'hHvqf', long_opts)
             for opt, value in options:
                 if opt in ('-h','-H','--help'):
                     self.usageExit()
@@ -110,6 +114,8 @@
                     self.verbosity = 0
                 if opt in ('-v','--verbose'):
                     self.verbosity = 2
+                if opt in ('-f','--failfast'):
+                    self.failfast = True
             if len(args) == 0 and self.defaultTest is None:
                 # createTests will load tests from self.module
                 self.testNames = None
@@ -137,6 +143,8 @@
         parser = optparse.OptionParser()
         parser.add_option('-v', '--verbose', dest='verbose', default=False,
                           help='Verbose output', action='store_true')
+        parser.add_option('-f', '--failfast', dest='failfast', default=False,
+                          help='Stop on first fail or error', action='store_true')
         parser.add_option('-s', '--start-directory', dest='start', default='.',
                           help="Directory to start discovery ('.' default)")
         parser.add_option('-p', '--pattern', dest='pattern', default='test*.py',
@@ -153,6 +161,8 @@
 
         if options.verbose:
             self.verbosity = 2
+        if options.failfast:
+            self.failfast = True
 
         start_dir = options.start
         pattern = options.pattern
@@ -166,9 +176,10 @@
             self.testRunner = runner.TextTestRunner
         if isinstance(self.testRunner, (type, types.ClassType)):
             try:
-                testRunner = self.testRunner(verbosity=self.verbosity)
+                testRunner = self.testRunner(verbosity=self.verbosity,
+                                             failfast=self.failfast)
             except TypeError:
-                # didn't accept the verbosity argument
+                # didn't accept the verbosity or failfast argument
                 testRunner = self.testRunner()
         else:
             # it is assumed to be a TestRunner instance
diff --git a/Lib/unittest/result.py b/Lib/unittest/result.py
index 91cf218..96d56a1 100644
--- a/Lib/unittest/result.py
+++ b/Lib/unittest/result.py
@@ -3,9 +3,17 @@
 import traceback
 
 from . import util
+from functools import wraps
 
 __unittest = True
 
+def failfast(method):
+    @wraps(method)
+    def inner(self, *args, **kw):
+        if getattr(self, 'failfast', False):
+            self.stop()
+        return method(self, *args, **kw)
+    return inner
 
 class TestResult(object):
     """Holder for test result information.
@@ -21,6 +29,7 @@
     _previousTestClass = None
     _moduleSetUpFailed = False
     def __init__(self, stream=None, descriptions=None, verbosity=None):
+        self.failfast = False
         self.failures = []
         self.errors = []
         self.testsRun = 0
@@ -51,12 +60,14 @@
         See stopTest for a method called after each test.
         """
 
+    @failfast
     def addError(self, test, err):
         """Called when an error has occurred. 'err' is a tuple of values as
         returned by sys.exc_info().
         """
         self.errors.append((test, self._exc_info_to_string(err, test)))
 
+    @failfast
     def addFailure(self, test, err):
         """Called when an error has occurred. 'err' is a tuple of values as
         returned by sys.exc_info()."""
@@ -70,11 +81,13 @@
         """Called when a test is skipped."""
         self.skipped.append((test, reason))
 
+    @failfast
     def addExpectedFailure(self, test, err):
         """Called when an expected failure/error occured."""
         self.expectedFailures.append(
             (test, self._exc_info_to_string(err, test)))
 
+    @failfast
     def addUnexpectedSuccess(self, test):
         """Called when a test was expected to fail, but succeed."""
         self.unexpectedSuccesses.append(test)
diff --git a/Lib/unittest/runner.py b/Lib/unittest/runner.py
index f9e1995..fd56a30 100644
--- a/Lib/unittest/runner.py
+++ b/Lib/unittest/runner.py
@@ -124,10 +124,11 @@
     resultclass = TextTestResult
 
     def __init__(self, stream=sys.stderr, descriptions=True, verbosity=1,
-                 resultclass=None):
+                 failfast=False, resultclass=None):
         self.stream = _WritelnDecorator(stream)
         self.descriptions = descriptions
         self.verbosity = verbosity
+        self.failfast = failfast
         if resultclass is not None:
             self.resultclass = resultclass
 
@@ -137,6 +138,7 @@
     def run(self, test):
         "Run the given test case or test suite."
         result = self._makeResult()
+        result.failfast = self.failfast
         startTime = time.time()
         startTestRun = getattr(result, 'startTestRun', None)
         if startTestRun is not None: