diff --git a/orte/orted/orted_submit.c b/orte/orted/orted_submit.c
index d2ee5d7abe..365203bdeb 100644
--- a/orte/orted/orted_submit.c
+++ b/orte/orted/orted_submit.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2013-2017 Intel, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2015-2017 Research Organization for Information Science
  *                         and Technology (RIST). All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017      IBM Corporation.  All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  *
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -3071,8 +3072,10 @@ static void stack_trace_recv(int status, orte_process_name_t* sender,
     }
     ++ntraces;
     if (orte_process_info.num_procs == ntraces) {
-        /* cancel the timeout */
-        OBJ_DESTRUCT(&stack_trace_timer);
+        if( orte_stack_trace_wait_timeout > 0 ) {
+            /* cancel the timeout */
+            OBJ_DESTRUCT(&stack_trace_timer);
+        }
         /* abort the job */
         ORTE_ACTIVATE_JOB_STATE(NULL, ORTE_JOB_STATE_ALL_JOBS_COMPLETE);
         /* set the global abnormal exit flag  */
@@ -3173,12 +3176,14 @@ void orte_timeout_wakeup(int sd, short args, void *cbdata)
         OBJ_RELEASE(sig);
         /* we will terminate after we get the stack_traces, but set a timeout
          * just in case we never hear back from everyone */
-        OBJ_CONSTRUCT(&stack_trace_timer, orte_timer_t);
-        opal_event_evtimer_set(orte_event_base,
-                               stack_trace_timer.ev, stack_trace_timeout, NULL);
-        opal_event_set_priority(stack_trace_timer.ev, ORTE_ERROR_PRI);
-        stack_trace_timer.tv.tv_sec = 30;
-        opal_event_evtimer_add(stack_trace_timer.ev, &stack_trace_timer.tv);
+        if( orte_stack_trace_wait_timeout > 0 ) {
+            OBJ_CONSTRUCT(&stack_trace_timer, orte_timer_t);
+            opal_event_evtimer_set(orte_event_base,
+                                   stack_trace_timer.ev, stack_trace_timeout, NULL);
+            opal_event_set_priority(stack_trace_timer.ev, ORTE_ERROR_PRI);
+            stack_trace_timer.tv.tv_sec = orte_stack_trace_wait_timeout;
+            opal_event_evtimer_add(stack_trace_timer.ev, &stack_trace_timer.tv);
+        }
         return;
     }
   giveup:
diff --git a/orte/runtime/orte_globals.c b/orte/runtime/orte_globals.c
index 1090aa6a3a..75712e11d5 100644
--- a/orte/runtime/orte_globals.c
+++ b/orte/runtime/orte_globals.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2013-2017 Intel, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2014-2015 Research Organization for Information Science
  *                         and Technology (RIST). All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017      IBM Corporation.  All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  *
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -132,6 +133,8 @@ orte_timer_t *orte_mpiexec_timeout = NULL;
 
 opal_buffer_t *orte_tree_launch_cmd = NULL;
 
+int orte_stack_trace_wait_timeout = 30;
+
 /* global arrays for data storage */
 opal_hash_table_t *orte_job_data = NULL;
 opal_pointer_array_t *orte_node_pool = NULL;
diff --git a/orte/runtime/orte_globals.h b/orte/runtime/orte_globals.h
index a794610f61..c60a43303c 100644
--- a/orte/runtime/orte_globals.h
+++ b/orte/runtime/orte_globals.h
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2011-2013 Los Alamos National Security, LLC.
  *                         All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2013-2017 Intel, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017      IBM Corporation.  All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  *
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -576,6 +577,9 @@ ORTE_DECLSPEC extern char *orte_base_user_debugger;
  */
 ORTE_DECLSPEC extern char *orte_daemon_cores;
 
+/* Max time to wait for stack straces to return */
+ORTE_DECLSPEC extern int orte_stack_trace_wait_timeout;
+
 END_C_DECLS
 
 #endif /* ORTE_RUNTIME_ORTE_GLOBALS_H */
diff --git a/orte/runtime/orte_mca_params.c b/orte/runtime/orte_mca_params.c
index e637ad4fd3..6dd76682d1 100644
--- a/orte/runtime/orte_mca_params.c
+++ b/orte/runtime/orte_mca_params.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2013-2017 Intel, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2014      Research Organization for Information Science
  *                         and Technology (RIST). All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017      IBM Corporation.  All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  *
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -752,5 +753,13 @@ int orte_register_params(void)
                                  MCA_BASE_VAR_TYPE_STRING, NULL, 0, 0, OPAL_INFO_LVL_9,
                                  MCA_BASE_VAR_SCOPE_READONLY, &orte_mgmt_transport);
 
+    /* Amount of time to wait for a stack trace to return from the daemons */
+    orte_stack_trace_wait_timeout = 30;
+    (void) mca_base_var_register ("orte", "orte", NULL, "timeout_for_stack_trace",
+                                  "Seconds to wait for stack traces to return before terminating the job (<= 0 wait forever)",
+                                  MCA_BASE_VAR_TYPE_INT, NULL, 0, 0,
+                                  OPAL_INFO_LVL_9, MCA_BASE_VAR_SCOPE_READONLY,
+                                  &orte_stack_trace_wait_timeout);
+
     return ORTE_SUCCESS;
 }