diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.services.local/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/services/local/shells/LocalShellThread.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.services.local/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/services/local/shells/LocalShellThread.java
index 1cdfff2f53c..4e9b1fe9aa4 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.services.local/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/services/local/shells/LocalShellThread.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.services.local/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/services/local/shells/LocalShellThread.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /********************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2002, 2006 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2002, 2006 IBM Corporation and others. All rights reserved.
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the terms
  * of the Eclipse Public License v1.0 which accompanies this distribution, and is 
  * available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
  * 
  * Contributors:
  * Javier Montalvo Orús (Symbian) - 138619: Fix codepage on Win2K
+ * Lothar Werzinger (Tradescape) - 161838: Support terminating local shells
  ********************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.rse.internal.services.local.shells;
@@ -393,6 +394,8 @@ public class LocalShellThread extends Thread
 			catch (IOException e)
 			{
 				System.out.println(e);
+		        // make the thread exit;
+		        _isShell = false;
 			}
 
 		}
@@ -438,7 +441,7 @@ public class LocalShellThread extends Thread
 
 	public boolean doThreadedWork()
 	{
-		if (_stdInput == null)
+		if (_stdInput == null || _isShell == false)
 		{
 			return false;
 		}