diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index c0921bd9..5f505d11 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2010-01-02  Michael Rash  <mbr@cipherdyne.org>
+	* Added --packet-limit to fwknopd so that the number of incoming candidate
+	  SPA packets can be limited from the command line.  When this limit is
+	  reached (any packet that contains application layer data and passes the
+	  pcap filter is included in the count) then fwknopd exits.
+
 2009-11-01  Michael Rash  <mbr@cipherdyne.org>
 	* (Legacy code) Applied patch from Jonthan Bennett to support the usage of
 	  the http_proxy environmental variable for sending SPA packets through an
diff --git a/server/config_init.c b/server/config_init.c
index 91c963cc..170b6552 100644
--- a/server/config_init.c
+++ b/server/config_init.c
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ config_init(fko_srv_options_t *opts, int argc, char **argv)
      * file.
     */
     set_config_entry(opts, CONF_HOSTNAME, opts->hostname);
-    
+
     /* In case this is a re-config.
     */
     optind = 0;
@@ -421,6 +421,9 @@ config_init(fko_srv_options_t *opts, int argc, char **argv)
             case 'c':
                 /* This was handled earlier */
                 break;
+            case 'C':
+                opts->packet_ctr_limit = atoi(optarg);
+                break;
             case 'D':
                 opts->dump_config = 1;
                 break;
@@ -511,6 +514,8 @@ usage(void)
       "Usage: fwknopd [options]\n\n"
       " -h, --help              - Print this usage message and exit.\n"
       " -c, --config-file       - Specify an alternate configuration file.\n"
+      " -C, --packet-limit      - Limit the number of candidate SPA packets to\n"
+      "                           process and exit when this limit is reached.\n"
       " -D, --dump-config       - Dump the current fwknop configuration values.\n"
       " -f, --foreground        - Run fwknopd in the foreground so that it never\n"
       "                           forks off into the background.\n"
diff --git a/server/config_init.h b/server/config_init.h
index 5771f7e4..c8485baa 100644
--- a/server/config_init.h
+++ b/server/config_init.h
@@ -63,13 +63,14 @@ enum {
 
 /* Our getopt_long options string.
 */
-#define GETOPTS_OPTION_STRING "c:Dfhi:KO:RSvV"
+#define GETOPTS_OPTION_STRING "c:C:Dfhi:KO:RSvV"
 
 /* Our program command-line options...
 */
 static struct option cmd_opts[] =
 {
     {"config-file",         1, NULL, 'c'},
+    {"packet-limit",        1, NULL, 'C'},
     {"dump-config",         0, NULL, 'D'},
     {"foreground",          0, NULL, 'f'},
     {"fw-list",             0, NULL, FIREWALL_LIST },
diff --git a/server/fwknopd.c b/server/fwknopd.c
index 6e582d5d..30b11fd4 100644
--- a/server/fwknopd.c
+++ b/server/fwknopd.c
@@ -259,6 +259,13 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
                 break;
             }
         }
+        else if (opts.packet_ctr >= opts.packet_ctr_limit)
+        {
+            log_msg(LOG_INFO|LOG_STDERR,
+                "Packet count limit (%d) reached.  Exiting...",
+                opts.packet_ctr_limit);
+            break;
+        }
         else    /* got_signal was not set (should be if we are here) */
         {
             log_msg(LOG_WARNING|LOG_STDERR,
diff --git a/server/fwknopd_common.h b/server/fwknopd_common.h
index eb6e1e2e..9ce0bf86 100644
--- a/server/fwknopd_common.h
+++ b/server/fwknopd_common.h
@@ -287,6 +287,12 @@ typedef struct fko_srv_options
 
     spa_pkt_info_t  spa_pkt;            /* The current SPA packet */
 
+    /* Counter set from the command line to exit after the specified
+     * number of SPA packets are processed.
+    */
+    unsigned int    packet_ctr_limit;
+    unsigned int    packet_ctr;  /* counts packets with >0 payload bytes */
+
     /* This array holds all of the config file entry values as strings
      * indexed by their tag name.
     */
diff --git a/server/pcap_capture.c b/server/pcap_capture.c
index 6002ed79..6589e6a9 100644
--- a/server/pcap_capture.c
+++ b/server/pcap_capture.c
@@ -154,6 +154,17 @@ pcap_capture(fko_srv_options_t *opts)
         {
             incoming_spa(opts);
 
+            /* Count this packet since it has at least one byte of payload
+             * data - we use this as a comparison for --packet-limit regardless
+             * of SPA packet validity at this point.
+            */
+            opts->packet_ctr++;
+            if (opts->packet_ctr >= opts->packet_ctr_limit)
+            {
+                pcap_breakloop(pcap);
+                pending_break = 1;
+            }
+
             pcap_errcnt = 0;
             continue;
         }