diff --git a/src/os/linux/vm/os_linux.cpp b/src/os/linux/vm/os_linux.cpp
index 6bdcdd2165c8e2aa3d0ab341645556aabf12ae33..a3975d89892351baf5a8aa26805f06cd4d492e6a 100644
--- a/src/os/linux/vm/os_linux.cpp
+++ b/src/os/linux/vm/os_linux.cpp
@@ -2213,7 +2213,7 @@ void os::jvm_path(char *buf, jint buflen) {
   if (rp == NULL)
     return;
 
-  if (strcmp(Arguments::sun_java_launcher(), "gamma") == 0) {
+  if (Arguments::created_by_gamma_launcher()) {
     // Support for the gamma launcher.  Typical value for buf is
     // "<JAVA_HOME>/jre/lib/<arch>/<vmtype>/libjvm.so".  If "/jre/lib/" appears at
     // the right place in the string, then assume we are installed in a JDK and
diff --git a/src/os/posix/vm/os_posix.cpp b/src/os/posix/vm/os_posix.cpp
index 079fa7bc0b2406eb5233ebaee7644ad88ede1e43..4795d06fbebb212009f51466b38db084775fedcd 100644
--- a/src/os/posix/vm/os_posix.cpp
+++ b/src/os/posix/vm/os_posix.cpp
@@ -59,3 +59,12 @@ void os::check_or_create_dump(void* exceptionRecord, void* contextRecord, char*
   VMError::report_coredump_status(buffer, success);
 }
 
+bool os::is_debugger_attached() {
+  // not implemented
+  return false;
+}
+
+void os::wait_for_keypress_at_exit(void) {
+  // don't do anything on posix platforms
+  return;
+}
diff --git a/src/os/solaris/vm/os_solaris.cpp b/src/os/solaris/vm/os_solaris.cpp
index fad8d4466b5dba3ad0be1ef9b3eb45cdf82646c0..8bbd492bd936da39e3c160f3624f06c8e4e9eed1 100644
--- a/src/os/solaris/vm/os_solaris.cpp
+++ b/src/os/solaris/vm/os_solaris.cpp
@@ -2507,7 +2507,7 @@ void os::jvm_path(char *buf, jint buflen) {
   assert(ret != 0, "cannot locate libjvm");
   realpath((char *)dlinfo.dli_fname, buf);
 
-  if (strcmp(Arguments::sun_java_launcher(), "gamma") == 0) {
+  if (Arguments::created_by_gamma_launcher()) {
     // Support for the gamma launcher.  Typical value for buf is
     // "<JAVA_HOME>/jre/lib/<arch>/<vmtype>/libjvm.so".  If "/jre/lib/" appears at
     // the right place in the string, then assume we are installed in a JDK and
diff --git a/src/os/windows/vm/os_windows.cpp b/src/os/windows/vm/os_windows.cpp
index 1b1f04bd0521317a9628da94de07b905fb8850cb..0992ce7648d96f211375f3aca1c9e0ce229f6702 100644
--- a/src/os/windows/vm/os_windows.cpp
+++ b/src/os/windows/vm/os_windows.cpp
@@ -1788,7 +1788,7 @@ void os::jvm_path(char *buf, jint buflen) {
   }
 
   buf[0] = '\0';
-  if (strcmp(Arguments::sun_java_launcher(), "gamma") == 0) {
+  if (Arguments::created_by_gamma_launcher()) {
      // Support for the gamma launcher. Check for an
      // JAVA_HOME environment variable
      // and fix up the path so it looks like
@@ -3418,6 +3418,19 @@ void os::win32::setmode_streams() {
 }
 
 
+bool os::is_debugger_attached() {
+  return IsDebuggerPresent() ? true : false;
+}
+
+
+void os::wait_for_keypress_at_exit(void) {
+  if (PauseAtExit) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "Press any key to continue...\n");
+    fgetc(stdin);
+  }
+}
+
+
 int os::message_box(const char* title, const char* message) {
   int result = MessageBox(NULL, message, title,
                           MB_YESNO | MB_ICONERROR | MB_SYSTEMMODAL | MB_DEFAULT_DESKTOP_ONLY);
diff --git a/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp b/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp
index c058be086c4be754d1d914b050d8215e52bc4fa3..912312a31fce2bac58a5967b47dc56bd61ae5dab 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ bool   Arguments::_xdebug_mode                  = false;
 const char*  Arguments::_java_vendor_url_bug    = DEFAULT_VENDOR_URL_BUG;
 const char*  Arguments::_sun_java_launcher      = DEFAULT_JAVA_LAUNCHER;
 int    Arguments::_sun_java_launcher_pid        = -1;
+bool   Arguments::_created_by_gamma_launcher    = false;
 
 // These parameters are reset in method parse_vm_init_args(JavaVMInitArgs*)
 bool   Arguments::_AlwaysCompileLoopMethods     = AlwaysCompileLoopMethods;
@@ -1656,6 +1657,9 @@ void Arguments::process_java_compiler_argument(char* arg) {
 
 void Arguments::process_java_launcher_argument(const char* launcher, void* extra_info) {
   _sun_java_launcher = strdup(launcher);
+  if (strcmp("gamma", _sun_java_launcher) == 0) {
+    _created_by_gamma_launcher = true;
+  }
 }
 
 bool Arguments::created_by_java_launcher() {
@@ -1663,6 +1667,10 @@ bool Arguments::created_by_java_launcher() {
   return strcmp(DEFAULT_JAVA_LAUNCHER, _sun_java_launcher) != 0;
 }
 
+bool Arguments::created_by_gamma_launcher() {
+  return _created_by_gamma_launcher;
+}
+
 //===========================================================================================================
 // Parsing of main arguments
 
@@ -3155,6 +3163,16 @@ jint Arguments::parse(const JavaVMInitArgs* args) {
     }
   }
 
+  // set PauseAtExit if the gamma launcher was used and a debugger is attached
+  // but only if not already set on the commandline
+  if (Arguments::created_by_gamma_launcher() && os::is_debugger_attached()) {
+    bool set = false;
+    CommandLineFlags::wasSetOnCmdline("PauseAtExit", &set);
+    if (!set) {
+      FLAG_SET_DEFAULT(PauseAtExit, true);
+    }
+  }
+
   return JNI_OK;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.hpp b/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.hpp
index ed6ef26dd2e9dd363d54b24df5af49fc3402478a..fec2bf0f665741b44b7ea40d6ce3e9747a5ed819 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.hpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.hpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 1997, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 1997, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -257,6 +257,9 @@ class Arguments : AllStatic {
   // sun.java.launcher.pid, private property
   static int    _sun_java_launcher_pid;
 
+  // was this VM created by the gamma launcher
+  static bool   _created_by_gamma_launcher;
+
   // Option flags
   static bool   _has_profile;
   static bool   _has_alloc_profile;
@@ -444,6 +447,8 @@ class Arguments : AllStatic {
   static const char* sun_java_launcher()    { return _sun_java_launcher; }
   // Was VM created by a Java launcher?
   static bool created_by_java_launcher();
+  // Was VM created by the gamma Java launcher?
+  static bool created_by_gamma_launcher();
   // -Dsun.java.launcher.pid
   static int sun_java_launcher_pid()        { return _sun_java_launcher_pid; }
 
diff --git a/src/share/vm/runtime/globals.hpp b/src/share/vm/runtime/globals.hpp
index bcb518661b9080b617f5d47addadd79b3c5fa53d..7587cb001134f0af6a54fcdd50b9042e9c543b3c 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/runtime/globals.hpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/runtime/globals.hpp
@@ -3730,6 +3730,9 @@ class CommandLineFlags {
           "The file to create and for whose removal to await when pausing " \
           "at startup. (default: ./vm.paused.<pid>)")                       \
                                                                             \
+  diagnostic(bool, PauseAtExit, false,                                      \
+          "Pause and wait for keypress on exit if a debugger is attached")  \
+                                                                            \
   product(bool, ExtendedDTraceProbes,    false,                             \
           "Enable performance-impacting dtrace probes")                     \
                                                                             \
diff --git a/src/share/vm/runtime/java.cpp b/src/share/vm/runtime/java.cpp
index f833dd2e400b0ab67ad64ef3e7cb28618a33a8f9..1d1bd65bab99e33db20c28297d89c68f2e5d6693 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/runtime/java.cpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/runtime/java.cpp
@@ -551,6 +551,7 @@ void notify_vm_shutdown() {
 
 void vm_direct_exit(int code) {
   notify_vm_shutdown();
+  os::wait_for_keypress_at_exit();
   ::exit(code);
 }
 
@@ -577,11 +578,13 @@ void vm_perform_shutdown_actions() {
 void vm_shutdown()
 {
   vm_perform_shutdown_actions();
+  os::wait_for_keypress_at_exit();
   os::shutdown();
 }
 
 void vm_abort(bool dump_core) {
   vm_perform_shutdown_actions();
+  os::wait_for_keypress_at_exit();
   os::abort(dump_core);
   ShouldNotReachHere();
 }
diff --git a/src/share/vm/runtime/os.hpp b/src/share/vm/runtime/os.hpp
index 90ca497df550d70d291cce40052221cbce3d2378..927d0534d7bf308fe96a0fb60cde231cc894d99e 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/runtime/os.hpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/runtime/os.hpp
@@ -492,6 +492,12 @@ class os: AllStatic {
   static void print_location(outputStream* st, intptr_t x, bool verbose = false);
   static size_t lasterror(char *buf, size_t len);
 
+  // Determines whether the calling process is being debugged by a user-mode debugger.
+  static bool is_debugger_attached();
+
+  // wait for a key press if PauseAtExit is set
+  static void wait_for_keypress_at_exit(void);
+
   // The following two functions are used by fatal error handler to trace
   // native (C) frames. They are not part of frame.hpp/frame.cpp because
   // frame.hpp/cpp assume thread is JavaThread, and also because different
diff --git a/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp b/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp
index 014df57ea1c3b47f707e8dee78f84db5aaff2388..c198e86b0a8c49b0696b3734cde24429625f8438 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/runtime/thread.cpp
@@ -3644,6 +3644,7 @@ bool Threads::destroy_vm() {
   if (ShowMessageBoxOnError && is_error_reported()) {
     os::infinite_sleep();
   }
+  os::wait_for_keypress_at_exit();
 
   if (JDK_Version::is_jdk12x_version()) {
     // We are the last thread running, so check if finalizers should be run.
diff --git a/src/share/vm/utilities/vmError.cpp b/src/share/vm/utilities/vmError.cpp
index 9785d649d087e9b1793fa7ae2b7acdd6dcbd05e7..fa8b82094cb041ed09ed6cffe9b0f6332bad9f7d 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/utilities/vmError.cpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/utilities/vmError.cpp
@@ -802,7 +802,7 @@ void VMError::report_and_die() {
     first_error_tid = mytid;
     set_error_reported();
 
-    if (ShowMessageBoxOnError) {
+    if (ShowMessageBoxOnError || PauseAtExit) {
       show_message_box(buffer, sizeof(buffer));
 
       // User has asked JVM to abort. Reset ShowMessageBoxOnError so the