diff --git a/de.gebit.integrity.eclipse/src/de/gebit/integrity/eclipse/views/ConnectDialog.java b/de.gebit.integrity.eclipse/src/de/gebit/integrity/eclipse/views/ConnectDialog.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bf490c23c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/de.gebit.integrity.eclipse/src/de/gebit/integrity/eclipse/views/ConnectDialog.java
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2013 Rene Schneider, GEBIT Solutions GmbH 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
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package de.gebit.integrity.eclipse.views;
+
+import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.IDialogConstants;
+import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.IInputValidator;
+import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.InputDialog;
+import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;
+import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
+
+/**
+ *
+ *
+ * @author Rene Schneider - initial API and implementation
+ *
+ */
+public class ConnectDialog extends InputDialog {
+
+	/**
+	 * Whether auto-retry was chosen.
+	 */
+	private boolean autoRetryEnabled;
+
+	/**
+	 * @param parentShell
+	 * @param aDialogTitle
+	 * @param aDialogMessage
+	 * @param anInitialValue
+	 * @param aValidator
+	 */
+	public ConnectDialog(Shell aParentShell, String anInitialValue, IInputValidator aValidator) {
+		super(aParentShell, "Connect to test runner", "Please enter the hostname or IP address to connect to",
+				anInitialValue, null);
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	protected void createButtonsForButtonBar(Composite aParent) {
+		super.createButtonsForButtonBar(aParent);
+
+		createButton(aParent, IDialogConstants.RETRY_ID, "OK (retry)", false);
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	protected void buttonPressed(int aButtonId) {
+		if (aButtonId == IDialogConstants.RETRY_ID) {
+			autoRetryEnabled = true;
+			super.buttonPressed(IDialogConstants.OK_ID);
+		} else {
+			super.buttonPressed(aButtonId);
+		}
+	}
+
+	public boolean isAutoRetryEnabled() {
+		return autoRetryEnabled;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/de.gebit.integrity.eclipse/src/de/gebit/integrity/eclipse/views/IntegrityTestRunnerView.java b/de.gebit.integrity.eclipse/src/de/gebit/integrity/eclipse/views/IntegrityTestRunnerView.java
index 88c11e842..f5a1373d1 100644
--- a/de.gebit.integrity.eclipse/src/de/gebit/integrity/eclipse/views/IntegrityTestRunnerView.java
+++ b/de.gebit.integrity.eclipse/src/de/gebit/integrity/eclipse/views/IntegrityTestRunnerView.java
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@
 import org.eclipse.jface.action.MenuManager;
 import org.eclipse.jface.action.Separator;
 import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.Dialog;
-import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.InputDialog;
 import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.MessageDialog;
 import org.eclipse.jface.resource.JFaceResources;
 import org.eclipse.jface.viewers.ArrayContentProvider;
@@ -641,6 +640,11 @@ public class IntegrityTestRunnerView extends ViewPart {
 	 */
 	private ILaunchConfiguration launchConfiguration;
 
+	/**
+	 * The currently active autoconnect thread.
+	 */
+	private AutoConnectThread autoConnectThread;
+
 	/**
 	 * The constructor.
 	 */
@@ -1550,8 +1554,7 @@ private void makeActions() {
 			@Override
 			public void run() {
 				if (client == null || !client.isActive()) {
-					InputDialog tempDialog = new InputDialog(getSite().getShell(), "Connect to test runner",
-							"Please enter the hostname or IP address to connect to", lastHostname, null);
+					ConnectDialog tempDialog = new ConnectDialog(getSite().getShell(), lastHostname, null);
 					if (tempDialog.open() == IStatus.OK && tempDialog.getValue() != null
 							&& tempDialog.getValue().length() > 0) {
 						lastHostname = tempDialog.getValue();
@@ -1569,7 +1572,23 @@ public void run() {
 							}
 							tempHost = tempHost.substring(0, tempHost.indexOf(':'));
 						}
-						connectToTestRunnerAsync(tempHost, tempPort);
+
+						if (tempDialog.isAutoRetryEnabled()) {
+							if (autoConnectThread != null && autoConnectThread.isAlive()) {
+								autoConnectThread.kill();
+								autoConnectThread = null;
+							}
+							if (autoConnectThread == null || !autoConnectThread.isAlive()) {
+								autoConnectThread = new AutoConnectThread(tempHost, tempPort);
+								autoConnectThread.start();
+							}
+						} else {
+							connectToTestRunnerAsync(tempHost, tempPort);
+						}
+					} else {
+						if (autoConnectThread != null && autoConnectThread.isAlive()) {
+							autoConnectThread.kill();
+						}
 					}
 				} else {
 					disconnectFromTestRunner();
@@ -1709,7 +1728,11 @@ public void run() {
 						executeTestAction.setEnabled(false);
 						executeDebugTestAction.setEnabled(false);
 						final ILaunch tempLaunch = launchConfiguration.launch(ILaunchManager.RUN_MODE, null);
-						new AutoConnectThread(tempLaunch).start();
+						if (autoConnectThread != null && autoConnectThread.isAlive()) {
+							autoConnectThread.kill();
+						}
+						autoConnectThread = new AutoConnectThread(tempLaunch);
+						autoConnectThread.start();
 					} catch (CoreException exc) {
 						showException(exc);
 					}
@@ -1727,7 +1750,11 @@ public void run() {
 						executeTestAction.setEnabled(false);
 						executeDebugTestAction.setEnabled(false);
 						final ILaunch tempLaunch = launchConfiguration.launch(ILaunchManager.DEBUG_MODE, null);
-						new AutoConnectThread(tempLaunch).start();
+						if (autoConnectThread != null && autoConnectThread.isAlive()) {
+							autoConnectThread.kill();
+						}
+						autoConnectThread = new AutoConnectThread(tempLaunch);
+						autoConnectThread.start();
 					} catch (CoreException exc) {
 						showException(exc);
 					}
@@ -2854,6 +2881,21 @@ private class AutoConnectThread extends Thread {
 		 */
 		private ILaunch launch;
 
+		/**
+		 * The host to connect to.
+		 */
+		private String host = "localhost";
+
+		/**
+		 * The port to connect to.
+		 */
+		private int port = IntegrityRemotingConstants.DEFAULT_PORT;
+
+		/**
+		 * Used to kill this thread gracefully.
+		 */
+		private boolean killSwitch;
+
 		/**
 		 * Creates a new instance.
 		 */
@@ -2862,15 +2904,28 @@ private class AutoConnectThread extends Thread {
 			launch = aLaunch;
 		}
 
+		/**
+		 * Creates a new instance.
+		 */
+		AutoConnectThread(String aHost, int aPort) {
+			super("Integrity Autoconnect Thread");
+			host = aHost;
+			port = aPort;
+		}
+
+		public void kill() {
+			killSwitch = true;
+		}
+
 		@Override
 		public void run() {
 			boolean tempSuccess = false;
 
-			while (!launch.isTerminated()) {
+			while (!killSwitch && (launch == null || !launch.isTerminated())) {
 				try {
 					if (!tempSuccess && !isConnected()) {
 						// try to connect at least once
-						connectToTestRunner("localhost", IntegrityRemotingConstants.DEFAULT_PORT);
+						connectToTestRunner(host, IntegrityRemotingConstants.DEFAULT_PORT);
 						tempSuccess = true;
 					} else {
 						// Now we'll wait until the launch has terminated
@@ -2893,6 +2948,10 @@ public void run() {
 					// don't care
 				}
 			}
+
+			if (!tempSuccess) {
+				updateStatus("Aborted connection attempts");
+			}
 			executeTestAction.setEnabled(true);
 			executeDebugTestAction.setEnabled(true);
 		};