diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc-start-ephemeral.in b/src/lxc/lxc-start-ephemeral.in
index d40ce4eaa..62a6194e8 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc-start-ephemeral.in
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc-start-ephemeral.in
@@ -270,7 +270,8 @@ if not dest.start() or not dest.wait("RUNNING", timeout=5):
 # Deal with the case where we just attach to the container's console
 if not args.command and not args.daemon:
     dest.console()
-    dest.shutdown(timeout=5)
+    if not dest.shutdown(timeout=5):
+        dest.stop()
     sys.exit(0)
 
 # Try to get the IP addresses
@@ -318,6 +319,7 @@ for ip in ips:
     break
 
 # Shutdown the container
-dest.shutdown(timeout=5)
+if not dest.shutdown(timeout=5):
+    dest.stop()
 
 sys.exit(retval)
diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_stop.c b/src/lxc/lxc_stop.c
index d8de2b01e..99621a23d 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_stop.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_stop.c
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ Options :\n\
 	.options  = my_longopts,
 	.parser   = my_parser,
 	.checker  = NULL,
-	.timeout = 60,
+	.timeout  = -2,
 };
 
 /* returns -1 on failure, 0 on success */
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ static int do_reboot_and_check(struct lxc_arguments *a, struct lxc_container *c)
 		return -1;
 	if (a->nowait)
 		return 0;
-	if (timeout <= 0)
+	if (timeout == 0)
 		goto out;
 
 	for (;;) {
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ static int do_reboot_and_check(struct lxc_arguments *a, struct lxc_container *c)
 		if (ret)
 			break;
 		elapsed_time = tv.tv_sec - curtime;
-		if (timeout - elapsed_time <= 0)
+		if (timeout != -1 && timeout - elapsed_time <= 0)
 			break;
 		timeout -= elapsed_time;
 	}
@@ -145,6 +145,46 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			 my_args.progname, my_args.quiet, my_args.lxcpath[0]))
 		return 1;
 
+	/* Set default timeout */
+	if (my_args.timeout == -2) {
+		if (my_args.hardstop) {
+			my_args.timeout = 0;
+		}
+		else {
+			my_args.timeout = 60;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (my_args.nowait) {
+		my_args.timeout = 0;
+	}
+
+	/* some checks */
+	if (!my_args.hardstop && my_args.timeout < -1) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "invalid timeout\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	if (my_args.hardstop && my_args.nokill) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "-k can't be used with --nokill\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	if (my_args.hardstop && my_args.reboot) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "-k can't be used with -r\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	if (my_args.hardstop && my_args.timeout) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "-k doesn't allow timeouts\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	if (my_args.nolock && !my_args.hardstop) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "--nolock may only be used with -k\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
 	/* shortcut - if locking is bogus, we should be able to kill
 	 * containers at least */
 	if (my_args.nolock)
@@ -167,24 +207,27 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	/* kill */
 	if (my_args.hardstop) {
 		ret = c->stop(c) ? 0 : 1;
 		goto out;
 	}
+
+	/* reboot */
 	if (my_args.reboot) {
 		ret = do_reboot_and_check(&my_args, c);
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	if (my_args.nokill)
-		my_args.timeout = 0;
-
+	/* shutdown */
 	s = c->shutdown(c, my_args.timeout);
 	if (!s) {
-		if (!my_args.shutdown)
-			ret = c->wait(c, "STOPPED", -1) ? 0 : 1;
+		if (my_args.timeout == 0)
+			ret = 0;
+		else if (my_args.nokill)
+			ret = 1;
 		else
-			ret = 1; // fail
+			ret = c->stop(c) ? 0 : 1;
 	} else
 		ret = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c b/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c
index a0a5af579..85c644afb 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c
@@ -1348,10 +1348,6 @@ static bool lxcapi_shutdown(struct lxc_container *c, int timeout)
 		haltsignal = c->lxc_conf->haltsignal;
 	kill(pid, haltsignal);
 	retv = c->wait(c, "STOPPED", timeout);
-	if (!retv && timeout > 0) {
-		c->stop(c);
-		retv = c->wait(c, "STOPPED", 0); // 0 means don't wait
-	}
 	return retv;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lxc/lxccontainer.h b/src/lxc/lxccontainer.h
index 5f5d9b22a..92c76b45b 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxccontainer.h
+++ b/src/lxc/lxccontainer.h
@@ -362,12 +362,10 @@ struct lxc_container {
 	 * SIGPWR.
 	 *
 	 * \param c Container.
-	 * \param timeout Seconds to wait before forcing a hard stop
-	 *  (value must be >0).
+	 * \param timeout Seconds to wait before returning false.
+	 *  (-1 to wait forever, 0 to avoid waiting).
 	 *
-	 * \return \c true if configuration was loaded successfully, else \c false.
-	 *
-	 * \note A \p timeout of \c 0 means do not wait.
+	 * \return \c true if the container was shutdown successfully, else \c false.
 	 */
 	bool (*shutdown)(struct lxc_container *c, int timeout);
 
diff --git a/src/python-lxc/examples/api_test.py b/src/python-lxc/examples/api_test.py
index f72cc568a..a1fe6f9a2 100755
--- a/src/python-lxc/examples/api_test.py
+++ b/src/python-lxc/examples/api_test.py
@@ -144,7 +144,8 @@ if len(sys.argv) > 1 and sys.argv[1] == "--with-console":
 
 ## Shutting down the container
 print("Shutting down the container")
-container.shutdown(3)
+if not container.shutdown(3):
+    container.stop()
 
 if container.running:
     print("Stopping the container")
diff --git a/src/python-lxc/lxc.c b/src/python-lxc/lxc.c
index 05727bf00..9fdc27f49 100644
--- a/src/python-lxc/lxc.c
+++ b/src/python-lxc/lxc.c
@@ -1591,9 +1591,8 @@ static PyMethodDef Container_methods[] = {
      METH_VARARGS|METH_KEYWORDS,
      "shutdown(timeout = -1) -> boolean\n"
      "\n"
-     "Sends SIGPWR to the container and wait for it to shutdown "
-     "unless timeout is set to a positive value, in which case "
-     "the container will be killed when the timeout is reached."
+     "Sends SIGPWR to the container and wait for it to shutdown."
+     "-1 means wait forever, 0 means skip waiting."
     },
     {"snapshot", (PyCFunction)Container_snapshot,
      METH_VARARGS|METH_KEYWORDS,
diff --git a/src/tests/shutdowntest.c b/src/tests/shutdowntest.c
index 6e4bb3175..c5d609d89 100644
--- a/src/tests/shutdowntest.c
+++ b/src/tests/shutdowntest.c
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	/* Wait for init to be ready for SIGPWR */
+	sleep(10);
+
 	if (!c->shutdown(c, 60)) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "%d: failed to shut down %s\n", __LINE__, MYNAME);
 		goto out;