diff --git a/shell/servers.js b/shell/servers.js
index 8d15e056777..9a836747f70 100644
--- a/shell/servers.js
+++ b/shell/servers.js
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ ReplTest.prototype.stop = function( master , signal ){
         this.stop( false );
         return;
     }
-    stopMongod( this.getPort( master ) , signal || 15 );
+    return stopMongod( this.getPort( master ) , signal || 15 );
 }
 
 allocatePorts = function( n ) {
diff --git a/shell/utils.cpp b/shell/utils.cpp
index 0db5734cdf3..60b9ea34c20 100644
--- a/shell/utils.cpp
+++ b/shell/utils.cpp
@@ -321,12 +321,13 @@ namespace mongo {
             return undefined_;
         }
         
-        void killDb( int port, pid_t _pid, int signal ) {
+        int killDb( int port, pid_t _pid, int signal ) {
             pid_t pid;
+            int exitCode = 0;
             if ( port > 0 ) {
                 if( dbs.count( port ) != 1 ) {
                     cout << "No db started on port: " << port << endl;
-                    return;
+                    return 0;
                 }
                 pid = dbs[ port ].first;
             } else {
@@ -346,6 +347,7 @@ namespace mongo {
                 }        
                 int temp;
                 int ret = waitpid( pid, &temp, WNOHANG );
+                exitCode = WEXITSTATUS( temp );
                 if ( ret == pid )
                     break;
                 sleepms( 1000 );
@@ -368,6 +370,8 @@ namespace mongo {
             if ( i > 4 || signal == SIGKILL ) {
                 sleepms( 4000 ); // allow operating system to reclaim resources
             }
+            
+            return exitCode;
         }
 
         int getSignal( const BSONObj &a ) {
@@ -386,18 +390,18 @@ namespace mongo {
             assert( a.nFields() == 1 || a.nFields() == 2 );
             assert( a.firstElement().isNumber() );
             int port = int( a.firstElement().number() );
-            killDb( port, 0, getSignal( a ) );
+            int code = killDb( port, 0, getSignal( a ) );
             cout << "shell: stopped mongo program on port " << port << endl;
-            return undefined_;
+            return BSON( "" << code );
         }        
         
         BSONObj StopMongoProgramByPid( const BSONObj &a ) {
             assert( a.nFields() == 1 || a.nFields() == 2 );
             assert( a.firstElement().isNumber() );
             int pid = int( a.firstElement().number() );            
-            killDb( 0, pid, getSignal( a ) );
+            int code = killDb( 0, pid, getSignal( a ) );
             cout << "shell: stopped mongo program on pid " << pid << endl;
-            return undefined_;            
+            return BSON( "" << code );
         }
                                                 
         void KillMongoProgramInstances() {