diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6e6c2df..2ef80ab 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -565,6 +565,12 @@ IF (DISABLE_MEMMANAGER)
 	ADD_DEFINITIONS(-DIM_DISABLE)
 ENDIF (DISABLE_MEMMANAGER)
 
+OPTION(EXIT_ON_EXCEPTION  "Thrown exceptions in VERMONT result in a graceful shutdown. Useful for fuzz testing only." OFF)
+MARK_AS_ADVANCED(EXIT_ON_EXCEPTION)
+IF (EXIT_ON_EXCEPTION)
+	ADD_DEFINITIONS(-DEXIT_ON_EXCEPTION)
+ENDIF(EXIT_ON_EXCEPTION)
+
 
 ### IPFIXLOLIB_RAWDIR_SUPPORT
 
diff --git a/src/common/msg.cc b/src/common/msg.cc
index b3e5032..1488da3 100644
--- a/src/common/msg.cc
+++ b/src/common/msg.cc
@@ -334,7 +334,11 @@ extern "C" {
 		msg_expand(text, line, filename, funcname, simplefunc, LOG_CRIT, fmt, &args);
 		va_end(args);
 
+#ifdef EXIT_ON_EXCEPTION
+		exit(0);
+#else
 		throw std::runtime_error(text);
+#endif
 	}
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus