diff --git a/config.js b/config.js
index fd71ec9c1..2a7656acf 100644
--- a/config.js
+++ b/config.js
@@ -60,6 +60,13 @@ module.exports = {
 
     // The number of transactions we buffer before we publish to the trace
     // API, unless we hit `flushDelaySeconds` first.
-    bufferSize: 1000
+    bufferSize: 1000,
+
+    // Specifies the behavior of the trace agent in the case of an uncaught exception.
+    // Possible values are:
+    //   `ignore`: Take no action.
+    //   `flush`: Attempt to publish traces silence the exception.
+    //   `flushAndExit`: Attempt to publish traces and exit the process.
+    onUncaughtException: 'ignore'
   }
 };
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 94dd77bc0..29bafa6ca 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ for (var i = 0; i < filesLoadedBeforeTrace.length; i++) {
   }
 }
 
+var onUncaughtExceptionValues = ['ignore', 'flush', 'flushAndExit'];
+
 /**
  * Phantom implementation of the trace agent. This allows API users to decouple
  * the enable/disable logic from the calls to the tracing API. The phantom API
@@ -133,6 +135,12 @@ var publicAgent = {
       logger.info('Locally provided ProjectId: ' + config.projectId);
     }
 
+    if (onUncaughtExceptionValues.indexOf(config.onUncaughtException) === -1) {
+      logger.error('The value of onUncaughtException should be one of ',
+        onUncaughtExceptionValues);
+      throw new Error('Invalid value for onUncaughtException configuration.');
+    }
+
     var headers = {};
     headers[constants.TRACE_AGENT_REQUEST_HEADER] = 1;
 
diff --git a/lib/trace-agent.js b/lib/trace-agent.js
index 20121c7c7..cd81ea68f 100644
--- a/lib/trace-agent.js
+++ b/lib/trace-agent.js
@@ -43,6 +43,18 @@ function TraceAgent(config, logger) {
 
   this.policy = tracingPolicy.createTracePolicy(config);
 
+  if (config.onUncaughtException !== 'disregard') {
+    this.unhandledException = function() {
+      traceAgent.traceWriter.flushBuffer_(traceAgent.config_.projectId);
+      if (config.onUncaughtException === 'flushAndExit') {
+        setTimeout(function() {
+          process.exit(1);
+        }, 2000);
+      }
+    };
+    process.on('uncaughtException', this.unhandledException);
+  }
+
   logger.info('trace agent activated');
 }
 
@@ -55,6 +67,9 @@ TraceAgent.prototype.stop = function() {
   this.traceWriter.stop();
   this.namespace = null;
   traceAgent = null;
+  if (this.config_.onUncaughtException !== 'disregard') {
+    process.removeListener('uncaughtException', this.unhandledException);
+  }
   this.logger.info('trace agent deactivated');
 };
 
diff --git a/test/standalone/test-trace-uncaught-exception.js b/test/standalone/test-trace-uncaught-exception.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1797ce6fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/standalone/test-trace-uncaught-exception.js
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2015 Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+'use strict';
+
+var assert = require('assert');
+var nock = require('nock');
+var cls = require('../../lib/cls.js');
+var agent = require('../..');
+var request = require('request');
+
+nock.disableNetConnect();
+
+var uri = 'https://cloudtrace.googleapis.com';
+var path = '/v1/projects/0/traces';
+
+process.env.GCLOUD_PROJECT = 0;
+
+var queueSpans = function(n, privateAgent) {
+  for (var i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+    privateAgent.createRootSpanData('name', 1, 0).close();
+  }
+};
+
+var formatBuffer = function(buffer) {
+  return {
+    traces: buffer.map(function(e) { return JSON.parse(e); })
+  };
+};
+
+describe('tracewriter publishing', function() {
+
+  it('should publish on unhandled exception', function(done) {
+    process.removeAllListeners('uncaughtException'); // Remove mocha handler
+    var buf;
+    var scope = nock(uri)
+        .intercept(path, 'PATCH', function(body) {
+          var parsedOriginal = formatBuffer(buf);
+          assert.equal(JSON.stringify(body), JSON.stringify(parsedOriginal));
+          return true;
+        }).reply(200);
+    process.on('uncaughtException', function() {
+      setTimeout(function() {
+        assert.equal(process.listeners('uncaughtException').length, 2);
+        agent.stop();
+        assert.equal(process.listeners('uncaughtException').length, 1);
+        scope.done();
+        done();
+      }, 20);
+    });
+    process.nextTick(function() {
+      var privateAgent = agent.start({
+        bufferSize: 1000,
+        samplingRate: 0,
+        onUncaughtException: 'flush'
+      }).private_();
+      privateAgent.traceWriter.request_ = request; // Avoid authing
+      cls.getNamespace().run(function() {
+        queueSpans(2, privateAgent);
+        buf = privateAgent.traceWriter.buffer_;
+        throw new Error(':(');
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+});