diff --git a/cmd/geth/admin.go b/cmd/geth/admin.go
index defbb43ec7439c1224a975a76eaad0a30834d0dc..bd09291bff2bf4d96a87795f0e6548dc80b5f108 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/admin.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/admin.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ func (js *jsre) adminBindings() {
 	admin := t.Object()
 	admin.Set("suggestPeer", js.suggestPeer)
 	admin.Set("startRPC", js.startRPC)
+	admin.Set("stopRPC", js.stopRPC)
 	admin.Set("nodeInfo", js.nodeInfo)
 	admin.Set("peers", js.peers)
 	admin.Set("newAccount", js.newAccount)
@@ -226,6 +227,13 @@ func (js *jsre) startRPC(call otto.FunctionCall) otto.Value {
 	return otto.TrueValue()
 }
 
+func (js *jsre) stopRPC(call otto.FunctionCall) otto.Value {
+	if rpc.Stop() == nil {
+		return otto.TrueValue()
+	}
+	return otto.FalseValue()
+}
+
 func (js *jsre) suggestPeer(call otto.FunctionCall) otto.Value {
 	nodeURL, err := call.Argument(0).ToString()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/geth/main.go b/cmd/geth/main.go
index 97d358407616d877a3735190415f0b9bfa1ae777..ddbd1f129afba23498d20920ce6199a38b2bb388 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/main.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/main.go
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ import (
 	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
-	"log"
-	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"runtime"
 	"strconv"
@@ -237,6 +235,7 @@ JavaScript API. See https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Javascipt-Conso
 		utils.RPCEnabledFlag,
 		utils.RPCListenAddrFlag,
 		utils.RPCPortFlag,
+		utils.WhisperEnabledFlag,
 		utils.VMDebugFlag,
 		utils.ProtocolVersionFlag,
 		utils.NetworkIdFlag,
@@ -247,6 +246,14 @@ JavaScript API. See https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Javascipt-Conso
 		utils.LogVModuleFlag,
 		utils.LogFileFlag,
 		utils.LogJSONFlag,
+		utils.PProfEanbledFlag,
+		utils.PProfPortFlag,
+	}
+	app.Before = func(ctx *cli.Context) error {
+		if ctx.GlobalBool(utils.PProfEanbledFlag.Name) {
+			utils.StartPProf(ctx)
+		}
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	// missing:
@@ -261,11 +268,6 @@ JavaScript API. See https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Javascipt-Conso
 }
 
 func main() {
-	// Start up the default http server for pprof
-	go func() {
-		log.Println(http.ListenAndServe("localhost:6060", nil))
-	}()
-
 	fmt.Printf("Welcome to the FRONTIER\n")
 	runtime.GOMAXPROCS(runtime.NumCPU())
 	defer logger.Flush()
@@ -337,6 +339,7 @@ func unlockAccount(ctx *cli.Context, am *accounts.Manager, account string) (pass
 }
 
 func startEth(ctx *cli.Context, eth *eth.Ethereum) {
+	// Start Ethereum itself
 	utils.StartEthereum(eth)
 	am := eth.AccountManager()
 
diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index f70f4243e8e5551ecde894573abd66d58a7ac6ef..b8f3982e242fd654692fb9754a2a7adee08ac435 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ package utils
 
 import (
 	"crypto/ecdsa"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"runtime"
@@ -140,10 +143,33 @@ var (
 		Usage: "Send json structured log output to a file or '-' for standard output (default: no json output)",
 		Value: "",
 	}
+	LogToStdErrFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:  "logtostderr",
+		Usage: "Logs are written to standard error instead of to files.",
+	}
+	LogVModuleFlag = cli.GenericFlag{
+		Name:  "vmodule",
+		Usage: "The syntax of the argument is a comma-separated list of pattern=N, where pattern is a literal file name (minus the \".go\" suffix) or \"glob\" pattern and N is a V level.",
+		Value: glog.GetVModule(),
+	}
 	VMDebugFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
 		Name:  "vmdebug",
 		Usage: "Virtual Machine debug output",
 	}
+	BacktraceAtFlag = cli.GenericFlag{
+		Name:  "backtrace_at",
+		Usage: "When set to a file and line number holding a logging statement a stack trace will be written to the Info log",
+		Value: glog.GetTraceLocation(),
+	}
+	PProfEanbledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:  "pprof",
+		Usage: "Whether the profiling server should be enabled",
+	}
+	PProfPortFlag = cli.IntFlag{
+		Name:  "pprofport",
+		Usage: "Port on which the profiler should listen",
+		Value: 6060,
+	}
 
 	// RPC settings
 	RPCEnabledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
@@ -194,25 +220,15 @@ var (
 		Usage: "Port mapping mechanism (any|none|upnp|pmp|extip:<IP>)",
 		Value: "any",
 	}
+	WhisperEnabledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:  "shh",
+		Usage: "Whether the whisper sub-protocol is enabled",
+	}
 	JSpathFlag = cli.StringFlag{
 		Name:  "jspath",
 		Usage: "JS library path to be used with console and js subcommands",
 		Value: ".",
 	}
-	BacktraceAtFlag = cli.GenericFlag{
-		Name:  "backtrace_at",
-		Usage: "When set to a file and line number holding a logging statement a stack trace will be written to the Info log",
-		Value: glog.GetTraceLocation(),
-	}
-	LogToStdErrFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
-		Name:  "logtostderr",
-		Usage: "Logs are written to standard error instead of to files.",
-	}
-	LogVModuleFlag = cli.GenericFlag{
-		Name:  "vmodule",
-		Usage: "The syntax of the argument is a comma-separated list of pattern=N, where pattern is a literal file name (minus the \".go\" suffix) or \"glob\" pattern and N is a V level.",
-		Value: glog.GetVModule(),
-	}
 )
 
 func GetNAT(ctx *cli.Context) nat.Interface {
@@ -274,7 +290,7 @@ func MakeEthConfig(clientID, version string, ctx *cli.Context) *eth.Config {
 		NAT:                GetNAT(ctx),
 		NatSpec:            ctx.GlobalBool(NatspecEnabledFlag.Name),
 		NodeKey:            GetNodeKey(ctx),
-		Shh:                true,
+		Shh:                ctx.GlobalBool(WhisperEnabledFlag.Name),
 		Dial:               true,
 		BootNodes:          ctx.GlobalString(BootnodesFlag.Name),
 	}
@@ -324,3 +340,10 @@ func StartRPC(eth *eth.Ethereum, ctx *cli.Context) {
 	xeth := xeth.New(eth, nil)
 	_ = rpc.Start(xeth, config)
 }
+
+func StartPProf(ctx *cli.Context) {
+	address := fmt.Sprintf("localhost:%d", ctx.GlobalInt(PProfPortFlag.Name))
+	go func() {
+		log.Println(http.ListenAndServe(address, nil))
+	}()
+}
diff --git a/rpc/http.go b/rpc/http.go
index 790442a2879ed039ea869abf32a9678eecf53106..f9c646908b2228808863dcfe2d7036cfa22ffd50 100644
--- a/rpc/http.go
+++ b/rpc/http.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
-	"net"
 	"net/http"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/logger"
@@ -15,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var rpclogger = logger.NewLogger("RPC")
+var rpclistener *stoppableTCPListener
 
 const (
 	jsonrpcver       = "2.0"
@@ -22,11 +22,19 @@ const (
 )
 
 func Start(pipe *xeth.XEth, config RpcConfig) error {
-	l, err := net.Listen("tcp", fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", config.ListenAddress, config.ListenPort))
+	if rpclistener != nil {
+		if fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", config.ListenAddress, config.ListenPort) != rpclistener.Addr().String() {
+			return fmt.Errorf("RPC service already running on %s ", rpclistener.Addr().String())
+		}
+		return nil // RPC service already running on given host/port
+	}
+
+	l, err := newStoppableTCPListener(fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", config.ListenAddress, config.ListenPort))
 	if err != nil {
 		rpclogger.Errorf("Can't listen on %s:%d: %v", config.ListenAddress, config.ListenPort, err)
 		return err
 	}
+	rpclistener = l
 
 	var handler http.Handler
 	if len(config.CorsDomain) > 0 {
@@ -35,9 +43,9 @@ func Start(pipe *xeth.XEth, config RpcConfig) error {
 		opts.AllowedOrigins = []string{config.CorsDomain}
 
 		c := cors.New(opts)
-		handler = c.Handler(JSONRPC(pipe))
+		handler = newStoppableHandler(c.Handler(JSONRPC(pipe)), l.stop)
 	} else {
-		handler = JSONRPC(pipe)
+		handler = newStoppableHandler(JSONRPC(pipe), l.stop)
 	}
 
 	go http.Serve(l, handler)
@@ -45,6 +53,15 @@ func Start(pipe *xeth.XEth, config RpcConfig) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func Stop() error {
+	if rpclistener != nil {
+		rpclistener.Stop()
+		rpclistener = nil
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // JSONRPC returns a handler that implements the Ethereum JSON-RPC API.
 func JSONRPC(pipe *xeth.XEth) http.Handler {
 	api := NewEthereumApi(pipe)
diff --git a/rpc/types.go b/rpc/types.go
index bc9a46ed575e3d964d7a5f608d5696b39a57512c..1784759a4a86093c83ac9a16c2e19a2cf61b04be 100644
--- a/rpc/types.go
+++ b/rpc/types.go
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@ import (
 	"math/big"
 	"strings"
 
+	"errors"
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
+
+	"io"
+
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types"
 )
@@ -257,3 +264,95 @@ type RpcErrorObject struct {
 	Message string `json:"message"`
 	// Data    interface{} `json:"data"`
 }
+
+type listenerHasStoppedError struct {
+	msg string
+}
+
+func (self listenerHasStoppedError) Error() string {
+	return self.msg
+}
+
+var listenerStoppedError = listenerHasStoppedError{"Listener stopped"}
+
+// When https://github.com/golang/go/issues/4674 is fixed this could be replaced
+type stoppableTCPListener struct {
+	*net.TCPListener
+	stop chan struct{} // closed when the listener must stop
+}
+
+// Wraps the default handler and checks if the RPC service was stopped. In that case it returns an
+// error indicating that the service was stopped. This will only happen for connections which are
+// kept open (HTTP keep-alive) when the RPC service was shutdown.
+func newStoppableHandler(h http.Handler, stop chan struct{}) http.Handler {
+	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		select {
+		case <-stop:
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			jsonerr := &RpcErrorObject{-32603, "RPC service stopped"}
+			send(w, &RpcErrorResponse{Jsonrpc: jsonrpcver, Id: nil, Error: jsonerr})
+		default:
+			h.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+// Stop the listener and all accepted and still active connections.
+func (self *stoppableTCPListener) Stop() {
+	close(self.stop)
+}
+
+func newStoppableTCPListener(addr string) (*stoppableTCPListener, error) {
+	wl, err := net.Listen("tcp", addr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if tcpl, ok := wl.(*net.TCPListener); ok {
+		stop := make(chan struct{})
+		l := &stoppableTCPListener{tcpl, stop}
+		return l, nil
+	}
+
+	return nil, errors.New("Unable to create TCP listener for RPC service")
+}
+
+func (self *stoppableTCPListener) Accept() (net.Conn, error) {
+	for {
+		self.SetDeadline(time.Now().Add(time.Duration(1 * time.Second)))
+		c, err := self.TCPListener.AcceptTCP()
+
+		select {
+		case <-self.stop:
+			if c != nil { // accept timeout
+				c.Close()
+			}
+			self.TCPListener.Close()
+			return nil, listenerStoppedError
+		default:
+		}
+
+		if err != nil {
+			if netErr, ok := err.(net.Error); ok && netErr.Timeout() && netErr.Temporary() {
+				continue // regular timeout
+			}
+		}
+
+		return &closableConnection{c, self.stop}, err
+	}
+}
+
+type closableConnection struct {
+	*net.TCPConn
+	closed chan struct{}
+}
+
+func (self *closableConnection) Read(b []byte) (n int, err error) {
+	select {
+	case <-self.closed:
+		self.TCPConn.Close()
+		return 0, io.EOF
+	default:
+		return self.TCPConn.Read(b)
+	}
+}