diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/kafka.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/kafka.rb
index f9ff2f1..cb27260 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/kafka.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/kafka.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 require 'logstash/namespace'
 require 'logstash/inputs/base'
 require 'jruby-kafka'
+require 'stud/interval'
 
 # This input will read events from a Kafka topic. It uses the high level consumer API provided
 # by Kafka to read messages from the broker. It also maintains the state of what has been
@@ -133,31 +134,32 @@ def run(logstash_queue)
     @logger.info('Running kafka', :group_id => @group_id, :topic_id => @topic_id, :zk_connect => @zk_connect)
     begin
       @consumer_group.run(@consumer_threads,@kafka_client_queue)
-      begin
-        while true
+
+      while !stop?
+        if !@kafka_client_queue.empty?
           event = @kafka_client_queue.pop
           queue_event(event, logstash_queue)
         end
-      rescue LogStash::ShutdownSignal
-        @logger.info('Kafka got shutdown signal')
-        @consumer_group.shutdown
       end
+
       until @kafka_client_queue.empty?
         queue_event(@kafka_client_queue.pop,logstash_queue)
       end
+
       @logger.info('Done running kafka input')
     rescue => e
       @logger.warn('kafka client threw exception, restarting',
                    :exception => e)
-      if @consumer_group.running?
-        @consumer_group.shutdown
-      end
-      sleep(Float(@consumer_restart_sleep_ms) * 1 / 1000)
-      retry
+      Stud.stoppable_sleep(Float(@consumer_restart_sleep_ms) * 1 / 1000) { stop? }
+      retry if !stop?
     end
-    finished
   end # def run
 
+  public
+  def stop
+    @consumer_group.shutdown if @consumer_group.running?
+  end
+
   private
   def create_consumer_group(options)
     Kafka::Group.new(options)
@@ -182,5 +184,4 @@ def queue_event(message_and_metadata, output_queue)
                     :backtrace => e.backtrace)
     end # begin
   end # def queue_event
-
 end #class LogStash::Inputs::Kafka
diff --git a/logstash-input-kafka.gemspec b/logstash-input-kafka.gemspec
index 7714332..8189d10 100644
--- a/logstash-input-kafka.gemspec
+++ b/logstash-input-kafka.gemspec
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_runtime_dependency "logstash-core", '>= 1.4.0', '< 2.0.0'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'logstash-codec-json'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'logstash-codec-plain'
+  s.add_runtime_dependency 'stud', '>= 0.0.22', '< 0.1.0'
 
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'jruby-kafka', ['>= 1.2.0', '< 2.0.0']
 
diff --git a/spec/inputs/kafka_spec.rb b/spec/inputs/kafka_spec.rb
index f861f9f..d2504e9 100644
--- a/spec/inputs/kafka_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/inputs/kafka_spec.rb
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::TestKafka < LogStash::Inputs::Kafka
   private
   def queue_event(msg, output_queue)
     super(msg, output_queue)
-    # need to raise exception here to stop the infinite loop
-    raise LogStash::ShutdownSignal
+    do_stop
   end
 end
 
@@ -30,7 +29,26 @@ def run(a_num_threads, a_queue)
   end
 end
 
-describe 'inputs/kafka' do
+class LogStash::Inputs::TestInfiniteKafka < LogStash::Inputs::Kafka
+  private
+  def queue_event(msg, output_queue)
+    super(msg, output_queue)
+  end
+end
+
+class TestInfiniteKafkaGroup < Kafka::Group
+  def run(a_num_threads, a_queue)
+    blah = TestMessageAndMetadata.new(@topic, 0, nil, 'Kafka message')
+    Thread.new do
+      while true
+        a_queue << blah
+        sleep 0.2
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+describe LogStash::Inputs::Kafka do
   let (:kafka_config) {{'topic_id' => 'test'}}
   let (:empty_config) {{}}
   let (:bad_kafka_config) {{'topic_id' => 'test', 'white_list' => 'other_topic'}}
@@ -57,6 +75,18 @@ def run(a_num_threads, a_queue)
     expect {input.register}.to raise_error
   end
 
+  it_behaves_like "an interruptible input plugin" do
+    let(:config) { kafka_config }
+    let(:mock_kafka_plugin) { LogStash::Inputs::TestInfiniteKafka.new(config) }
+
+    before :each do
+      allow(LogStash::Inputs::Kafka).to receive(:new).and_return(mock_kafka_plugin)
+      expect(subject).to receive(:create_consumer_group) do |options|
+        TestInfiniteKafkaGroup.new(options)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   it 'should populate kafka config with default values' do
     kafka = LogStash::Inputs::TestKafka.new(kafka_config)
     insist {kafka.zk_connect} == 'localhost:2181'
@@ -98,5 +128,4 @@ def run(a_num_threads, a_queue)
     insist { e['kafka']['partition'] } == 0
     insist { e['kafka']['key'] } == nil
   end
-
 end