diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdownSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdownSpec.scala
index 3554b006cc..2b91704538 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdownSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdownSpec.scala
@@ -323,6 +323,18 @@ class CoordinatedShutdownSpec extends AkkaSpec(ConfigFactory.parseString(
         "c" → Phase(dependsOn = Set("a", "b"), timeout = 10.seconds, recover = false, enabled = true)))
     }
 
+    "default exit code to 0" in {
+      lazy val conf = ConfigFactory.load().getConfig("akka.coordinated-shutdown")
+      val confWithOverrides = CoordinatedShutdown.confWithOverrides(conf, None)
+      confWithOverrides.getInt("exit-code") should ===(0)
+    }
+
+    "default exit code to -1 when the Reason is ClusterDowning" in {
+      lazy val conf = ConfigFactory.load().getConfig("akka.coordinated-shutdown")
+      val confWithOverrides = CoordinatedShutdown.confWithOverrides(conf, Some(CoordinatedShutdown.ClusterDowningReason))
+      confWithOverrides.getInt("exit-code") should ===(-1)
+    }
+
     // this must be the last test, since it terminates the ActorSystem
     "terminate ActorSystem" in {
       Await.result(CoordinatedShutdown(system).run(CustomReason), 10.seconds) should ===(Done)
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index f1d550b82e..da3efd923a 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -1056,11 +1056,28 @@ akka {
     # immediately when the last phase is reached.
     exit-jvm = off
 
+    # Exit status to use on System.exit(int) when 'exit-jvm' is 'on'.
+    exit-code = 0
+
     # Run the coordinated shutdown when the JVM process exits, e.g.
     # via kill SIGTERM signal (SIGINT ctrl-c doesn't work).
     # This property is related to `akka.jvm-shutdown-hooks` above.
     run-by-jvm-shutdown-hook = on
 
+    # When Coordinated Shutdown is triggered an instance of `Reason` is
+    # required. That value can be used to override the default settings.
+    # Only 'exit-jvm', 'exit-code' and 'terminate-actor-system' may be
+    # overriden depending on the reason.
+    reason-overrides {
+      # Overrides are applied using the `reason.getClass.getName`. This
+      # default overrides the `exit-code` when the `Reason` is a cluster
+      # Downing event (identified by the object
+      # "akka.actor.CoordinatedShutdown$ClusterDowningReason$").
+      "akka.actor.CoordinatedShutdown$ClusterDowningReason$" {
+        exit-code = -1
+      }
+    }
+
     #//#coordinated-shutdown-phases
     # CoordinatedShutdown is enabled by default and will run the tasks that
     # are added to these phases by individual Akka modules and user logic.
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdown.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdown.scala
index 4d4bfb0453..c194348151 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdown.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/CoordinatedShutdown.scala
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference
 import java.util.function.Supplier
 import java.util.Optional
 
+import akka.annotation.InternalApi
 import akka.util.OptionVal
 
 object CoordinatedShutdown extends ExtensionId[CoordinatedShutdown] with ExtensionIdProvider {
@@ -171,38 +172,49 @@ object CoordinatedShutdown extends ExtensionId[CoordinatedShutdown] with Extensi
     coord
   }
 
-  private def initPhaseActorSystemTerminate(system: ActorSystem, conf: Config, coord: CoordinatedShutdown): Unit = {
-    val terminateActorSystem = conf.getBoolean("terminate-actor-system")
-    val exitJvm = conf.getBoolean("exit-jvm")
-    if (terminateActorSystem || exitJvm) {
-      coord.addTask(PhaseActorSystemTerminate, "terminate-system") { () ⇒
-        if (exitJvm && terminateActorSystem) {
-          // In case ActorSystem shutdown takes longer than the phase timeout,
-          // exit the JVM forcefully anyway.
-          // We must spawn a separate thread to not block current thread,
-          // since that would have blocked the shutdown of the ActorSystem.
-          val timeout = coord.timeout(PhaseActorSystemTerminate)
-          val t = new Thread {
-            override def run(): Unit = {
-              if (Try(Await.ready(system.whenTerminated, timeout)).isFailure && !runningJvmHook)
-                System.exit(0)
-            }
-          }
-          t.setName("CoordinatedShutdown-exit")
-          t.start()
-        }
+  // locate reason-specific overrides and merge with defaults.
+  @InternalApi private[akka] def confWithOverrides(conf: Config, reason: Option[Reason]): Config = {
+    reason.flatMap { r ⇒
+      val basePath = s"""reason-overrides."${r.getClass.getName}""""
+      if (conf.hasPath(basePath)) Some(conf.getConfig(basePath).withFallback(conf)) else None
+    }.getOrElse(
+      conf
+    )
+  }
 
-        if (terminateActorSystem) {
-          system.terminate().map { _ ⇒
-            if (exitJvm && !runningJvmHook) System.exit(0)
-            Done
-          }(ExecutionContexts.sameThreadExecutionContext)
-        } else if (exitJvm) {
-          System.exit(0)
-          Future.successful(Done)
-        } else
-          Future.successful(Done)
+  private def initPhaseActorSystemTerminate(system: ActorSystem, conf: Config, coord: CoordinatedShutdown): Unit = {
+    coord.addTask(PhaseActorSystemTerminate, "terminate-system") { () ⇒
+      val confForReason = confWithOverrides(conf, coord.shutdownReason())
+      val terminateActorSystem = confForReason.getBoolean("terminate-actor-system")
+      val exitJvm = confForReason.getBoolean("exit-jvm")
+      val exitCode = confForReason.getInt("exit-code")
+
+      if (exitJvm && terminateActorSystem) {
+        // In case ActorSystem shutdown takes longer than the phase timeout,
+        // exit the JVM forcefully anyway.
+        // We must spawn a separate thread to not block current thread,
+        // since that would have blocked the shutdown of the ActorSystem.
+        val timeout = coord.timeout(PhaseActorSystemTerminate)
+        val t = new Thread {
+          override def run(): Unit = {
+            if (Try(Await.ready(system.whenTerminated, timeout)).isFailure && !runningJvmHook)
+              System.exit(exitCode)
+          }
+        }
+        t.setName("CoordinatedShutdown-exit")
+        t.start()
       }
+
+      if (terminateActorSystem) {
+        system.terminate().map { _ ⇒
+          if (exitJvm && !runningJvmHook) System.exit(exitCode)
+          Done
+        }(ExecutionContexts.sameThreadExecutionContext)
+      } else if (exitJvm) {
+        System.exit(exitCode)
+        Future.successful(Done)
+      } else
+        Future.successful(Done)
     }
   }