diff --git a/gerrit-pgm/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/pgm/AbstractProgram.java b/gerrit-pgm/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/pgm/AbstractProgram.java
index 80ff3d224d..4d60c989a4 100644
--- a/gerrit-pgm/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/pgm/AbstractProgram.java
+++ b/gerrit-pgm/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/pgm/AbstractProgram.java
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractProgram {
   private final Object sleepLock = new Object();
   private boolean running = true;
 
+  @Option(name = "--show-stack-trace", usage = "display stack trace on failure")
+  private boolean showStackTrace;
+
   @Option(name = "--help", usage = "display this help text", aliases = {"-h"})
   private boolean help;
 
@@ -72,13 +75,17 @@ public abstract class AbstractProgram {
       ProxyUtil.configureHttpProxy();
       return run();
     } catch (Die err) {
-      final Throwable cause = err.getCause();
-      final String diemsg = err.getMessage();
-      if (cause != null && !cause.getMessage().equals(diemsg)) {
-        System.err.println("fatal: "
-            + cause.getMessage().replaceAll("\n", "\nfatal: "));
+      if (showStackTrace) {
+        err.printStackTrace();
+      } else {
+        final Throwable cause = err.getCause();
+        final String diemsg = err.getMessage();
+        if (cause != null && !cause.getMessage().equals(diemsg)) {
+          System.err.println("fatal: "
+              + cause.getMessage().replaceAll("\n", "\nfatal: "));
+        }
+        System.err.println("fatal: " + diemsg.replaceAll("\n", "\nfatal: "));
       }
-      System.err.println("fatal: " + diemsg.replaceAll("\n", "\nfatal: "));
       return 128;
     }
   }
diff --git a/tools/pgm_daemon.launch b/tools/pgm_daemon.launch
index 5a7a8669a1..9dca1f8b5a 100644
--- a/tools/pgm_daemon.launch
+++ b/tools/pgm_daemon.launch
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 <booleanAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.debug.ui.CONSIDER_INHERITED_MAIN" value="true"/>
 <stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.CLASSPATH_PROVIDER" value="org.maven.ide.eclipse.launchconfig.classpathProvider"/>
 <stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.MAIN_TYPE" value="Main"/>
-<stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.PROGRAM_ARGUMENTS" value="daemon&#10;--console-log"/>
+<stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.PROGRAM_ARGUMENTS" value="daemon&#10;--console-log&#10;--show-stack-trace"/>
 <stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.PROJECT_ATTR" value="gerrit-war"/>
 <stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.SOURCE_PATH_PROVIDER" value="org.maven.ide.eclipse.launchconfig.sourcepathProvider"/>
 <stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.VM_ARGUMENTS" value="-Xmx256M"/>