diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/gelf.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/gelf.rb
index 17b56c9..a50eb3a 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/gelf.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/gelf.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 # encoding: utf-8
-require "date"
 require "logstash/inputs/base"
 require "logstash/namespace"
 require "logstash/json"
 require "logstash/timestamp"
+require "stud/interval"
+require "date"
 require "socket"
 
 # This input will read GELF messages as events over the network,
@@ -42,12 +43,12 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::Gelf < LogStash::Inputs::Base
   #
   config :strip_leading_underscore, :validate => :boolean, :default => true
 
+  RECONNECT_BACKOFF_SLEEP = 5
+
   public
   def initialize(params)
     super
     BasicSocket.do_not_reverse_lookup = true
-    @shutdown_requested = false
-    @udp = nil
   end # def initialize
 
   public
@@ -60,42 +61,31 @@ def run(output_queue)
     begin
       # udp server
       udp_listener(output_queue)
-    rescue LogStash::ShutdownSignal
-      @shutdown_requested = true
     rescue => e
-      unless @shutdown_requested
+      unless stop?
         @logger.warn("gelf listener died", :exception => e, :backtrace => e.backtrace)
-        sleep(5)
-        retry
+        Stud.stoppable_sleep(RECONNECT_BACKOFF_SLEEP) { stop? }
+        retry unless stop?
       end
     end # begin
   end # def run
 
   public
-  def teardown
-    @shutdown_requested = true
-    if @udp
-      @udp.close_read rescue nil
-      @udp.close_write rescue nil
-      @udp = nil
-    end
-    finished
+  def stop
+    @udp.close
+  rescue IOError # the plugin is currently shutting down, so its safe to ignore theses errors
   end
 
   private
   def udp_listener(output_queue)
     @logger.info("Starting gelf listener", :address => "#{@host}:#{@port}")
 
-    if @udp
-      @udp.close_read rescue nil
-      @udp.close_write rescue nil
-    end
-
     @udp = UDPSocket.new(Socket::AF_INET)
     @udp.bind(@host, @port)
 
-    while !@shutdown_requested
+    while !stop?
       line, client = @udp.recvfrom(8192)
+
       begin
         data = Gelfd::Parser.parse(line)
       rescue => ex
@@ -113,6 +103,7 @@ def udp_listener(output_queue)
         event.timestamp = LogStash::Timestamp.at(event["timestamp"])
         event.remove("timestamp")
       end
+
       remap_gelf(event) if @remap
       strip_leading_underscore(event) if @strip_leading_underscore
       decorate(event)
diff --git a/logstash-input-gelf.gemspec b/logstash-input-gelf.gemspec
index 9ae7929..14e695a 100644
--- a/logstash-input-gelf.gemspec
+++ b/logstash-input-gelf.gemspec
@@ -23,9 +23,11 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_runtime_dependency "logstash-core", '>= 1.4.0', '< 2.0.0'
 
   s.add_runtime_dependency "gelfd", ["0.2.0"]                 #(Apache 2.0 license)
-  s.add_runtime_dependency "gelf", ["1.3.2"]                  #(MIT license)
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'logstash-codec-plain'
+  s.add_runtime_dependency "stud", "~> 0.0.22"
 
   s.add_development_dependency 'logstash-devutils'
+  s.add_development_dependency "gelf", ["1.3.2"]                  #(MIT license)
+  s.add_development_dependency "flores"
 end
 
diff --git a/spec/inputs/gelf_spec.rb b/spec/inputs/gelf_spec.rb
index eae41fe..dde7563 100644
--- a/spec/inputs/gelf_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/inputs/gelf_spec.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,24 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
 require "logstash/devutils/rspec/spec_helper"
 require "logstash/inputs/gelf"
+require_relative "../support/helpers"
 require "gelf"
+require "flores/random"
 
-describe "inputs/gelf" do
+describe LogStash::Inputs::Gelf do
+  context "when interrupting the plugin" do
+    let(:port) { Flores::Random.integer(1024..65535) }
+    let(:host) { "127.0.0.1" }
+    let(:chunksize) { 1420 }
+    let(:producer) { InfiniteGelfProducer.new(host, port, chunksize) }
+    let(:config) {  { "host" => host, "port" => port } }
+
+    before { producer.run }
+    after { producer.stop }
+
+
+    it_behaves_like "an interruptible input plugin"
+  end
 
   it "reads chunked gelf messages " do
     port = 12209
diff --git a/spec/support/helpers.rb b/spec/support/helpers.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd177d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/support/helpers.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+class InfiniteGelfProducer
+  def initialize(host, port, chunksize)
+    @client = GELF::Notifier.new(host, port, chunksize)
+  end
+
+  def run
+    @producer = Thread.new do
+      while true
+        @client.notify!("short_message" => "hello world")
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  def stop
+    @producer.kill
+  end
+end