diff --git a/src/pipe.c b/src/pipe.c
index a42125c06..714b93824 100644
--- a/src/pipe.c
+++ b/src/pipe.c
@@ -49,10 +49,9 @@ struct dir {
 	struct pool pool;
 	pthread_t thread;
 	bool enabled;
+	int limit;
 } sendd, recvv;
 
-bool reverse = false;
-
 struct node *node;
 
 pthread_t ptid; /**< Parent thread id */
@@ -92,16 +91,16 @@ static void usage()
 	printf("    -d LVL  set debug log level to LVL\n");
 	printf("    -x      swap read / write endpoints\n");
 	printf("    -s      only read data from stdin and send it to node\n");
-	printf("    -r      only read data from node and write it to stdout\n\n");
+	printf("    -r      only read data from node and write it to stdout\n");
+	printf("    -L NUM  terminate after NUM samples sent\n");
+	printf("    -l NUM  terminate after NUM samples received\n\n");
 
 	print_copyright();
-
-	exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }
 
 static void * send_loop(void *ctx)
 {
-	int ret;
+	int ret, cnt = 0;
 	struct sample *smps[node->vectorize];
 
 	/* Initialize memory */
@@ -118,11 +117,14 @@ static void * send_loop(void *ctx)
 		for (len = 0; len < node->vectorize; len++) {
 			struct sample *s = smps[len];
 			int reason;
+			
+			if (sendd.limit > 0 && cnt >= sendd.limit)
+				break;
 
 retry:			reason = sample_io_villas_fscan(stdin, s, NULL);
 			if (reason < 0) {
 				if (feof(stdin))
-					goto exit;
+					goto leave;
 				else {
 					warn("Skipped invalid message message: reason=%d", reason);
 					goto retry;
@@ -130,20 +132,31 @@ retry:			reason = sample_io_villas_fscan(stdin, s, NULL);
 			}
 		}
 
-		node_write(node, smps, len);
+		cnt += node_write(node, smps, len);
+		
+		if (sendd.limit > 0 && cnt >= sendd.limit)
+			goto leave2;
+
 		pthread_testcancel();
 	}
 
-	/* We reached EOF on stdin here. Lets kill the process */
-exit:	info("Reached end-of-file. Terminating...");
+leave2:	info("Reached send limit. Terminating...");
 	pthread_kill(ptid, SIGINT);
 
 	return NULL;
+
+	/* We reached EOF on stdin here. Lets kill the process */
+leave:	if (recvv.limit < 0) {
+		info("Reached end-of-file. Terminating...");
+		pthread_kill(ptid, SIGINT);
+	}
+
+	return NULL;
 }
 
 static void * recv_loop(void *ctx)
 {
-	int ret;
+	int ret, cnt = 0;
 	struct sample *smps[node->vectorize];
 
 	/* Initialize memory */
@@ -162,6 +175,7 @@ static void * recv_loop(void *ctx)
 	for (;;) {
 		int recv = node_read(node, smps, node->vectorize);
 		struct timespec now = time_now();
+
 		for (int i = 0; i < recv; i++) {
 			struct sample *s = smps[i];
 
@@ -171,24 +185,36 @@ static void * recv_loop(void *ctx)
 			sample_io_villas_fprint(stdout, s, SAMPLE_IO_ALL);
 			fflush(stdout);
 		}
+		
+		cnt += recv;
+		if (recvv.limit > 0 && cnt >= recvv.limit)
+			goto leave;
+
 		pthread_testcancel();
 	}
 
+leave:	info("Reached receive limit. Terminating...");
+	pthread_kill(ptid, SIGINT);
+	return NULL;
+
 	return NULL;
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	int ret, level = V;
-	char c;
+
+	bool reverse = false;
+
+	sendd = recvv = (struct dir) {
+		.enabled = true,
+		.limit = -1
+	};
 
 	ptid = pthread_self();
-
-	/* Default values */
-	sendd.enabled = true;
-	recvv.enabled = true;
-
-	while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "hxrsd:")) != -1) {
+	
+	char c, *endptr;
+	while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "hxrsd:l:L:")) != -1) {
 		switch (c) {
 			case 'x':
 				reverse = true;
@@ -202,6 +228,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			case 'd':
 				level = strtoul(optarg, &endptr, 10);
 				goto check;
+			case 'l':
+				recvv.limit = strtoul(optarg, &endptr, 10);
+				goto check;
+			case 'L':
+				sendd.limit = strtoul(optarg, &endptr, 10);
+				goto check;
 			case 'h':
 			case '?':
 				usage();