diff --git a/environment.go b/environment.go
index 63e95ae..ec57b9b 100644
--- a/environment.go
+++ b/environment.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ type environment struct {
 		configFile   string
 		verbose      bool
 		crash        bool
+		crashOnError bool
 	}
 
 	// running stores whether the environment is currently running.
@@ -111,7 +112,12 @@ func (this *environment) Add(ctx context.Context, actors ...Actor) error {
 		}
 	}
 	err := this.initializeActors(ctx, initializable...)
-	if err != nil { return err }
+	if err != nil {
+		if this.flags.crashOnError {
+			panic(fmt.Sprint(err))
+		}
+		return err
+	}
 	for _, actor := range actors {
 		if actor, ok := actor.(Configurable); ok {
 			err := actor.Configure(this.conf)
@@ -246,6 +252,9 @@ func (this *environment) run(actor Actor) {
 			}
 		} else {
 			log.Printf("!!! [%s] stopped with error: %v", typ, stopErr)
+			if this.flags.crashOnError {
+				panic(fmt.Sprint(stopErr))
+			}
 		}
 	}()
 
@@ -311,11 +320,17 @@ func (this *environment) runRunnable(ctx context.Context, actor Runnable) (stopE
 		} else {
 			// failure
 			log.Printf("XXX [%s] failed: %v", typ, err)
+			if this.flags.crashOnError {
+				panic(fmt.Sprint(err))
+			}
 		}
 
 		// restart logic
 		if time.Since(lastStart) < restartThreshold {
 			log.Printf("!!! [%s] failed too soon, restarting in %v", typ, restartInterval)
+			if this.flags.crashOnError {
+				panic("failed too soon")
+			}
 			timer := time.NewTimer(restartInterval)
 			select {
 			case <- timer.C:
@@ -341,6 +356,9 @@ func (this *environment) runRunnable(ctx context.Context, actor Runnable) (stopE
 				err := actor.Reset(ctx)
 				if err != nil {
 					log.Printf("XXX [%s] failed to reset", typ)
+					if this.flags.crashOnError {
+						panic("failed to reset")
+					}
 				}
 			}()
 			if this.Verb() { log.Printf(".// [%s] reset", typ) }
diff --git a/phases.go b/phases.go
index e84ebf4..1f9ddd3 100644
--- a/phases.go
+++ b/phases.go
@@ -19,13 +19,14 @@ func (this *environment) phase10FlagParsing() bool {
 		name: this.name,
 		description: this.description,
 	}
-	flagHelp          := set.Flag('h', "help",          "Display usage information and exit", nil)
-	flagPidFile       := set.Flag('p', "pid-file",      "Write the PID to the specified file", cli.ValString)
-	flagUser          := set.Flag('u', "user",          "The user:group to run as", cli.ValString)
-	flagLogDirectory  := set.Flag('l', "log-directory", "Write logs to the specified directory", cli.ValString)
-	flagConfigFile    := set.Flag('c', "config-file",   "Use this configuration file", cli.ValString)
-	flagVerbose       := set.Flag('v', "verbose",       "Enable verbose output/logging", nil)
-	flagCrash         := set.Flag(0,   "crash",         "Crash when an actor panics", nil)
+	flagHelp          := set.Flag('h', "help",           "Display usage information and exit", nil)
+	flagPidFile       := set.Flag('p', "pid-file",       "Write the PID to the specified file", cli.ValString)
+	flagUser          := set.Flag('u', "user",           "The user:group to run as", cli.ValString)
+	flagLogDirectory  := set.Flag('l', "log-directory",  "Write logs to the specified directory", cli.ValString)
+	flagConfigFile    := set.Flag('c', "config-file",    "Use this configuration file", cli.ValString)
+	flagVerbose       := set.Flag('v', "verbose",        "Enable verbose output/logging", nil)
+	flagCrash         := set.Flag(0,   "crash",          "Crash when an actor panics", nil)
+	flagCrashOnError  := set.Flag(0,   "crash-on-error", "Crash when an actor experiences any error", nil)
 
 	// ask actors to add flags
 	actors, done := this.actors.RBorrow()
@@ -65,6 +66,10 @@ func (this *environment) phase10FlagParsing() bool {
 	if _, ok := flagCrash.First(); ok {
 		this.flags.crash = true
 	}
+	if _, ok := flagCrashOnError.First(); ok {
+		this.flags.crash = true
+		this.flags.crashOnError = true
+	}
 	return true
 }
 
@@ -259,6 +264,9 @@ func (this *environment) phase70_5Trimming() bool {
 	}()
 	if err := this.trimActors(this.ctx, trimmable...); err != nil {
 		log.Println(".// (70.5) failed to trim:", err)
+		if this.flags.crashOnError {
+			panic(err)
+		}
 		return false
 	}
 	if this.Verb() { log.Println(".// (70.5) trimmed") }
@@ -274,7 +282,7 @@ func (this *environment) phase80Shutdown() bool {
 		<- ctx.Done()
 		if errors.Is(context.Cause(ctx), context.DeadlineExceeded) {
 			log.Println("XXX (80) shutdown timeout expired, performing emergency halt")
-			if Verb() {
+			if Verb() || this.flags.crashOnError {
 				dumpBuffer := make([]byte, 8192)
 				runtime.Stack(dumpBuffer, true)
 				log.Printf("XXX (80) stack trace of all goroutines:\n%s", dumpBuffer)