diff --git a/simavr/sim/avr/avr_mcu_section.h b/simavr/sim/avr/avr_mcu_section.h
index ebeceb0a3..bdf141d85 100644
--- a/simavr/sim/avr/avr_mcu_section.h
+++ b/simavr/sim/avr/avr_mcu_section.h
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ enum {
 	SIMAVR_CMD_VCD_START_TRACE,
 	SIMAVR_CMD_VCD_STOP_TRACE,
 	SIMAVR_CMD_UART_LOOPBACK,
+    SIMAVR_CMD_EXIT_CODE_0,
+    SIMAVR_CMD_EXIT_CODE_1,
 };
 
 #if __AVR__
diff --git a/simavr/sim/sim_cmds.c b/simavr/sim/sim_cmds.c
index 587f259e1..b35984f85 100644
--- a/simavr/sim/sim_cmds.c
+++ b/simavr/sim/sim_cmds.c
@@ -180,6 +180,26 @@ _simavr_cmd_uart_loopback(
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+_simavr_cmd_exit_code_0(
+        avr_t * avr,
+        uint8_t v,
+        void * param)
+{
+    exit(0);
+    return 0; //we never execute this, but it prevents a compiler warning
+}
+
+static int
+_simavr_cmd_exit_code_1(
+        avr_t * avr,
+        uint8_t v,
+        void * param)
+{
+    exit(1);
+    return 0; //we never execute this, but it prevents a compiler warning
+}
+
 void
 avr_cmd_init(
 		avr_t * avr)
@@ -190,4 +210,6 @@ avr_cmd_init(
 	avr_cmd_register(avr, SIMAVR_CMD_VCD_START_TRACE, &_simavr_cmd_vcd_start_trace, NULL);
 	avr_cmd_register(avr, SIMAVR_CMD_VCD_STOP_TRACE, &_simavr_cmd_vcd_stop_trace, NULL);
 	avr_cmd_register(avr, SIMAVR_CMD_UART_LOOPBACK, &_simavr_cmd_uart_loopback, NULL);
+    avr_cmd_register(avr, SIMAVR_CMD_EXIT_CODE_0, &_simavr_cmd_exit_code_0, NULL);
+    avr_cmd_register(avr, SIMAVR_CMD_EXIT_CODE_1, &_simavr_cmd_exit_code_1, NULL);
 }
diff --git a/tests/atmega88_uart_echo.c b/tests/atmega88_uart_echo.c
index 31f0ab48a..0740a5503 100644
--- a/tests/atmega88_uart_echo.c
+++ b/tests/atmega88_uart_echo.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
  * The macro adds a section to the ELF file with useful
  * information for the simulator
  */
+#define F_CPU 8000000L
 #include "avr_mcu_section.h"
 AVR_MCU(F_CPU, "atmega88");
 // tell simavr to listen to commands written in this (unused) register
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ int main()
 	cli();
 	printf("Received: %s", buffer);
 
-	// this quits the simulator, since interupts are off
-	// this is a "feature" that allows running tests cases and exit
-	sleep_cpu();
+
+	// this tells simavr to quit with error code 1
+    GPIOR0 = SIMAVR_CMD_EXIT_CODE_1;
 }