diff --git a/cmd/modd/main.go b/cmd/modd/main.go
index 08a14cd..c91b3c5 100644
--- a/cmd/modd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/modd/main.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/cortesi/modd"
 	"github.com/cortesi/modd/notify"
@@ -45,6 +46,10 @@ var prep = kingpin.Flag("prep", "Run prep commands and exit").
 	Short('p').
 	Bool()
 
+var maxRestartDelay = kingpin.Flag("maxrestart", "Max deamon restart delay").
+	Default("8").
+	Int()
+
 var debug = kingpin.Flag("debug", "Debugging for modd development").
 	Default("false").
 	Bool()
@@ -110,7 +115,11 @@ func main() {
 		notifiers = append(notifiers, &notify.BeepNotifier{})
 	}
 
-	mr, err := modd.NewModRunner(*file, log, notifiers, !(*noconf))
+	mr, err := modd.NewModRunner(log, notifiers, modd.ModRunnerArgs{
+		ConfPath:        *file,
+		ConfReload:      !(*noconf),
+		MaxRestartDelay: time.Duration(*maxRestartDelay) * time.Second,
+	})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Shout("%s", err)
 		return
diff --git a/daemon.go b/daemon.go
index 5f86c7f..b946889 100644
--- a/daemon.go
+++ b/daemon.go
@@ -17,14 +17,13 @@ const (
 	MinRestart = 500 * time.Millisecond
 	// MulRestart is the exponential backoff multiplier applied when the daemon exits uncleanly
 	MulRestart = 2
-	// MaxRestart is the maximum amount of time between daemon restarts
-	MaxRestart = 8 * time.Second
 )
 
 // A single daemon
 type daemon struct {
-	conf  conf.Daemon
-	indir string
+	conf            conf.Daemon
+	indir           string
+	maxRestartDelay time.Duration
 
 	ex    *shell.Executor
 	log   termlog.Stream
@@ -61,12 +60,12 @@ func (d *daemon) Run() {
 
 		// If we exited cleanly, or the process ran for > MaxRestart, we reset
 		// the delay timer
-		if time.Now().Sub(lastStart) > MaxRestart {
+		if time.Now().Sub(lastStart) > d.maxRestartDelay {
 			delay = MinRestart
 		} else {
 			delay *= MulRestart
-			if delay > MaxRestart {
-				delay = MaxRestart
+			if delay > d.maxRestartDelay {
+				delay = d.maxRestartDelay
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -110,7 +109,7 @@ type DaemonPen struct {
 }
 
 // NewDaemonPen creates a new DaemonPen
-func NewDaemonPen(block conf.Block, vars map[string]string, log termlog.TermLog) (*DaemonPen, error) {
+func NewDaemonPen(block conf.Block, vars map[string]string, log termlog.TermLog, maxRestartDelay time.Duration) (*DaemonPen, error) {
 	d := make([]*daemon, len(block.Daemons))
 	for i, dmn := range block.Daemons {
 		vcmd := varcmd.VarCmd{Block: nil, Modified: nil, Vars: vars}
@@ -134,10 +133,11 @@ func NewDaemonPen(block conf.Block, vars map[string]string, log termlog.TermLog)
 		}
 
 		d[i] = &daemon{
-			conf:  dmn,
-			log:   log.Stream(niceHeader("daemon: ", dmn.Command)),
-			shell: sh,
-			indir: indir,
+			conf:            dmn,
+			log:             log.Stream(niceHeader("daemon: ", dmn.Command)),
+			shell:           sh,
+			indir:           indir,
+			maxRestartDelay: maxRestartDelay,
 		}
 	}
 	return &DaemonPen{daemons: d}, nil
@@ -171,10 +171,10 @@ type DaemonWorld struct {
 }
 
 // NewDaemonWorld creates a DaemonWorld
-func NewDaemonWorld(cnf *conf.Config, log termlog.TermLog) (*DaemonWorld, error) {
+func NewDaemonWorld(cnf *conf.Config, log termlog.TermLog, maxRestartDelay time.Duration) (*DaemonWorld, error) {
 	daemonPens := make([]*DaemonPen, len(cnf.Blocks))
 	for i, b := range cnf.Blocks {
-		d, err := NewDaemonPen(b, cnf.GetVariables(), log)
+		d, err := NewDaemonPen(b, cnf.GetVariables(), log, maxRestartDelay)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/modd.go b/modd.go
index ebc3063..b027d28 100644
--- a/modd.go
+++ b/modd.go
@@ -52,22 +52,31 @@ var CommonExcludes = []string{
 	"**/node_modules/**",
 }
 
+// ModRunnerArgs arguments for modd command
+type ModRunnerArgs struct {
+	ConfPath        string
+	ConfReload      bool
+	MaxRestartDelay time.Duration
+}
+
 // ModRunner coordinates running the modd command
 type ModRunner struct {
-	Log        termlog.TermLog
-	Config     *conf.Config
-	ConfPath   string
-	ConfReload bool
-	Notifiers  []notify.Notifier
+	Log             termlog.TermLog
+	Config          *conf.Config
+	ConfPath        string
+	ConfReload      bool
+	MaxRestartDelay time.Duration
+	Notifiers       []notify.Notifier
 }
 
 // NewModRunner constructs a new ModRunner
-func NewModRunner(confPath string, log termlog.TermLog, notifiers []notify.Notifier, confreload bool) (*ModRunner, error) {
+func NewModRunner(log termlog.TermLog, notifiers []notify.Notifier, ma ModRunnerArgs) (*ModRunner, error) {
 	mr := &ModRunner{
-		Log:        log,
-		ConfPath:   confPath,
-		ConfReload: confreload,
-		Notifiers:  notifiers,
+		Log:             log,
+		ConfPath:        ma.ConfPath,
+		ConfReload:      ma.ConfReload,
+		MaxRestartDelay: ma.MaxRestartDelay,
+		Notifiers:       notifiers,
 	}
 	err := mr.ReadConfig()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -166,7 +175,7 @@ func (mr *ModRunner) trigger(root string, mod *moddwatch.Mod, dworld *DaemonWorl
 
 // Gives control of chan to caller
 func (mr *ModRunner) runOnChan(modchan chan *moddwatch.Mod, readyCallback func()) error {
-	dworld, err := NewDaemonWorld(mr.Config, mr.Log)
+	dworld, err := NewDaemonWorld(mr.Config, mr.Log, mr.MaxRestartDelay)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/test/maxrestartdelay.conf b/test/maxrestartdelay.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e6319d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/maxrestartdelay.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# used to test max restart delay
+# run and in another shell do echo test > changeme etc
+changeme {
+    daemon: echo starting; exec sleep 1000000
+}
\ No newline at end of file