diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index 1ff3e1f1..eea45177 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ struct imsgbuf	client_ibuf;
 struct event	client_event;
 const char     *client_exitmsg;
 int		client_exitval;
+enum msgtype	client_exittype;
 int		client_attached;
 
 int		client_connect(char *, int);
@@ -100,6 +101,7 @@ client_main(int argc, char **argv, int flags)
 	struct cmd_list		*cmdlist;
 	struct msg_command_data	 cmddata;
 	int			 cmdflags, fd;
+	pid_t			 ppid;
 	enum msgtype		 msg;
 	char			*cause;
 
@@ -192,8 +194,14 @@ client_main(int argc, char **argv, int flags)
 	event_dispatch();
 
 	/* Print the exit message, if any, and exit. */
-	if (client_attached && client_exitmsg != NULL && !login_shell)
-		printf("[%s]\n", client_exitmsg);
+	if (client_attached) {
+		if (client_exitmsg != NULL && !login_shell)
+			printf("[%s]\n", client_exitmsg);
+
+		ppid = getppid();
+		if (client_exittype == MSG_DETACHKILL && ppid > 1)
+			kill(ppid, SIGHUP);
+	}
 	return (client_exitval);
 }
 
@@ -434,12 +442,17 @@ client_dispatch_attached(void)
 
 		log_debug("client got %d", imsg.hdr.type);
 		switch (imsg.hdr.type) {
+		case MSG_DETACHKILL:
 		case MSG_DETACH:
 			if (datalen != 0)
 				fatalx("bad MSG_DETACH size");
 
+			client_exittype = imsg.hdr.type;
+			if (imsg.hdr.type == MSG_DETACHKILL)
+				client_exitmsg = "detached and SIGHUP";
+			else
+				client_exitmsg = "detached";
 			client_write_server(MSG_EXITING, NULL, 0);
-			client_exitmsg = "detached";
 			break;
 		case MSG_EXIT:
 			if (datalen != 0 &&
diff --git a/cmd-detach-client.c b/cmd-detach-client.c
index 03789bd8..12723ac4 100644
--- a/cmd-detach-client.c
+++ b/cmd-detach-client.c
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ int	cmd_detach_client_exec(struct cmd *, struct cmd_ctx *);
 
 const struct cmd_entry cmd_detach_client_entry = {
 	"detach-client", "detach",
-	"t:", 0, 0,
-	CMD_TARGET_CLIENT_USAGE,
+	"t:P", 0, 0,
+	"[-P] " CMD_TARGET_CLIENT_USAGE,
 	CMD_READONLY,
 	NULL,
 	NULL,
@@ -45,7 +45,10 @@ cmd_detach_client_exec(struct cmd *self, struct cmd_ctx *ctx)
 	if ((c = cmd_find_client(ctx, args_get(args, 't'))) == NULL)
 		return (-1);
 
-	server_write_client(c, MSG_DETACH, NULL, 0);
+	if (args_has(args, 'P'))
+		server_write_client(c, MSG_DETACHKILL, NULL, 0);
+	else
+		server_write_client(c, MSG_DETACH, NULL, 0);
 
 	return (0);
 }
diff --git a/tmux.1 b/tmux.1
index 36253d17..7d42984a 100644
--- a/tmux.1
+++ b/tmux.1
@@ -550,10 +550,17 @@ If no server is started,
 .Ic attach-session
 will attempt to start it; this will fail unless sessions are created in the
 configuration file.
-.It Ic detach-client Op Fl t Ar target-client
+.It Xo Ic detach-client
+.Op Fl P
+.Op Fl t Ar target-client
+.Xc
 .D1 (alias: Ic detach )
 Detach the current client if bound to a key, or the specified client with
 .Fl t .
+If
+.Fl P
+is given, send SIGHUP to the parent process of the client, typically causing it
+to exit.
 .It Ic has-session Op Fl t Ar target-session
 .D1 (alias: Ic has )
 Report an error and exit with 1 if the specified session does not exist.
diff --git a/tmux.h b/tmux.h
index 5ac3c172..61022983 100644
--- a/tmux.h
+++ b/tmux.h
@@ -375,6 +375,7 @@ enum msgtype {
 	MSG_SHELL,
 	MSG_STDERR,
 	MSG_STDOUT,
+	MSG_DETACHKILL
 };
 
 /*