diff --git a/clients/main-qt4.cpp b/clients/main-qt4.cpp
index a6846f5f..0b792497 100644
--- a/clients/main-qt4.cpp
+++ b/clients/main-qt4.cpp
@@ -25,13 +25,67 @@
 #include <yatephone.h>
 #include "qt4/qt4client.h"
 
+#define WAIT_ENGINE 10000       //wait 10 seconds for engine to halt
+
 using namespace TelEngine;
 
-static QtDriver qtdriver;
+class EngineThread;
+
+static QtDriver qtdriver(false);
+static EngineThread* s_engineThread = 0;
+
+class EngineThread : public Thread
+{
+public:
+    inline EngineThread()
+      : Thread("Engine")
+      { }
+    virtual void run();
+    virtual void cleanup();
+};
+
+void EngineThread::run()
+{
+    Engine::engineRun();
+    Debug(DebugAll,"Engine stopped running");
+}
+
+void EngineThread::cleanup()
+{
+    Debug(DebugAll,"EngineThread::cleanup() [%p]",this);
+    s_engineThread = 0;
+}
+
 
 extern "C" int main(int argc, const char** argv, const char** envp)
 {
     TelEngine::Engine::extraPath("qt4");
-    return TelEngine::Engine::main(argc,argv,envp,TelEngine::Engine::Client);
+    // parse arguments
+    int retcode = TelEngine::Engine::main(argc,argv,envp,TelEngine::Engine::ClientMainThread);
+    if (retcode)
+	return retcode;
+
+    // create engine from this thread
+    Engine::self();
+    s_engineThread = new EngineThread;
+    if (!s_engineThread->startup())
+	return EINVAL;
+
+    // build client if the driver didn't
+    if (!QtClient::self())
+	new QtClient();
+    // run the client
+    QtClient::self()->run();
+    // the client finished running, do cleanup
+    QtClient::self()->cleanup();
+
+    // wait for the engine to halt
+    Engine::halt(0);
+    unsigned long count = WAIT_ENGINE / Thread::idleMsec();
+    while (s_engineThread && count--)
+	Thread::idle();
+    Thread::killall();
+
+    return retcode;
 }
 /* vi: set ts=8 sw=4 sts=4 noet: */
diff --git a/engine/Engine.cpp b/engine/Engine.cpp
index 9ab487ad..b3eddab7 100644
--- a/engine/Engine.cpp
+++ b/engine/Engine.cpp
@@ -735,7 +735,7 @@ static bool logFileOpen()
     return false;
 }
 
-static int engineRun()
+int Engine::engineRun()
 {
     time_t t = ::time(0);
     s_startMsg << "Yate (" << ::getpid() << ") is starting " << ::ctime(&t);
@@ -1837,6 +1837,9 @@ int Engine::main(int argc, const char** argv, const char** env, RunMode mode, bo
     bool daemonic = false;
     bool supervised = false;
 #endif
+    bool noStart = (mode == ClientMainThread);
+    if (noStart)
+	mode = Client;
     bool client = (mode == Client);
     Debugger::Formatting tstamp = Debugger::None;
     bool colorize = false;
@@ -2287,7 +2290,7 @@ int Engine::main(int argc, const char** argv, const char** env, RunMode mode, bo
     }
     else
 #endif
-	retcode = engineRun();
+	retcode = noStart ? 0 : engineRun();
 
     return retcode;
 }
diff --git a/yatengine.h b/yatengine.h
index fb0400ca..c79de35f 100644
--- a/yatengine.h
+++ b/yatengine.h
@@ -821,6 +821,7 @@ public:
 	Server = 2,
 	Client = 3,
 	ClientProxy = 4,
+	ClientMainThread = 5,
     };
 
     enum CallAccept {
@@ -1152,6 +1153,12 @@ public:
      */
     static void clearEvents(const String& type);
 
+    /**
+     * Start running the engine
+     * @return The code with which the engine has stopped
+     */
+    static int engineRun();
+
 protected:
     /**
      * Destroys the engine and everything. You must not call it directly,