diff --git a/include/ndn-cpp/face.hpp b/include/ndn-cpp/face.hpp
index 4071501..e006458 100644
--- a/include/ndn-cpp/face.hpp
+++ b/include/ndn-cpp/face.hpp
@@ -161,17 +161,21 @@
    * This call will block forever (default timeout == 0) to process IO on the face.
    * To exit, one expected to call face.shutdown() from one of the callback methods.
    *
-   * If timeout is specified, then processEvents will exit after this timeout, if not stopped earlier with face.shutdown().
+   * If positive timeout is specified, then processEvents will exit after this timeout,
+   * if not stopped earlier with face.shutdown() or when all active events finish.
    * The call can be called repeatedly, if desired.
    *
+   * If negative timeout is specified, then processEvents will not block and process only pending
+   * events.
+   *
    * @throw This may throw an exception for reading data or in the callback for processing the data.  If you
    * call this from an main event loop, you may want to catch and log/disregard all exceptions.
    */
   void 
-  processEvents(Milliseconds timeout = 0)
+  processEvents(Milliseconds timeout = 0, bool keepThread = false)
   {
     // Just call Node's processEvents.
-    node_.processEvents(timeout);
+    node_.processEvents(timeout, keepThread);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/include/ndn-cpp/node.hpp b/include/ndn-cpp/node.hpp
index b28e91d..bbf89fd 100644
--- a/include/ndn-cpp/node.hpp
+++ b/include/ndn-cpp/node.hpp
@@ -126,14 +126,18 @@
    * This call will block forever (default timeout == 0) to process IO on the face.
    * To exit, one expected to call face.shutdown() from one of the callback methods.
    *
-   * If timeout is specified, then processEvents will exit after this timeout, if not stopped earlier with face.shutdown().
+   * If positive timeout is specified, then processEvents will exit after this timeout,
+   * if not stopped earlier with face.shutdown() or when all active events finish.
    * The call can be called repeatedly, if desired.
    *
+   * If negative timeout is specified, then processEvents will not block and process only pending
+   * events.
+   *
    * @throw This may throw an exception for reading data or in the callback for processing the data.  If you
    * call this from an main event loop, you may want to catch and log/disregard all exceptions.
    */
   void 
-  processEvents(Milliseconds timeout = 0);
+  processEvents(Milliseconds timeout = 0, bool keepThread = false);
   
   const ptr_lib::shared_ptr<Transport>& 
   getTransport() { return transport_; }
@@ -316,6 +320,7 @@
   
 private:
   ptr_lib::shared_ptr<boost::asio::io_service> ioService_;
+  ptr_lib::shared_ptr<boost::asio::io_service::work> ioServiceWork_; // needed if thread needs to be preserved
   ptr_lib::shared_ptr<boost::asio::deadline_timer> pitTimeoutCheckTimer_;
   bool pitTimeoutCheckTimerActive_;
   ptr_lib::shared_ptr<boost::asio::deadline_timer> processEventsTimeoutTimer_;
diff --git a/src/node.cpp b/src/node.cpp
index dcbcf84..5dcbd7b 100644
--- a/src/node.cpp
+++ b/src/node.cpp
@@ -224,21 +224,34 @@
 }
 
 void 
-Node::processEvents(Milliseconds timeout/* = 0 */)
+Node::processEvents(Milliseconds timeout/* = 0 */, bool keepThread/* = false*/)
 {
-  if (timeout > 0)
-    {
-      processEventsTimeoutTimer_->expires_from_now(boost::posix_time::milliseconds(timeout));
-      processEventsTimeoutTimer_->async_wait(fireProcessEventsTimeout);
-    }
   try
     {
+      if (timeout < 0)
+        {
+          // do not block if timeout is negative, but process pending events
+          ioService_->poll();
+          return;
+        }
+
+      if (timeout > 0)
+        {
+          processEventsTimeoutTimer_->expires_from_now(boost::posix_time::milliseconds(timeout));
+          processEventsTimeoutTimer_->async_wait(fireProcessEventsTimeout);
+        }
+      
+      if (keepThread) {
+        // work will ensure that ioService_ is running until work object exists
+        ioServiceWork_ = ptr_lib::make_shared<boost::asio::io_service::work>(boost::ref(*ioService_));
+      }
+          
       ioService_->run();
-      ioService_->reset();
     }
   catch(Node::ProcessEventsTimeout &)
     {
       // break
+      ioService_->reset();
     }
 }
 
@@ -276,7 +289,9 @@
 
     if (registeredPrefixTable_.empty()) {
       transport_->close();
-      processEventsTimeoutTimer_->cancel();
+      if (!ioServiceWork_) {
+        processEventsTimeoutTimer_->cancel();
+      }
     }
   }
 }
@@ -318,6 +333,9 @@
   pitTimeoutCheckTimer_->cancel();
   processEventsTimeoutTimer_->cancel();
   pitTimeoutCheckTimerActive_ = false;
+  
+  // This will ensure that io_service::work will stop
+  ioServiceWork_.reset();
 }
 
 Node::PendingInterestTable::iterator