diff -aurN zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/active.c zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/active.c
--- zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/active.c	2013-12-10 12:45:00.000000000 -0500
+++ zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/active.c	2013-12-14 10:25:13.047176515 -0500
@@ -391,12 +391,13 @@
  ******************************************************************************/
 static int	refresh_active_checks(const char *host, unsigned short port)
 {
-	const char	*__function_name = "refresh_active_checks";
-	zbx_sock_t	s;
-	char		*buf;
-	int		ret;
-	struct zbx_json	json;
-	static int	last_ret = SUCCEED;
+	const char		*__function_name = "refresh_active_checks";
+	zbx_sock_t		s;
+	char			*buf;
+	int			ret;
+	struct zbx_json		json;
+	static int		last_ret = SUCCEED;
+	static unsigned int	fail_count = 0;
 
 	zabbix_log(LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, "In %s() host:'%s' port:%hu", __function_name, host, port);
 
@@ -483,17 +484,34 @@
 							" is working again", host, port);
 				}
 				parse_list_of_checks(buf, host, port);
+				fail_count = 0;
 			}
 		}
 
 		zbx_tcp_close(&s);
 	}
 
-	if (SUCCEED != ret && SUCCEED == last_ret)
+	if (SUCCEED != ret)
 	{
-		zabbix_log(LOG_LEVEL_WARNING,
-				"active check configuration update from [%s:%hu] started to fail (%s)",
-				host, port, zbx_tcp_strerror());
+		if (SUCCEED == last_ret)
+		{
+			zabbix_log(LOG_LEVEL_WARNING,
+					"active check configuration update from [%s:%hu] started to fail (%s)",
+					host, port, zbx_tcp_strerror());
+		}
+		if (CONFIG_STOP_ACTIVE_CHECKS_FAIL > fail_count) {
+			fail_count++;
+			if (CONFIG_STOP_ACTIVE_CHECKS_FAIL == fail_count) {
+				zabbix_log(LOG_LEVEL_WARNING,
+						"active check configuration update from [%s:%hu] failed. active check data upload to [%s:%hu] was disabled. (%d of %d)",
+						host, port, host, port, fail_count, CONFIG_STOP_ACTIVE_CHECKS_FAIL);
+				disable_all_metrics();
+			} else {
+				zabbix_log(LOG_LEVEL_WARNING,
+						"active check configuration update from [%s:%hu] failed. active check data upload to [%s:%hu] will be disabled. (%d of %d)",
+						host, port, host, port, fail_count, CONFIG_STOP_ACTIVE_CHECKS_FAIL);
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	last_ret = ret;
diff -aurN zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/active.h zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/active.h
--- zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/active.h	2013-12-14 09:05:50.676970333 -0500
+++ zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/active.h	2013-12-14 10:21:56.427123688 -0500
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 extern char	*CONFIG_HOST_METADATA;
 extern char	*CONFIG_HOST_METADATA_ITEM;
 extern int	CONFIG_REFRESH_ACTIVE_CHECKS;
+extern int	CONFIG_STOP_ACTIVE_CHECKS_FAIL;
 extern int	CONFIG_BUFFER_SEND;
 extern int	CONFIG_BUFFER_SIZE;
 extern int	CONFIG_MAX_LINES_PER_SECOND;
diff -aurN zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/zabbix_agentd.c zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/zabbix_agentd.c
--- zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/zabbix_agentd.c	2013-12-10 12:45:00.000000000 -0500
+++ zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/zabbix_agentd.c	2013-12-14 10:21:39.591132298 -0500
@@ -435,6 +435,8 @@
 			PARM_OPT,	0,			100},
 		{"RefreshActiveChecks",		&CONFIG_REFRESH_ACTIVE_CHECKS,		TYPE_INT,
 			PARM_OPT,	SEC_PER_MIN,		SEC_PER_HOUR},
+		{"StopActiveChecksFail",	&CONFIG_STOP_ACTIVE_CHECKS_FAIL,		TYPE_INT,
+			PARM_OPT,	0,			65535},
 		{"MaxLinesPerSecond",		&CONFIG_MAX_LINES_PER_SECOND,		TYPE_INT,
 			PARM_OPT,	1,			1000},
 		{"AllowRoot",			&CONFIG_ALLOW_ROOT,			TYPE_INT,
diff -aurN zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/zbxconf.c zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/zbxconf.c
--- zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/zbxconf.c	2013-12-10 12:45:00.000000000 -0500
+++ zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/zbxconf.c	2013-12-14 10:19:54.245115498 -0500
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 int	CONFIG_UNSAFE_USER_PARAMETERS	= 0;
 int	CONFIG_LISTEN_PORT		= ZBX_DEFAULT_AGENT_PORT;
 int	CONFIG_REFRESH_ACTIVE_CHECKS	= 120;
+int	CONFIG_STOP_ACTIVE_CHECKS_FAIL	= 0;
 char	*CONFIG_LISTEN_IP		= NULL;
 char	*CONFIG_SOURCE_IP		= NULL;
 int	CONFIG_LOG_LEVEL		= LOG_LEVEL_WARNING;
diff -aurN zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/zbxconf.h zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/zbxconf.h
--- zabbix-2.2.1.org/src/zabbix_agent/zbxconf.h	2013-12-10 12:45:00.000000000 -0500
+++ zabbix-2.2.1/src/zabbix_agent/zbxconf.h	2013-12-14 10:19:39.416103043 -0500
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 extern int	CONFIG_UNSAFE_USER_PARAMETERS;
 extern int	CONFIG_LISTEN_PORT;
 extern int	CONFIG_REFRESH_ACTIVE_CHECKS;
+extern int	CONFIG_STOP_ACTIVE_CHECKS_FAIL;
 extern char	*CONFIG_LISTEN_IP;
 extern int	CONFIG_LOG_LEVEL;
 extern int	CONFIG_MAX_LINES_PER_SECOND;