diff --git a/go/base/context.go b/go/base/context.go
index c300df1..d82b22e 100644
--- a/go/base/context.go
+++ b/go/base/context.go
@@ -40,8 +40,9 @@ const (
 type ThrottleReasonHint string
 
 const (
-	NoThrottleReasonHint          ThrottleReasonHint = "NoThrottleReasonHint"
-	UserCommandThrottleReasonHint                    = "UserCommandThrottleReasonHint"
+	NoThrottleReasonHint                 ThrottleReasonHint = "NoThrottleReasonHint"
+	UserCommandThrottleReasonHint                           = "UserCommandThrottleReasonHint"
+	LeavingHibernationThrottleReasonHint                    = "LeavingHibernationThrottleReasonHint"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -105,9 +106,11 @@ type MigrationContext struct {
 	throttleQuery                       string
 	throttleHTTP                        string
 	ThrottleCommandedByUser             int64
+	HibernateUntil                      int64
 	maxLoad                             LoadMap
 	criticalLoad                        LoadMap
 	CriticalLoadIntervalMilliseconds    int64
+	CriticalLoadHibernateSeconds        int64
 	PostponeCutOverFlagFile             string
 	CutOverLockTimeoutSeconds           int64
 	ForceNamedCutOverCommand            bool
diff --git a/go/cmd/gh-ost/main.go b/go/cmd/gh-ost/main.go
index f27e12b..a4f4f3e 100644
--- a/go/cmd/gh-ost/main.go
+++ b/go/cmd/gh-ost/main.go
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ func main() {
 	maxLoad := flag.String("max-load", "", "Comma delimited status-name=threshold. e.g: 'Threads_running=100,Threads_connected=500'. When status exceeds threshold, app throttles writes")
 	criticalLoad := flag.String("critical-load", "", "Comma delimited status-name=threshold, same format as --max-load. When status exceeds threshold, app panics and quits")
 	flag.Int64Var(&migrationContext.CriticalLoadIntervalMilliseconds, "critical-load-interval-millis", 0, "When 0, migration immediately bails out upon meeting critical-load. When non-zero, a second check is done after given interval, and migration only bails out if 2nd check still meets critical load")
+	flag.Int64Var(&migrationContext.CriticalLoadHibernateSeconds, "critical-load-hibernate-seconds", 0, "When nonzero, critical-load does not panic and bail out; instead, gh-ost goes into hibernate for the specified duration. It will not read/write anything to from/to any server")
 	quiet := flag.Bool("quiet", false, "quiet")
 	verbose := flag.Bool("verbose", false, "verbose")
 	debug := flag.Bool("debug", false, "debug mode (very verbose)")
diff --git a/go/logic/applier.go b/go/logic/applier.go
index 4e3f783..b167de8 100644
--- a/go/logic/applier.go
+++ b/go/logic/applier.go
@@ -293,6 +293,9 @@ func (this *Applier) WriteChangelogState(value string) (string, error) {
 func (this *Applier) InitiateHeartbeat() {
 	var numSuccessiveFailures int64
 	injectHeartbeat := func() error {
+		if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.migrationContext.HibernateUntil) > 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
 		if _, err := this.WriteChangelog("heartbeat", time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339Nano)); err != nil {
 			numSuccessiveFailures++
 			if numSuccessiveFailures > this.migrationContext.MaxRetries() {
diff --git a/go/logic/throttler.go b/go/logic/throttler.go
index 1c2c62a..ecc1f2b 100644
--- a/go/logic/throttler.go
+++ b/go/logic/throttler.go
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ func NewThrottler(applier *Applier, inspector *Inspector) *Throttler {
 // It merely observes the metrics collected by other components, it does not issue
 // its own metric collection.
 func (this *Throttler) shouldThrottle() (result bool, reason string, reasonHint base.ThrottleReasonHint) {
+	if hibernateUntil := atomic.LoadInt64(&this.migrationContext.HibernateUntil); hibernateUntil > 0 {
+		hibernateUntilTime := time.Unix(0, hibernateUntil)
+		return true, fmt.Sprintf("critical-load-hibernate until %+v", hibernateUntilTime), base.NoThrottleReasonHint
+	}
 	generalCheckResult := this.migrationContext.GetThrottleGeneralCheckResult()
 	if generalCheckResult.ShouldThrottle {
 		return generalCheckResult.ShouldThrottle, generalCheckResult.Reason, generalCheckResult.ReasonHint
@@ -96,6 +100,9 @@ func (this *Throttler) collectReplicationLag(firstThrottlingCollected chan<- boo
 		if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.migrationContext.CleanupImminentFlag) > 0 {
 			return nil
 		}
+		if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.migrationContext.HibernateUntil) > 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
 
 		if this.migrationContext.TestOnReplica || this.migrationContext.MigrateOnReplica {
 			// when running on replica, the heartbeat injection is also done on the replica.
@@ -128,6 +135,10 @@ func (this *Throttler) collectReplicationLag(firstThrottlingCollected chan<- boo
 // collectControlReplicasLag polls all the control replicas to get maximum lag value
 func (this *Throttler) collectControlReplicasLag() {
 
+	if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.migrationContext.HibernateUntil) > 0 {
+		return
+	}
+
 	replicationLagQuery := fmt.Sprintf(`
 		select value from %s.%s where hint = 'heartbeat' and id <= 255
 		`,
@@ -222,6 +233,9 @@ func (this *Throttler) criticalLoadIsMet() (met bool, variableName string, value
 // collectReplicationLag reads the latest changelog heartbeat value
 func (this *Throttler) collectThrottleHTTPStatus(firstThrottlingCollected chan<- bool) {
 	collectFunc := func() (sleep bool, err error) {
+		if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.migrationContext.HibernateUntil) > 0 {
+			return true, nil
+		}
 		url := this.migrationContext.GetThrottleHTTP()
 		if url == "" {
 			return true, nil
@@ -247,6 +261,9 @@ func (this *Throttler) collectThrottleHTTPStatus(firstThrottlingCollected chan<-
 
 // collectGeneralThrottleMetrics reads the once-per-sec metrics, and stores them onto this.migrationContext
 func (this *Throttler) collectGeneralThrottleMetrics() error {
+	if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.migrationContext.HibernateUntil) > 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
 
 	setThrottle := func(throttle bool, reason string, reasonHint base.ThrottleReasonHint) error {
 		this.migrationContext.SetThrottleGeneralCheckResult(base.NewThrottleCheckResult(throttle, reason, reasonHint))
@@ -264,6 +281,20 @@ func (this *Throttler) collectGeneralThrottleMetrics() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return setThrottle(true, fmt.Sprintf("%s %s", variableName, err), base.NoThrottleReasonHint)
 	}
+
+	if criticalLoadMet && this.migrationContext.CriticalLoadHibernateSeconds > 0 {
+		hibernateDuration := time.Duration(this.migrationContext.CriticalLoadHibernateSeconds) * time.Second
+		hibernateUntilTime := time.Now().Add(hibernateDuration)
+		atomic.StoreInt64(&this.migrationContext.HibernateUntil, hibernateUntilTime.UnixNano())
+		log.Errorf("critical-load met: %s=%d, >=%d. Will hibernate for the duration of %+v, until %+v", variableName, value, threshold, hibernateDuration, hibernateUntilTime)
+		go func() {
+			time.Sleep(hibernateDuration)
+			this.migrationContext.SetThrottleGeneralCheckResult(base.NewThrottleCheckResult(true, "leaving hibernation", base.LeavingHibernationThrottleReasonHint))
+			atomic.StoreInt64(&this.migrationContext.HibernateUntil, 0)
+		}()
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if criticalLoadMet && this.migrationContext.CriticalLoadIntervalMilliseconds == 0 {
 		this.migrationContext.PanicAbort <- fmt.Errorf("critical-load met: %s=%d, >=%d", variableName, value, threshold)
 	}