diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ReplaceRegExp.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ReplaceRegExp.java
index 524568cd38..aca6d1ac68 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ReplaceRegExp.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ReplaceRegExp.java
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@
  *                    match="pattern"
  *                    replace="pattern"
  *                    flags="options"?
- *                    byline="true|false"? >
+ *                    byline="true|false"?
+ *                    failOnError="true|false"? >
  *       regexp?
  *       substitution?
  *       fileset*
@@ -101,6 +102,10 @@
  *                 "true" indicates to perform replacement on a line by line basis
  *                 "false" indicates to perform replacement on the whole file at once.
  *
+ *     failOnError --> Should this task fail if an error occurs (default is false)
+ *                 "true" indicates that this task should fail if an error occurs
+ *                 "false" indicates that this task should continue if an error occurs
+ *
  *  Example:
  *
  *     The following call could be used to replace an old property name in a ".properties"
@@ -123,6 +128,7 @@ public class ReplaceRegExp extends Task {
     private Union resources;
     private RegularExpression regex;
     private Substitution subs;
+    private boolean failonerror = false;
 
     private static final FileUtils FILE_UTILS = FileUtils.getFileUtils();
 
@@ -315,6 +321,15 @@ public void setPreserveLastModified(boolean b) {
         preserveLastModified = b;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * If false, note errors but continue.
+     *
+     * @param failonerror true or false
+     */
+    public void setFailOnError(boolean failonerror) {
+        this.failonerror = failonerror;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Invoke a regular expression (r) on a string (input) using
      * substitutions (s) for a matching regex.
@@ -481,13 +496,17 @@ public void execute() throws BuildException {
                 log("An error occurred processing file: '"
                     + file.getAbsolutePath() + "': " + e.toString(),
                     Project.MSG_ERR);
-                throw new BuildException("An error occurred processing file: '" + file.getAbsolutePath() + "'",
-                                         e, getLocation());
+                if (failonerror) {
+                    throw new BuildException("An error occurred processing file: '" + file.getAbsolutePath() + "'",
+                                             e, getLocation());
+                }
             }
         } else if (file != null) {
             log("The following file is missing: '"
                 + file.getAbsolutePath() + "'", Project.MSG_ERR);
-            throw new BuildException("The following file is missing: '" + file.getAbsolutePath() + "'");
+            if (failonerror) {
+                throw new BuildException("The following file is missing: '" + file.getAbsolutePath() + "'");
+            }
         }
 
         if (resources != null) {
@@ -501,13 +520,17 @@ public void execute() throws BuildException {
                         log("An error occurred processing file: '"
                             + f.getAbsolutePath() + "': " + e.toString(),
                             Project.MSG_ERR);
-                        throw new BuildException("An error occurred processing file: '" + f.getAbsolutePath() + "'",
-                                                 e, getLocation());
+                        if (failonerror) {
+                            throw new BuildException("An error occurred processing file: '" + f.getAbsolutePath() + "'",
+                                                     e, getLocation());
+                        }
                     }
                 } else {
                     log("The following file is missing: '"
                         + f.getAbsolutePath() + "'", Project.MSG_ERR);
-                    throw new BuildException("The following file is missing: '" + f.getAbsolutePath() + "'");
+                    if (failonerror) {
+                        throw new BuildException("The following file is missing: '" + f.getAbsolutePath() + "'");
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }