diff --git a/bin/pt-stalk b/bin/pt-stalk
index 93c79cc5..b8a99e9c 100755
--- a/bin/pt-stalk
+++ b/bin/pt-stalk
@@ -1210,6 +1210,37 @@ stalk() {
          purge_samples "$OPT_DEST" "$OPT_RETENTION_TIME"
       fi
    done
+
+   # Before exiting, the last collector may still be running.
+   # Wait for it to finish in case the tool is part of a script,
+   # or part of a test, so the caller has access to the collected
+   # data when the tool exists.  collect() waits an additional
+   # --run-time seconds for itself to complete, which means we
+   # have to wait for 2 * run-time like it plus some overhead else
+   # we may get in sync with the collector and kill it a microsecond
+   # before it kills itself, thus 3 * run-time.
+   # https://bugs.launchpad.net/percona-toolkit/+bug/1070434
+   if [ "$(jobs)" ]; then
+      local sleep_time=$((OPT_RUN_TIME * 3))
+      log "Waiting up to $sleep_time seconds for collectors to finish..."
+      local slept=0
+      while [ -n "$(jobs)" -a $slept -lt $sleep_time ]; do
+         sleep 1
+         slept=$((slept + 1))
+      done
+
+      if [ "$(jobs)" ]; then
+         for pid in $(jobs -p); do
+            # This isn't an warning (we don't want exit status 1) because
+            # the system may be running slowly so it's just "natural" that
+            # a collector may get stuck or run really slowly.
+            log "Killing collector $pid"
+            kill $pid >/dev/null 2>&1
+         done
+      else
+         log "All collectors have finished"
+      fi
+   fi
 }
 
 # ###########################################################################
@@ -1754,6 +1785,18 @@ than L<"--sleep">. It is usually not necessary to change this; if the default 30
 seconds hasn't gathered enough diagnostic data, running longer is not likely to
 do so. In fact, in many cases a shorter collection period is appropriate.
 
+This value is used two other times.  After collecting, the collect subprocess
+will wait another L<"--run-time"> seconds for its commands to finish.  Some
+commands can take awhile if the system is running very slowly (which can
+likely be the case given that a collection was triggered).  Since empty files
+are deleted, the extra wait gives commands time to finish and write their
+data.  The value is potentially used again just before the tool exits to wait
+again for any collect subprocesses to finish.  In most cases this won't
+happen because of the aforementioned extra wait.  If it happens, the tool
+will log "Waiting up to N seconds for collectors to finish..." where N is
+three times L<"--run-time">.  In both cases, after waiting, the tool kills
+all of its subprocesses.
+
 =item --sleep
 
 type: int; default: 300
diff --git a/t/pt-stalk/pt-stalk.t b/t/pt-stalk/pt-stalk.t
index ed905eb0..30048726 100644
--- a/t/pt-stalk/pt-stalk.t
+++ b/t/pt-stalk/pt-stalk.t
@@ -86,20 +86,21 @@ ok(
    "Creates --dest (collect) dir"
 );
 
-chomp($pid = `cat $pid_file`);
+chomp($pid = `cat $pid_file 2>/dev/null`);
 $retval = system("kill -0 $pid");
 is(
    $retval >> 0,
    0,
-   "pt-stalk is running ($pid)"
+   "pt-stalk is running"
 );
 
-$output = `cat $log_file`;
+PerconaTest::wait_for_sh("grep -q 'Check results' $log_file >/dev/null");
+$output = `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`;
 like(
    $output,
    qr/Check results: Threads_running=\d+, matched=no, cycles_true=0/,
    "Check results logged"
-);
+) or diag(`cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`, `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`);
 
 $retval = system("kill $pid 2>/dev/null");
 is(
@@ -108,19 +109,19 @@ is(
    "Killed pt-stalk"
 );
 
-sleep 1;
+PerconaTest::wait_until(sub { !-f $pid_file });
 
 ok(
    ! -f $pid_file,
    "Removes PID file"
 );
 
-$output = `cat $log_file`;
+$output = `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`;
 like(
    $output,
    qr/Caught signal, exiting/,
    "Caught signal logged"
-);
+) or diag(`cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`, `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`);
 
 # ###########################################################################
 # Test collect.
@@ -134,42 +135,61 @@ diag(`rm $dest/*   2>/dev/null`);
 my (undef, $uptime) = $dbh->selectrow_array("SHOW STATUS LIKE 'Uptime'");
 my $threshold = $uptime + 2;
 
-$retval = system("$trunk/bin/pt-stalk --iterations 1 --dest $dest  --variable Uptime --threshold $threshold --cycles 2 --run-time 2 --pid $pid_file -- --defaults-file=$cnf >$log_file 2>&1");
+$retval = system("$trunk/bin/pt-stalk --iterations 1 --dest $dest --variable Uptime --threshold $threshold --cycles 2 --run-time 2 --pid $pid_file -- --defaults-file=$cnf >$log_file 2>&1");
 
-sleep 3;
+PerconaTest::wait_until(sub { !-f $pid_file });
 
-$output = `cat $dest/*-trigger`;
+$output = `cat $dest/*-trigger 2>/dev/null`;
 like(
    $output,
    qr/Check results: Uptime=\d+, matched=yes, cycles_true=2/,
    "Collect triggered"
+)
+or diag(
+   'output',    $output,
+   'log file',  `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`,
+   'collector', `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`,
+   'dest',      `ls -l $dest/ 2>/dev/null`,
+   'df',        `cat $dest/*-df 2>/dev/null`,
 );
 
 # There is some nondeterminism here. Sometimes it'll run for 2 samples because
 # the samples may not be precisely 1 second apart.
-chomp($output = `cat $dest/*-df | grep -c '^TS'`);
+chomp($output = `cat $dest/*-df 2>/dev/null | grep -c '^TS'`);
 ok(
    $output >= 1 && $output <= 3,
    "Collect ran for --run-time"
-) or diag("Run time: $output");
+)
+or diag(
+   'output',    $output,
+   'log file',  `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`,
+   'collector', `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`,
+   'dest',      `ls -l $dest/ 2>/dev/null`,
+   'df',        `cat $dest/*-df 2>/dev/null`,
+);
 
 ok(
    PerconaTest::not_running("pt-stalk --iterations 1"),
    "pt-stalk is not running"
 );
 
-$output = `cat $dest/*-trigger`;
+$output = `cat $dest/*-trigger 2>/dev/null`;
 like(
    $output,
    qr/pt-stalk ran with --function=status --variable=Uptime --threshold=$threshold/,
    "Trigger file logs how pt-stalk was ran"
 );
 
-chomp($output = `cat $log_file | grep 'Collector PID'`);
+chomp($output = `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null | grep 'Collector PID'`);
 like(
    $output,
    qr/Collector PID \d+/,
    "Collector PID logged"
+)
+or diag(
+   'output',    $output,
+   'log file',  `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`,
+   'collector', `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`,
 );
 
 # ###########################################################################
@@ -184,9 +204,9 @@ $threshold = $uptime + 2;
 
 $retval = system("$trunk/bin/pt-stalk --no-collect --iterations 1 --dest $dest  --variable Uptime --threshold $threshold --cycles 1 --run-time 1 --pid $pid_file -- --defaults-file=$cnf >$log_file 2>&1");
 
-sleep 2;
+PerconaTest::wait_until(sub { !-f $pid_file });
 
-$output = `cat $log_file`;
+$output = `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`;
 like(
    $output,
    qr/Collect triggered/,
@@ -196,7 +216,7 @@ like(
 ok(
    ! -f "$dest/*",
    "No files collected"
-);
+) or diag(`ls -l $dest/ 2>/dev/null`);
 
 ok(
    PerconaTest::not_running("pt-stalk --no-collect"),
@@ -221,7 +241,7 @@ is(
    "Killed pt-stalk"
 );
 
-$output = `cat $log_file`;
+$output = `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`;
 like(
    $output,
    qr/Check results: Aborted_connects=|variable=Aborted_connects/,
@@ -238,23 +258,32 @@ diag(`rm $pid_file 2>/dev/null`);
 diag(`rm $log_file 2>/dev/null`);
 diag(`rm $dest/*   2>/dev/null`);
 
-$retval = system("$trunk/bin/pt-stalk --no-stalk --run-time 2 --dest $dest --prefix nostalk -- --defaults-file=$cnf >$log_file 2>&1");
+$retval = system("$trunk/bin/pt-stalk --no-stalk --run-time 2 --dest $dest --prefix nostalk --pid $pid_file -- --defaults-file=$cnf >$log_file 2>&1");
 
-PerconaTest::wait_for_files("$dest/nostalk-trigger");
-$output = `cat $dest/nostalk-trigger`;
+PerconaTest::wait_until(sub { !-f $pid_file });
+
+$output = `cat $dest/nostalk-trigger 2>/dev/null`;
 like(
    $output,
    qr/Not stalking/,
    "Not stalking, collect triggered"
+)
+or diag(
+   'dest',      `ls -l $dest/ 2>/dev/null`,
+   'log_file',  `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`,
+   'collector', `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`,
 );
 
-PerconaTest::wait_for_files("$dest/nostalk-hostname");
-PerconaTest::wait_for_sh("test \$(grep -c '^TS' $dest/nostalk-df) -ge 2");
-chomp($output = `grep -c '^TS' $dest/nostalk-df`);
+chomp($output = `grep -c '^TS' $dest/nostalk-df 2>/dev/null`);
 is(
    $output,
    2,
    "Not stalking, collect ran for --run-time"
+)
+or diag(
+   'dest',      `ls -l $dest/ 2>/dev/null`,
+   'log_file',  `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`,
+   'collector', `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`,
 );
 
 my $vmstat = `which vmstat 2>/dev/null`;
@@ -269,14 +298,24 @@ SKIP: {
 };
 
 is(
-   `cat $dest/nostalk-hostname`,
+   `cat $dest/nostalk-hostname 2>/dev/null`,
    `hostname`,
    "Not stalking, collect gathered data"
+)
+or diag(
+   'dest',      `ls -l $dest/ 2>/dev/null`,
+   'log_file',  `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`,
+   'collector', `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`,
 );
 
 ok(
    PerconaTest::not_running("pt-stalk --no-stalk"),
    "Not stalking, pt-stalk is not running"
+)
+or diag(
+   'dest',      `ls -l $dest/ 2>/dev/null`,
+   'log_file',  `cat $log_file 2>/dev/null`,
+   'collector', `cat $dest/*-output 2>/dev/null`,
 );
 
 # ############################################################################