diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/Proc.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/Proc.java
index f3352a3478..e1400eda25 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/Proc.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/Proc.java
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ import java.util.logging.Logger;
 public abstract class Proc {
     private Proc() {}
 
+    /**
+     * Checks if the process is still alive.
+     */
+    public abstract boolean isAlive() throws IOException, InterruptedException;
+
     /**
      * Terminates the process.
      *
@@ -176,6 +181,16 @@ public abstract class Proc {
             }
         }
 
+        @Override
+        public boolean isAlive() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
+            try {
+                proc.exitValue();
+                return false;
+            } catch (IllegalThreadStateException e) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
         @Override
         public void kill() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
             destroy();
@@ -254,6 +269,11 @@ public abstract class Proc {
                 throw new IOException2("Failed to join the process",e);
             }
         }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isAlive() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
+            return !process.isDone();
+        }
     }
 
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(Proc.class.getName());
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/maven/MavenProcessFactory.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/maven/MavenProcessFactory.java
index f7024426a3..c86d018cd3 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/maven/MavenProcessFactory.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/maven/MavenProcessFactory.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ package hudson.maven;
 import hudson.FilePath;
 import hudson.Launcher;
 import hudson.Proc;
+import hudson.AbortException;
 import static hudson.Util.fixNull;
 import hudson.maven.agent.Main;
 import hudson.model.BuildListener;
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ import java.net.ServerSocket;
 import java.net.Socket;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLConnection;
+import java.net.SocketTimeoutException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.jar.JarFile;
@@ -196,7 +198,19 @@ final class MavenProcessFactory implements ProcessCache.Factory {
             String[] cmds = cmdLine.toCommandArray();
             final Proc proc = launcher.launch(cmds, envVars, out, workDir);
 
-            Connection con = acceptor.accept();
+            Connection con;
+            try {
+                con = acceptor.accept();
+            } catch (SocketTimeoutException e) {
+                // failed to connect. Is the process dead?
+                // if so, the error should have been provided by the launcher already.
+                // so abort gracefully without a stack trace.
+                if(!proc.isAlive()) {
+                    listener.getLogger().println("Failed to launch Maven. Exit code = "+proc.join());
+                    throw new AbortException();
+                }
+                throw e;
+            }
 
             return new Channel("Channel to Maven "+ Arrays.toString(cmds),
                 Computer.threadPoolForRemoting, new BufferedInputStream(con.in), new BufferedOutputStream(con.out)) {