diff --git a/notebook/notebookapp.py b/notebook/notebookapp.py
index 5e73c504a..cad7b7aae 100755
--- a/notebook/notebookapp.py
+++ b/notebook/notebookapp.py
@@ -1070,6 +1070,14 @@ class NotebookApp(JupyterApp):
     rate_limit_window = Float(3, config=True, help=_("""(sec) Time window used to 
         check the message and data rate limits."""))
 
+    shutdown_no_kernels_timeout = Integer(0, config=True,
+        help=("Use a positive integer, to shut down the server after N "
+             "seconds with no kernels running. This can be used together with "
+             "culling idle kernels (MappingKernelManager.cull_idle_timeout) to "
+              "shutdown the notebook server when it's not in use. "
+              "Do not rely on this being accurately timed.")
+    )
+
     def parse_command_line(self, argv=None):
         super(NotebookApp, self).parse_command_line(argv)
 
@@ -1357,6 +1365,26 @@ class NotebookApp(JupyterApp):
         # mimetype always needs to be text/css, so we override it here.
         mimetypes.add_type('text/css', '.css')
 
+    def shutdown_no_kernels(self):
+        """Shutdown server on timeout when there are no kernels."""
+        km = self.kernel_manager
+        if len(km) == 0:
+            seconds_since_kernel = \
+                (utcnow() - km.last_kernel_activity).total_seconds()
+            self.log.debug("No kernels for %d seconds.",
+                           seconds_since_kernel)
+            if seconds_since_kernel > self.shutdown_no_kernels_timeout:
+                self.log.info("No kernels for %d seconds; shutting down.",
+                              seconds_since_kernel)
+                self.stop()
+
+    def init_shutdown_no_kernels(self):
+        if self.shutdown_no_kernels_timeout > 0:
+            self.log.info("Will shut down after %d seconds with no kernels.",
+                          self.shutdown_no_kernels_timeout)
+            pc = ioloop.PeriodicCallback(self.shutdown_no_kernels, 60000)
+            pc.start()
+
     @catch_config_error
     def initialize(self, argv=None):
         super(NotebookApp, self).initialize(argv)
@@ -1370,6 +1398,7 @@ class NotebookApp(JupyterApp):
         self.init_signal()
         self.init_server_extensions()
         self.init_mime_overrides()
+        self.init_shutdown_no_kernels()
 
     def cleanup_kernels(self):
         """Shutdown all kernels.
diff --git a/notebook/services/kernels/kernelmanager.py b/notebook/services/kernels/kernelmanager.py
index 6f47ed6a7..a2988d281 100644
--- a/notebook/services/kernels/kernelmanager.py
+++ b/notebook/services/kernels/kernelmanager.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 # Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
 
 from collections import defaultdict
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from functools import partial
 import os
 
@@ -17,14 +18,14 @@ from tornado.ioloop import IOLoop, PeriodicCallback
 
 from jupyter_client.session import Session
 from jupyter_client.multikernelmanager import MultiKernelManager
-from traitlets import Any, Bool, Dict, List, Unicode, TraitError, Integer, default, validate
+from traitlets import (Any, Bool, Dict, List, Unicode, TraitError, Integer,
+       Instance, default, validate
+)
 
 from notebook.utils import to_os_path, exists
 from notebook._tz import utcnow, isoformat
 from ipython_genutils.py3compat import getcwd
 
-from datetime import timedelta
-
 
 class MappingKernelManager(MultiKernelManager):
     """A KernelManager that handles notebook mapping and HTTP error handling"""
@@ -88,6 +89,13 @@ class MappingKernelManager(MultiKernelManager):
     def _default_kernel_buffers(self):
         return defaultdict(lambda: {'buffer': [], 'session_key': '', 'channels': {}})
 
+    last_kernel_activity = Instance(datetime,
+        help="The last activity on any kernel, including shutting down a kernel")
+
+    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+        super(MappingKernelManager, self).__init__(**kwargs)
+        self.last_kernel_activity = utcnow()
+
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Methods for managing kernels and sessions
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -241,6 +249,7 @@ class MappingKernelManager(MultiKernelManager):
         kernel._activity_stream.close()
         self.stop_buffering(kernel_id)
         self._kernel_connections.pop(kernel_id, None)
+        self.last_kernel_activity = utcnow()
         return super(MappingKernelManager, self).shutdown_kernel(kernel_id, now=now)
 
     def restart_kernel(self, kernel_id):
@@ -346,7 +355,7 @@ class MappingKernelManager(MultiKernelManager):
 
         def record_activity(msg_list):
             """Record an IOPub message arriving from a kernel"""
-            kernel.last_activity = utcnow()
+            self.last_kernel_activity = kernel.last_activity = utcnow()
 
             idents, fed_msg_list = session.feed_identities(msg_list)
             msg = session.deserialize(fed_msg_list)