diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS b/CONTRIBUTORS
index 7449a1f64..10e94b9a3 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS
@@ -358,6 +358,7 @@ Thomas Quas
 Tim Drury
 Tim Fennell
 Tim Stephenson
+Tim Whittington
 Timoteo Ohara
 Timothy Gerard Endres
 Tom Ball
diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index a2b1ff263..a7494f031 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ Fixed bugs:
    made macrodef fail.
    Bugzilla Report 55885.
 
+ * Ant 1.8 exec task changes have slowed exec to a crawl
+   Bugzilla Report 54128.
+
 Other changes:
 --------------
 
diff --git a/contributors.xml b/contributors.xml
index 68b144efe..c3d90b6c0 100644
--- a/contributors.xml
+++ b/contributors.xml
@@ -1435,6 +1435,10 @@
     <first>Tim</first>
     <last>Fennell</last>
   </name>
+  <name>
+    <first>Tim</first>
+    <last>Whittington</last>
+  </name>
   <name>
     <first>Timoteo</first>
     <last>Ohara</last>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/PumpStreamHandler.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/PumpStreamHandler.java
index 2ccae1e74..42ba0f486 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/PumpStreamHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/PumpStreamHandler.java
@@ -185,10 +185,10 @@ public class PumpStreamHandler implements ExecuteStreamHandler {
                 return;
             }
 
-            t.join(JOIN_TIMEOUT);
             if (s != null && !s.isFinished()) {
                 s.stop();
             }
+            t.join(JOIN_TIMEOUT);
             while ((s == null || !s.isFinished()) && t.isAlive()) {
                 t.interrupt();
                 t.join(JOIN_TIMEOUT);
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/StreamPumper.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/StreamPumper.java
index c4ad9914a..b47e47bfc 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/StreamPumper.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/StreamPumper.java
@@ -116,7 +116,6 @@ public class StreamPumper implements Runnable {
             started = true;
         }
         finished = false;
-        finish = false;
 
         final byte[] buf = new byte[bufferSize];
 
@@ -130,13 +129,29 @@ public class StreamPumper implements Runnable {
                 }
 
                 length = is.read(buf);
-                if (length <= 0 || finish || Thread.interrupted()) {
+                if (length <= 0 || Thread.interrupted()) {
                     break;
                 }
                 os.write(buf, 0, length);
                 if (autoflush) {
                     os.flush();
                 }
+                if (finish) {
+                	break;
+                }
+            }
+            // On completion, drain any available data (which might be the first data available for quick executions)
+            if (finish) {
+                while((length = is.available()) > 0) {
+                	if (Thread.interrupted()) {
+                		break;
+                	}
+                    length = is.read(buf, 0, Math.min(length, buf.length));
+                    if (length <= 0) {
+                        break;
+                    }
+                    os.write(buf, 0, length);
+                }
             }
             os.flush();
         } catch (InterruptedException ie) {
@@ -150,6 +165,7 @@ public class StreamPumper implements Runnable {
                 FileUtils.close(os);
             }
             finished = true;
+            finish = false;
             synchronized (this) {
                 notifyAll();
             }