diff --git a/jbpm-flow/src/main/java/org/jbpm/workflow/core/node/SubProcessNode.java b/jbpm-flow/src/main/java/org/jbpm/workflow/core/node/SubProcessNode.java
index b9df7f544a..3271fd46c1 100644
--- a/jbpm-flow/src/main/java/org/jbpm/workflow/core/node/SubProcessNode.java
+++ b/jbpm-flow/src/main/java/org/jbpm/workflow/core/node/SubProcessNode.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ public class SubProcessNode extends StateBasedNode implements Mappable, ContextC
 	private String processName;
 	private boolean waitForCompletion = true;
 	private boolean callActivity = false;
+	private static Boolean defaultAbortParent = Boolean.getBoolean("org.jbpm.abortParent");
 
     private List<DataAssociation> inMapping = new LinkedList<DataAssociation>();
     private List<DataAssociation> outMapping = new LinkedList<DataAssociation>();
@@ -238,7 +239,7 @@ public boolean isAbortParent() {
         
         String abortParent = (String) getMetaData("customAbortParent");
         if (abortParent == null) {
-            return true;
+            return defaultAbortParent == null ? true : defaultAbortParent;
         }
         return Boolean.parseBoolean(abortParent);
     }