diff --git a/lib/common_test/doc/guides/run_test_chapter.md b/lib/common_test/doc/guides/run_test_chapter.md
index 9b1fb266013e..6c357646545c 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/doc/guides/run_test_chapter.md
+++ b/lib/common_test/doc/guides/run_test_chapter.md
@@ -40,16 +40,19 @@ suites are compiled. If a particular test object directory is specified (meaning
 all suites in this directory are to be part of the test), `Common Test` runs
 function `make:all/1` in the directory to compile the suites.
 
-If compilation fails for one or more suites, the compilation errors are printed
-to tty and the operator is asked if the test run is to proceed without the
-missing suites, or be aborted. If the operator chooses to proceed, the tests
-having missing suites are noted in the HTML log. If `Common Test` is unable to
-prompt the user after compilation failure (if `Common Test` does not control
-`stdin`), the test run proceeds automatically without the missing suites. This
-behavior can however be modified with the `ct_run` flag
-`-abort_if_missing_suites`, or the `ct:run_test/1` option
-`{abort_if_missing_suites,TrueOrFalse}`. If `abort_if_missing_suites` is set to
-`true`, the test run stops immediately if some suites fail to compile.
+If compilation fails for one or more suites, the test run stops
+immediately if some suites fail to compile. This behavior can however
+be modified with the `ct_run` flag `-abort_if_missing_suites`, or the
+`ct:run_test/1` option `{abort_if_missing_suites,TrueOrFalse}`.Option
+`abort_if_missing_suites` is set to `true` by default.
+
+If `abort_if_missing_suites` is set to `false`, the compilation errors
+are printed to tty and the operator is asked if the test run is to
+proceed without the missing suites, or be aborted. If the operator
+chooses to proceed, the tests having missing suites are noted in the
+HTML log. If `Common Test` is unable to prompt the user after
+compilation failure (if `Common Test` does not control `stdin`), the
+test run proceeds automatically without the missing suites.
 
 Any help module (that is, regular Erlang module with name not ending with
 "\_SUITE") that resides in the same test object directory as a suite, which is
diff --git a/lib/common_test/src/ct_run.erl b/lib/common_test/src/ct_run.erl
index 5c134c71d0e6..d6d35a8ad29a 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/src/ct_run.erl
+++ b/lib/common_test/src/ct_run.erl
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ script_start1(Parent, Args) ->
     AbortIfMissing = get_start_opt(abort_if_missing_suites,
 				   fun([]) -> true;
 				      ([Bool]) -> list_to_atom(Bool)
-				   end, false, Args),
+				   end, true, Args),
     %% silent connections
     SilentConns =
 	get_start_opt(silent_connections,
@@ -1036,7 +1036,7 @@ run_test2(StartOpts) ->
 	end,
 
     %% abort test run if some suites can't be compiled
-    AbortIfMissing = get_start_opt(abort_if_missing_suites, value, false,
+    AbortIfMissing = get_start_opt(abort_if_missing_suites, value, true,
 				   StartOpts),
 
     %% decrypt config file
diff --git a/lib/common_test/test/ct_error_SUITE.erl b/lib/common_test/test/ct_error_SUITE.erl
index 38d03536b83e..10d59b46e5bd 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/test/ct_error_SUITE.erl
+++ b/lib/common_test/test/ct_error_SUITE.erl
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ no_compile(Config) when is_list(Config) ->
     Join = fun(D, S) -> filename:join(D, "error/test/"++S) end,
     Suites = [Join(DataDir, "no_compile_SUITE")],
     {Opts,ERPid} = setup([{suite,Suites}], Config),
-    ok = ct_test_support:run(Opts, Config),
+    {error, {make_failed, _}} = ct_test_support:run(Opts, Config),
     Events = ct_test_support:get_events(ERPid, Config),
 
     ct_test_support:log_events(no_compile, 
diff --git a/lib/common_test/test/ct_surefire_SUITE.erl b/lib/common_test/test/ct_surefire_SUITE.erl
index e80e5a37b268..d028ac1eac4c 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/test/ct_surefire_SUITE.erl
+++ b/lib/common_test/test/ct_surefire_SUITE.erl
@@ -151,39 +151,39 @@ run_spec(Case,CTHs,Report,Config,Spec) ->
     Test = [{spec,Spec},{ct_hooks,CTHs},{label,Case}],
     do_run(Case, Report, Test, Config).
 
-do_run(Case, Report, Test, Config) ->
-    {Opts,ERPid} = setup(Test, Config),
-    ok = execute(Case, Opts, ERPid, Config),
+do_run(Case, Report, RunTestOpts0, Config) ->
+    {RunTestOpts,ERPid} = setup(RunTestOpts0, Config),
+    ok = execute(Case, RunTestOpts, ERPid, Config),
     LogDir =
-	case lists:keyfind(logdir,1,Opts) of
+	case lists:keyfind(logdir,1,RunTestOpts) of
 	    {logdir,LD} -> LD;
 	    false -> ?config(priv_dir,Config)
 	end,
     Re = filename:join([LogDir,"*",Report]),
     check_xml(Case,Re).
 
-setup(Test, Config) ->
+setup(RunTestOpts0, Config) ->
     Opts0 = ct_test_support:get_opts(Config),
     Opts1 =
-	case lists:keymember(logdir,1,Test) of
+	case lists:keymember(logdir,1,RunTestOpts0) of
 	    true -> lists:keydelete(logdir,1,Opts0);
 	    false -> Opts0
 	end,
     Level = ?config(trace_level, Config),
     EvHArgs = [{cbm,ct_test_support},{trace_level,Level}],
-    Opts = Opts1 ++ [{event_handler,{?eh,EvHArgs}}|Test],
+    RunTestOpts = Opts1 ++ [{event_handler,{?eh,EvHArgs}}|RunTestOpts0],
     ERPid = ct_test_support:start_event_receiver(Config),
-    {Opts,ERPid}.
+    {RunTestOpts,ERPid}.
 
-execute(Name, Opts, ERPid, Config) ->
-    ok = ct_test_support:run(Opts, Config),
+execute(Case, RunTestOpts, ERPid, Config) ->
+    ok = ct_test_support:run(RunTestOpts, Config),
     Events = ct_test_support:get_events(ERPid, Config),
-    ct_test_support:log_events(Name,
+    ct_test_support:log_events(Case,
 			       reformat(Events, ?eh),
 			       ?config(priv_dir, Config),
-			       Opts),
+			       RunTestOpts),
 
-    TestEvents = events_to_check(Name),
+    TestEvents = events_to_check(Case),
     ct_test_support:verify_events(TestEvents, Events, Config).
 
 reformat(Events, EH) ->
@@ -223,8 +223,8 @@ test_suite_events(pass_SUITE) ->
      {?eh,test_stats,{1,0,{0,0}}},
      {?eh,tc_start,{ct_framework,end_per_suite}},
      {?eh,tc_done,{ct_framework,end_per_suite,ok}}];
-test_suite_events(skip_all_surefire_SUITE) ->
-    [{?eh,tc_user_skip,{skip_all_surefire_SUITE,all,"skipped in spec"}},
+test_suite_events(skip_suite_in_spec) ->
+    [{?eh,tc_user_skip,{surefire_SUITE,all,"skipped in spec"}},
      {?eh,test_stats,{0,0,{1,0}}}];
 test_suite_events(Test) ->
     [{?eh,tc_start,{surefire_SUITE,init_per_suite}},
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ test_events(fail_pre_init_per_suite) ->
      [{?eh,stop_logging,[]}];
 test_events(skip_suite_in_spec) ->
     [{?eh,start_logging,'_'},{?eh,start_info,{1,1,0}}] ++
-     test_suite_events(skip_all_surefire_SUITE) ++
+     test_suite_events(skip_suite_in_spec) ++
      [{?eh,stop_logging,[]}];
 test_events(Test) ->
     [{?eh,start_logging,'_'}, {?eh,start_info,{1,1,11}}] ++
@@ -353,7 +353,14 @@ testsuites(Case,#xmlElement{name=testsuites,content=TS}) ->
     testsuite(Case,TS).
 
 testsuite(Case,[#xmlElement{name=testsuite,content=TC,attributes=A}|TS]) ->
-    TestSuiteEvents = test_suite_events(get_ts_name(A)),
+    TestSuiteEvents =
+        test_suite_events(
+          case Case of
+              skip_suite_in_spec ->
+                  skip_suite_in_spec;
+              _ ->
+                  get_ts_name(A)
+          end),
     {ET,EF,ES} = events_to_numbers(lists:flatten(TestSuiteEvents)),
     {T,E,F,S} = get_numbers_from_attrs(A,false,false,false,false),
     ct:log("Expecting total:~p, error:~p, failure:~p, skipped:~p~n",[ET,0,EF,ES]),
diff --git a/lib/common_test/test/ct_surefire_SUITE_data/skip_one_suite.spec b/lib/common_test/test/ct_surefire_SUITE_data/skip_one_suite.spec
index 57966328abcd..147cacea19e5 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/test/ct_surefire_SUITE_data/skip_one_suite.spec
+++ b/lib/common_test/test/ct_surefire_SUITE_data/skip_one_suite.spec
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-{suites,".",[skip_all_surefire_SUITE]}.
-{skip_suites,".",skip_all_surefire_SUITE,"skipped in spec"}.
+{suites,".",[surefire_SUITE]}.
+{skip_suites,".",surefire_SUITE,"skipped in spec"}.