diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/PrintReadsWalker.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/PrintReadsWalker.java
index fd2d53827..e20e96dee 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/PrintReadsWalker.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/PrintReadsWalker.java
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ public class PrintReadsWalker extends ReadWalker<SAMRecord, SAMFileWriter> {
     @Argument(fullName = "readGroup", shortName = "readGroup", doc="Discard reads not belonging to the specified read group", required = false)
     String readGroup = null;
     @Argument(fullName = "platform", shortName = "platform", doc="Discard reads not generated by the specified platform", required = false)
-    String platform = null;
-    // E.g. ILLUMINA, 454
+    String platform = null; // E.g. ILLUMINA, 454
+    @Argument(fullName = "number", shortName = "n", doc="Outputs only the first n reads, discarding the rest", required = false)
+    int nReadsToPrint = -1;
 
     /**
      * The initialize function.
@@ -87,6 +88,14 @@ public class PrintReadsWalker extends ReadWalker<SAMRecord, SAMFileWriter> {
                 return false;
         }
 
+        // check if we've reached the output limit
+        if ( nReadsToPrint == 0 ) {
+            return false;          // n == 0 means we've printed all we needed.
+        }
+        else if (nReadsToPrint > 0) {
+            nReadsToPrint--;       // n > 0 means there are still reads to be printed.
+        }
+
         return true;
 	}