diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index ee94c1075..9754077ab 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 	* includes DHT traffic in the rate limiter
 	* added support for bitcomet padding files
 	* improved support for sparse files on windows
+	* added ability to give seeding torrents preference to active slots
 
 release 0.14.4
 
diff --git a/bindings/python/src/session_settings.cpp b/bindings/python/src/session_settings.cpp
index de4b2b306..7919717c9 100644
--- a/bindings/python/src/session_settings.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/src/session_settings.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ void bind_session_settings()
         .def_readwrite("active_downloads", &session_settings::active_downloads)
         .def_readwrite("active_seeds", &session_settings::active_seeds)
         .def_readwrite("active_limit", &session_settings::active_limit)
+        .def_readwrite("auto_manage_prefer_seeds", &session_settings::auto_manage_prefer_seeds)
         .def_readwrite("dont_count_slow_torrents", &session_settings::dont_count_slow_torrents)
         .def_readwrite("auto_manage_interval", &session_settings::auto_manage_interval)
         .def_readwrite("share_ratio_limit", &session_settings::share_ratio_limit)
diff --git a/docs/manual.rst b/docs/manual.rst
index aff413658..420d77cbd 100644
--- a/docs/manual.rst
+++ b/docs/manual.rst
@@ -3406,6 +3406,7 @@ session_settings
 		int active_downloads;
 		int active_seeds;
 		int active_limit;
+		bool auto_manage_prefer_seeds;
 		bool dont_count_slow_torrents;
 		int auto_manage_interval;
 		float share_ratio_limit;
@@ -3699,6 +3700,9 @@ torrents active. Torrents that are not auto managed are also counted against the
 limits. If there are non-auto managed torrents that use up all the slots, no
 auto managed torrent will be activated.
 
+``auto_manage_prefer_seeds`` specifies if libtorrent should prefer giving seeds
+active slots or downloading torrents.  The default is ``false``.
+
 if ``dont_count_slow_torrents`` is true, torrents without any payload transfers are
 not subject to the ``active_seeds`` and ``active_downloads`` limits. This is intended
 to make it more likely to utilize all available bandwidth, and avoid having torrents
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/session_impl.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/session_impl.hpp
index 85af66b56..c025925ff 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/session_impl.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/session_impl.hpp
@@ -592,6 +592,8 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			
 			void on_tick(error_code const& e);
 
+			int auto_manage_torrents(std::vector<torrent*>& list
+				, int hard_limit, int type_limit);
 			void recalculate_auto_managed_torrents();
 			void recalculate_unchoke_slots(int congested_torrents
 				, int uncongested_torrents);
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp b/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
index eb0ab8225..71a6cc2ce 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			, active_downloads(8)
 			, active_seeds(5)
 			, active_limit(15)
+			, auto_manage_prefer_seeds(false)
 			, dont_count_slow_torrents(true)
 			, auto_manage_interval(30)
 			, share_ratio_limit(2.f)
@@ -439,6 +440,11 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		int active_seeds;
 		int active_limit;
 
+		// prefer seeding torrents when determining which torrents to give 
+		// active slots to, the default is false which gives preference to
+		// downloading torrents
+		bool auto_manage_prefer_seeds;
+		
 		// if this is true, torrents that don't have any significant
 		// transfers are not counted as active when determining which
 		// auto managed torrents to pause and resume
diff --git a/src/session_impl.cpp b/src/session_impl.cpp
index 2f0884d6f..e04e869df 100644
--- a/src/session_impl.cpp
+++ b/src/session_impl.cpp
@@ -1588,6 +1588,34 @@ namespace aux {
 				|| t->statistics().download_payload_rate() != 0.f;
 		}
 	}
+	
+	int session_impl::auto_manage_torrents(std::vector<torrent*>& list
+		, int hard_limit, int type_limit)
+	{
+		for (std::vector<torrent*>::iterator i = list.begin()
+			, end(list.end()); i != end; ++i)
+		{
+			torrent* t = *i;
+			if (!t->is_paused() && !is_active(t, settings())
+				&& hard_limit > 0)
+			{
+				--hard_limit;
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			if (type_limit > 0 && hard_limit > 0)
+			{
+				--hard_limit;
+				--type_limit;
+				if (t->is_paused()) t->resume();
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				if (!t->is_paused()) t->pause();
+			}
+		}
+		return hard_limit;
+	}
 
 	void session_impl::recalculate_auto_managed_torrents()
 	{
@@ -1654,51 +1682,17 @@ namespace aux {
 				> bind(&torrent::seed_rank, _2, boost::ref(m_settings)));
 		}
 
-		for (std::vector<torrent*>::iterator i = downloaders.begin()
-			, end(downloaders.end()); i != end; ++i)
+		if (settings().auto_manage_prefer_seeds)
 		{
-			torrent* t = *i;
-			if (!t->is_paused() && !is_active(t, settings())
-				&& hard_limit > 0)
-			{
-				--hard_limit;
-				continue;
-			}
-
-			if (num_downloaders > 0 && hard_limit > 0)
-			{
-				--hard_limit;
-				--num_downloaders;
-				if (t->is_paused()) t->resume();
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				if (!t->is_paused()) t->pause();
-			}
+			hard_limit = auto_manage_torrents(seeds, hard_limit, num_seeds);
+			hard_limit = auto_manage_torrents(downloaders, hard_limit, num_downloaders);
 		}
-
-		for (std::vector<torrent*>::iterator i = seeds.begin()
-			, end(seeds.end()); i != end; ++i)
+		else
 		{
-			torrent* t = *i;
-			if (!t->is_paused() && !is_active(t, settings())
-				&& hard_limit > 0)
-			{
-				--hard_limit;
-				continue;
-			}
-
-			if (num_seeds > 0 && hard_limit > 0)
-			{
-				--hard_limit;
-				--num_seeds;
-				if (t->is_paused()) t->resume();
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				if (!t->is_paused()) t->pause();
-			}
+			hard_limit = auto_manage_torrents(downloaders, hard_limit, num_downloaders);
+			hard_limit = auto_manage_torrents(seeds, hard_limit, num_seeds);
 		}
+            
 	}
 
 	void session_impl::recalculate_optimistic_unchoke_slot()