diff --git a/src/network/access/qnetworkreplyhttpimpl.cpp b/src/network/access/qnetworkreplyhttpimpl.cpp
index 624c39f292..4796e4bb86 100644
--- a/src/network/access/qnetworkreplyhttpimpl.cpp
+++ b/src/network/access/qnetworkreplyhttpimpl.cpp
@@ -1521,6 +1521,9 @@ bool QNetworkReplyHttpImplPrivate::start()
 
     if (managerPrivate->networkSession->isOpen() &&
         managerPrivate->networkSession->state() == QNetworkSession::Connected) {
+        Q_Q(QNetworkReplyHttpImpl);
+        QObject::connect(managerPrivate->networkSession.data(), SIGNAL(usagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)),
+                            q, SLOT(_q_networkSessionUsagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)));
         postRequest();
         return true;
     }
@@ -1564,8 +1567,6 @@ void QNetworkReplyHttpImplPrivate::_q_startOperation()
         if (session) {
             QObject::connect(session, SIGNAL(error(QNetworkSession::SessionError)),
                              q, SLOT(_q_networkSessionFailed()));
-            QObject::connect(session, SIGNAL(usagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)),
-                             q, SLOT(_q_networkSessionUsagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)));
 
             if (!session->isOpen()) {
                 session->setSessionProperty(QStringLiteral("ConnectInBackground"), isBackground);
@@ -1767,8 +1768,20 @@ void QNetworkReplyHttpImplPrivate::_q_networkSessionFailed()
     }
 }
 
-void QNetworkReplyHttpImplPrivate::_q_networkSessionUsagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)
+void QNetworkReplyHttpImplPrivate::_q_networkSessionUsagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies newPolicies)
 {
+    if (request.attribute(QNetworkRequest::BackgroundRequestAttribute).toBool()) {
+        if (newPolicies & QNetworkSession::NoBackgroundTrafficPolicy) {
+            // Abort waiting and working replies.
+            if (state == WaitingForSession || state == Working) {
+                state = Working;
+                error(QNetworkReply::BackgroundRequestNotAllowedError,
+                    QCoreApplication::translate("QNetworkReply", "Background request not allowed."));
+                finished();
+            }
+            // ### if canResume(), then we could resume automatically
+        }
+    }
 
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/network/access/qnetworkreplyimpl.cpp b/src/network/access/qnetworkreplyimpl.cpp
index c9efcbb1fe..d535cbda65 100644
--- a/src/network/access/qnetworkreplyimpl.cpp
+++ b/src/network/access/qnetworkreplyimpl.cpp
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ inline QNetworkReplyImplPrivate::QNetworkReplyImplPrivate()
 
 void QNetworkReplyImplPrivate::_q_startOperation()
 {
+    Q_Q(QNetworkReplyImpl);
+
     // ensure this function is only being called once
     if (state == Working || state == Finished) {
         qDebug("QNetworkReplyImpl::_q_startOperation was called more than once");
@@ -110,12 +112,8 @@ void QNetworkReplyImplPrivate::_q_startOperation()
         state = WaitingForSession;
 
         if (session) {
-            Q_Q(QNetworkReplyImpl);
-
             QObject::connect(session.data(), SIGNAL(error(QNetworkSession::SessionError)),
                              q, SLOT(_q_networkSessionFailed()));
-            QObject::connect(session.data(), SIGNAL(usagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)),
-                             q, SLOT(_q_networkSessionUsagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)));
 
             if (!session->isOpen()) {
                 session->setSessionProperty(QStringLiteral("ConnectInBackground"), isBackground);
@@ -138,6 +136,12 @@ void QNetworkReplyImplPrivate::_q_startOperation()
         return;
     }
 
+    if (session) {
+        //get notification of policy changes.
+        QObject::connect(session.data(), SIGNAL(usagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)),
+                    q, SLOT(_q_networkSessionUsagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)));
+    }
+
     if (backend && backend->isSynchronous()) {
         state = Finished;
         q_func()->setFinished(true);
@@ -321,9 +325,20 @@ void QNetworkReplyImplPrivate::_q_networkSessionFailed()
     }
 }
 
-void QNetworkReplyImplPrivate::_q_networkSessionUsagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies)
+void QNetworkReplyImplPrivate::_q_networkSessionUsagePoliciesChanged(QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies newPolicies)
 {
-
+    if (backend->request().attribute(QNetworkRequest::BackgroundRequestAttribute).toBool()) {
+        if (newPolicies & QNetworkSession::NoBackgroundTrafficPolicy) {
+            // Abort waiting and working replies.
+            if (state == WaitingForSession || state == Working) {
+                state = Working;
+                error(QNetworkReply::BackgroundRequestNotAllowedError,
+                    QCoreApplication::translate("QNetworkReply", "Background request not allowed."));
+                finished();
+            }
+            // ### if backend->canResume(), then we could resume automatically, however no backend supports resuming
+        }
+    }
 }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/tests/auto/network/access/qnetworkreply/tst_qnetworkreply.cpp b/tests/auto/network/access/qnetworkreply/tst_qnetworkreply.cpp
index 35d4add0f8..aede0d290b 100644
--- a/tests/auto/network/access/qnetworkreply/tst_qnetworkreply.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/network/access/qnetworkreply/tst_qnetworkreply.cpp
@@ -405,6 +405,9 @@ private Q_SLOTS:
 
     void backgroundRequest_data();
     void backgroundRequest();
+    void backgroundRequestInterruption_data();
+    void backgroundRequestInterruption();
+
 
     // NOTE: This test must be last!
     void parentingRepliesToTheApp();
@@ -6844,6 +6847,7 @@ void tst_QNetworkReply::backgroundRequest_data()
 
 }
 
+//test purpose: background requests can't be started when not allowed
 void tst_QNetworkReply::backgroundRequest()
 {
 #ifdef QT_BUILD_INTERNAL
@@ -6883,6 +6887,75 @@ void tst_QNetworkReply::backgroundRequest()
 #endif
 }
 
+void tst_QNetworkReply::backgroundRequestInterruption_data()
+{
+    QTest::addColumn<QUrl>("url");
+    QTest::addColumn<bool>("background");
+    QTest::addColumn<QNetworkReply::NetworkError>("error");
+
+    QUrl httpurl("http://" + QtNetworkSettings::serverName() + "/qtest/mediumfile");
+    QUrl httpsurl("https://" + QtNetworkSettings::serverName() + "/qtest/mediumfile");
+    QUrl ftpurl("ftp://" + QtNetworkSettings::serverName() + "/qtest/bigfile");
+
+    QTest::newRow("http, fg, nobg") << httpurl << false << QNetworkReply::NoError;
+    QTest::newRow("http, bg, nobg") << httpurl << true << QNetworkReply::BackgroundRequestNotAllowedError;
+
+#ifndef QT_NO_SSL
+    QTest::newRow("https, fg, nobg") << httpsurl << false << QNetworkReply::NoError;
+    QTest::newRow("https, bg, nobg") << httpsurl << true  << QNetworkReply::BackgroundRequestNotAllowedError;
+#endif
+
+    QTest::newRow("ftp, fg, nobg") << ftpurl << false << QNetworkReply::NoError;
+    QTest::newRow("ftp, bg, nobg") << ftpurl << true << QNetworkReply::BackgroundRequestNotAllowedError;
+
+}
+
+//test purpose: background requests in progress are aborted when policy changes to disallow them
+void tst_QNetworkReply::backgroundRequestInterruption()
+{
+#ifdef QT_BUILD_INTERNAL
+#ifndef QT_NO_BEARERMANAGEMENT
+    QFETCH(QUrl, url);
+    QFETCH(bool, background);
+    QFETCH(QNetworkReply::NetworkError, error);
+
+    QNetworkRequest request(url);
+
+    if (background)
+        request.setAttribute(QNetworkRequest::BackgroundRequestAttribute, QVariant::fromValue(true));
+
+    //this preconstructs the session so we can change policies in advance
+    manager.setConfiguration(networkConfiguration);
+
+#ifndef QT_NO_SSL
+    connect(&manager, SIGNAL(sslErrors(QNetworkReply*,QList<QSslError>)),
+        SLOT(sslErrors(QNetworkReply*,QList<QSslError>)));
+#endif
+
+    const QWeakPointer<const QNetworkSession> session = QNetworkAccessManagerPrivate::getNetworkSession(&manager);
+    QVERIFY(session);
+    QNetworkSession::UsagePolicies original = session.data()->usagePolicies();
+    QNetworkSessionPrivate::setUsagePolicies(*const_cast<QNetworkSession *>(session.data()), QNetworkSession::NoPolicy);
+
+    request.setAttribute(QNetworkRequest::MaximumDownloadBufferSizeAttribute, 8192);
+    QNetworkReplyPtr reply(manager.get(request));
+    reply->setReadBufferSize(1024);
+
+    QSignalSpy spy(reply.data(), SIGNAL(readyRead()));
+    QTRY_VERIFY(spy.count() > 0);
+
+    QNetworkSessionPrivate::setUsagePolicies(*const_cast<QNetworkSession *>(session.data()), QNetworkSession::NoBackgroundTrafficPolicy);
+
+    QVERIFY(waitForFinish(reply) != Timeout);
+    if (session)
+        QNetworkSessionPrivate::setUsagePolicies(*const_cast<QNetworkSession *>(session.data()), original);
+
+    QVERIFY(reply->isFinished());
+    QCOMPARE(reply->error(), error);
+#endif
+#endif
+}
+
 // NOTE: This test must be last testcase in tst_qnetworkreply!
 void tst_QNetworkReply::parentingRepliesToTheApp()
 {