diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Ajax.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Ajax.js
index c86f8eaeb8..28ff35c90e 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Ajax.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Ajax.js
@@ -45,10 +45,16 @@ OpenLayers.nullHandler = function(request) {
  * uri - {String} URI of source doc
  * params - {String} Params on get (doesnt seem to work)
  * caller - {Object} object which gets callbacks
- * onComplete - {Function} callback for success
- * onFailure - {Function} callback for failure
+ * onComplete - {Function} Optional callback for success.  The callback
+ *     will be called with this set to caller and will receive the request
+ *     object as an argument.
+ * onFailure - {Function} Optional callback for failure.  In the event of
+ *     a failure, the callback will be called with this set to caller and will
+ *     receive the request object as an argument.
  *
- * Both callbacks optional (though silly)
+ * Returns:
+ * {OpenLayers.Ajax.Request}  The request object.  To abort loading, call
+ *     request.transport.abort();
  */
 OpenLayers.loadURL = function(uri, params, caller,
                                   onComplete, onFailure) {
@@ -64,13 +70,15 @@ OpenLayers.loadURL = function(uri, params, caller,
                            : OpenLayers.nullHandler;
 
     // from prototype.js
-    new OpenLayers.Ajax.Request(uri, 
-                     {   method: 'get', 
-                         parameters: params,
-                         onComplete: success, 
-                         onFailure: failure
-                      }
-                     );
+    return new OpenLayers.Ajax.Request(
+        uri, 
+        {
+            method: 'get', 
+            parameters: params,
+            onComplete: success, 
+            onFailure: failure
+        }
+    );
 };
 
 /** 
diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Tile/WFS.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Tile/WFS.js
index 844b97a890..0fc8b6e48f 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Tile/WFS.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Tile/WFS.js
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ OpenLayers.Tile.WFS = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Tile, {
      */
     url: null,
     
+    /** 
+     * Property: request 
+     * {OpenLayers.Ajax.Request} 
+     */ 
+    request: null,     
+    
     /** TBD 3.0 - reorder the parameters to the init function to put URL 
      *             as last, so we can continue to call tile.initialize() 
      *             without changing the arguments. 
@@ -57,6 +63,9 @@ OpenLayers.Tile.WFS = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Tile, {
         this.destroyAllFeatures();
         this.features = null;
         this.url = null;
+        if(this.request) {
+            this.request.transport.abort();
+        }
     },
 
     /** 
@@ -97,7 +106,7 @@ OpenLayers.Tile.WFS = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Tile, {
     * failure - {function}
     */
     loadFeaturesForRegion:function(success, failure) {
-        OpenLayers.loadURL(this.url, null, this, success);
+        this.request = OpenLayers.loadURL(this.url, null, this, success);
     },
     
     /**
diff --git a/tests/Tile/test_WFS.html b/tests/Tile/test_WFS.html
index c112bb5f25..034c7adcdf 100644
--- a/tests/Tile/test_WFS.html
+++ b/tests/Tile/test_WFS.html
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
     }
     
     function test_99_Tile_WFS_destroy(t) {
-        t.plan( 6 );
+        t.plan(8);
 
         var layer = {}; // bogus layer
         var position = new OpenLayers.Pixel(10,20);
@@ -56,14 +56,28 @@
         };
 
  
+        var _gAbort = false; 
+        tile.request = { 
+            transport: { 
+                abort: function() { 
+                    _gAbort = true; 
+                } 
+            } 
+        } 
+
+        
         tile.destroy();
 
         t.ok(tile.layer == null, "tile.layer set to null");
         t.ok(tile.bounds == null, "tile.bounds set to null");
         t.ok(tile.size == null, "tile.size set to null");
         t.ok(tile.position == null, "tile.position set to null");
+        t.ok(_gAbort, "request transport is aborted");
         
         t.ok(tile.events == null, "tile.events set to null");
+        
+        tile.requestSuccess({'requestText': '<xml><foo /></xml>'});
+        t.ok(true, "Didn't fail after calling requestSuccess on destroyed tile.");
     }
 
   </script>