diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8643541a..7d44f2da 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,6 @@
 .flattened-pom.xml
 target
+/.idea/
+/.mvn/
+.idea/
+system-rules.iml
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/junit/contrib/java/lang/system/SystemOutRule.java b/src/main/java/org/junit/contrib/java/lang/system/SystemOutRule.java
index 5e40439b..d2b91c43 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/junit/contrib/java/lang/system/SystemOutRule.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/junit/contrib/java/lang/system/SystemOutRule.java
@@ -181,6 +181,11 @@ public SystemOutRule mute() {
 		return this;
 	}
 
+	public SystemOutRule untrack() {
+		logPrintStream.unTrackOriginalStream();
+		return this;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Suppress the output to {@code System.out} for successful tests only.
 	 * The output is still written to {@code System.out} for failing tests.
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/junit/contrib/java/lang/system/internal/LogPrintStream.java b/src/main/java/org/junit/contrib/java/lang/system/internal/LogPrintStream.java
index dc408321..43616646 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/junit/contrib/java/lang/system/internal/LogPrintStream.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/junit/contrib/java/lang/system/internal/LogPrintStream.java
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@
 
 public class LogPrintStream {
 	private final PrintStreamHandler printStreamHandler;
-	private final MuteableLogStream muteableLogStream;
+	private final MutableLogStream mutableLogStream;
 
 	public LogPrintStream(PrintStreamHandler printStreamHandler) {
 		this.printStreamHandler = printStreamHandler;
-		this.muteableLogStream = new MuteableLogStream(printStreamHandler.getStream());
+		this.mutableLogStream = new MutableLogStream(printStreamHandler.getStream());
 	}
 
 	public Statement createStatement(final Statement base) {
@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ public void evaluate() throws Throwable {
 					printStreamHandler.createRestoreStatement(new Statement() {
 						@Override
 						public void evaluate() throws Throwable {
-							printStreamHandler.replaceCurrentStreamWithOutputStream(muteableLogStream);
+							printStreamHandler.replaceCurrentStreamWithOutputStream(mutableLogStream);
 							base.evaluate();
 						}
 					}).evaluate();
 				} catch (Throwable e) {
-					muteableLogStream.failureLog.writeTo(printStreamHandler.getStream());
+					mutableLogStream.failureLog.writeTo(printStreamHandler.getStream());
 					throw e;
 				}
 			}
@@ -39,15 +39,15 @@ public void evaluate() throws Throwable {
 	}
 
 	public void clearLog() {
-		muteableLogStream.log.reset();
+		mutableLogStream.log.reset();
 	}
 
 	public void enableLog() {
-		muteableLogStream.logMuted = false;
+		mutableLogStream.logMuted = false;
 	}
 
 	public String getLog() {
-		/* The MuteableLogStream is created with the default encoding
+		/* The MutableLogStream is created with the default encoding
 		 * because it writes to System.out or System.err if not muted and
 		 * System.out/System.err uses the default encoding. As a result all
 		 * other streams receive input that is encoded with the default
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ public String getLog() {
 		 */
 		String encoding = getProperty("file.encoding");
 		try {
-			return muteableLogStream.log.toString(encoding);
+			return mutableLogStream.log.toString(encoding);
 		} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
 			throw new RuntimeException(e);
 		}
@@ -67,23 +67,27 @@ public String getLogWithNormalizedLineSeparator() {
 	}
 
 	public void mute() {
-		muteableLogStream.originalStreamMuted = true;
+		mutableLogStream.originalStreamMuted = true;
+	}
+	public void unTrackOriginalStream(){
+		mutableLogStream.trackOriginalStream = false;
 	}
 
 	public void muteForSuccessfulTests() {
 		mute();
-		muteableLogStream.failureLogMuted = false;
+		mutableLogStream.failureLogMuted = false;
 	}
 
-	private static class MuteableLogStream extends OutputStream {
+	private static class MutableLogStream extends OutputStream {
 		final OutputStream originalStream;
 		final ByteArrayOutputStream failureLog = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
 		final ByteArrayOutputStream log = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
 		boolean originalStreamMuted = false;
 		boolean failureLogMuted = true;
 		boolean logMuted = true;
+		boolean trackOriginalStream = true;
 
-		MuteableLogStream(OutputStream originalStream) {
+		MutableLogStream(OutputStream originalStream) {
 			this.originalStream = originalStream;
 		}
 
@@ -99,13 +103,17 @@ public void write(int b) throws IOException {
 
 		@Override
 		public void flush() throws IOException {
-			originalStream.flush();
-			//ByteArrayOutputStreams don't have to be closed
+			if (trackOriginalStream) {
+				originalStream.flush();
+			}
+			//ByteArrayOutputStreams don't have to be flushed
 		}
 
 		@Override
 		public void close() throws IOException {
-			originalStream.close();
+			if (trackOriginalStream) {
+				originalStream.close();
+			}
 			//ByteArrayOutputStreams don't have to be closed
 		}
 	}