diff --git a/include/maxscale/protocol/mysql.h b/include/maxscale/protocol/mysql.h
index 45cd92b52..72696ddc6 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/protocol/mysql.h
+++ b/include/maxscale/protocol/mysql.h
@@ -627,8 +627,10 @@ bool mxs_mysql_command_will_respond(uint8_t cmd);
 /* Type of the kill-command sent by client. */
 typedef enum kill_type
 {
-    KT_CONNECTION,
-    KT_QUERY
+    KT_CONNECTION = (1 << 0),
+    KT_QUERY      = (1 << 1),
+    KT_SOFT       = (1 << 2),
+    KT_HARD       = (1 << 3)
 } kill_type_t;
 
 void mxs_mysql_execute_kill(MXS_SESSION* issuer, uint64_t target_id, kill_type_t type);
diff --git a/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/MySQLClient/mysql_client.cc b/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/MySQLClient/mysql_client.cc
index 39c79381b..497369ff8 100644
--- a/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/MySQLClient/mysql_client.cc
+++ b/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/MySQLClient/mysql_client.cc
@@ -1762,7 +1762,7 @@ static bool parse_kill_query(char *query, uint64_t *thread_id_out, kill_type_t *
     const char WORD_SOFT[] = "SOFT";
     const char DELIM[] = " \n\t";
 
-    kill_type_t kill_type = KT_CONNECTION;
+    int kill_type = KT_CONNECTION;
     unsigned long long int thread_id = 0;
 
     enum kill_parse_state_t
@@ -1806,10 +1806,14 @@ static bool parse_kill_query(char *query, uint64_t *thread_id_out, kill_type_t *
                 get_next = true;
             }
 
-            if (strncasecmp(token, WORD_HARD, sizeof(WORD_HARD) - 1) == 0 ||
-                strncasecmp(token, WORD_SOFT, sizeof(WORD_SOFT) - 1) == 0)
+            if (strncasecmp(token, WORD_HARD, sizeof(WORD_HARD) - 1) == 0)
             {
-                /* This is an optional token and needs to be ignored */
+                kill_type |= KT_HARD;
+                get_next = true;
+            }
+            else if (strncasecmp(token, WORD_SOFT, sizeof(WORD_SOFT) - 1) == 0)
+            {
+                kill_type |= KT_SOFT;
                 get_next = true;
             }
             else
@@ -1888,7 +1892,7 @@ static bool parse_kill_query(char *query, uint64_t *thread_id_out, kill_type_t *
     else
     {
         *thread_id_out = thread_id;
-        *kt_out = kill_type;
+        *kt_out = (kill_type_t)kill_type;
         return true;
     }
 }
diff --git a/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mysql_common.cc b/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mysql_common.cc
index c6b314796..fb5e10821 100644
--- a/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mysql_common.cc
+++ b/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mysql_common.cc
@@ -1731,8 +1731,12 @@ void mxs_mysql_execute_kill(MXS_SESSION* issuer, uint64_t target_id, kill_type_t
              it != info.targets.end(); it++)
         {
             LocalClient* client = LocalClient::create(issuer, it->first);
+            const char* hard = (type & KT_HARD) ? "HARD " :
+                               (type & KT_SOFT) ? "SOFT " :
+                               "";
+            const char* query = (type & KT_QUERY) ? "QUERY " : "";
             std::stringstream ss;
-            ss << "KILL " << (type == KT_QUERY ? "QUERY " : "") << it->second;
+            ss << "KILL " << hard << query << it->second;
             GWBUF* buffer = modutil_create_query(ss.str().c_str());
             client->queue_query(buffer);
             gwbuf_free(buffer);