diff --git a/cmd/cmd.go b/cmd/cmd.go
index 73fe98a2d..01102473e 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import (
 	fslog "github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/log"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/rc/rcflags"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/rc/rcserver"
+	fssync "github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/sync"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/atexit"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/buildinfo"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/exitcode"
@@ -501,6 +502,8 @@ func resolveExitCode(err error) {
 		os.Exit(exitcode.UncategorizedError)
 	case errors.Is(err, accounting.ErrorMaxTransferLimitReached):
 		os.Exit(exitcode.TransferExceeded)
+	case errors.Is(err, fssync.ErrorMaxDurationReached):
+		os.Exit(exitcode.DurationExceeded)
 	case fserrors.ShouldRetry(err):
 		os.Exit(exitcode.RetryError)
 	case fserrors.IsNoRetryError(err), fserrors.IsNoLowLevelRetryError(err):
diff --git a/docs/content/docs.md b/docs/content/docs.md
index 5800699f7..f69e4d4bb 100644
--- a/docs/content/docs.md
+++ b/docs/content/docs.md
@@ -1454,14 +1454,14 @@ what will happen.
 
 ### --max-duration=TIME ###
 
-Rclone will stop scheduling new transfers when it has run for the
+Rclone will stop transferring when it has run for the
 duration specified.
-
 Defaults to off.
 
-When the limit is reached any existing transfers will complete.
+When the limit is reached all transfers will stop immediately.
+Use `--cutoff-mode` to modify this behaviour.
 
-Rclone won't exit with an error if the transfer limit is reached.
+Rclone will exit with exit code 10 if the duration limit is reached.
 
 ### --max-transfer=SIZE ###
 
@@ -1469,9 +1469,24 @@ Rclone will stop transferring when it has reached the size specified.
 Defaults to off.
 
 When the limit is reached all transfers will stop immediately.
+Use `--cutoff-mode` to modify this behaviour.
 
 Rclone will exit with exit code 8 if the transfer limit is reached.
 
+### --cutoff-mode=hard|soft|cautious ###
+
+This modifies the behavior of `--max-transfer` and `--max-duration`
+Defaults to `--cutoff-mode=hard`.
+
+Specifying `--cutoff-mode=hard` will stop transferring immediately
+when Rclone reaches the limit.
+
+Specifying `--cutoff-mode=soft` will stop starting new transfers
+when Rclone reaches the limit.
+
+Specifying `--cutoff-mode=cautious` will try to prevent Rclone
+from reaching the limit. Only applicable for `--max-transfer`
+
 ## -M, --metadata
 
 Setting this flag enables rclone to copy the metadata from the source
@@ -1484,20 +1499,6 @@ Add metadata `key` = `value` when uploading. This can be repeated as
 many times as required. See the [#metadata](metadata section) for more
 info.
 
-### --cutoff-mode=hard|soft|cautious ###
-
-This modifies the behavior of `--max-transfer`
-Defaults to `--cutoff-mode=hard`.
-
-Specifying `--cutoff-mode=hard` will stop transferring immediately
-when Rclone reaches the limit.
-
-Specifying `--cutoff-mode=soft` will stop starting new transfers
-when Rclone reaches the limit.
-
-Specifying `--cutoff-mode=cautious` will try to prevent Rclone
-from reaching the limit.
-
 ### --modify-window=TIME ###
 
 When checking whether a file has been modified, this is the maximum
@@ -2561,6 +2562,7 @@ it will log a high priority message if the retry was successful.
   * `7` - Fatal error (one that more retries won't fix, like account suspended) (Fatal errors)
   * `8` - Transfer exceeded - limit set by --max-transfer reached
   * `9` - Operation successful, but no files transferred
+  * `10` - Duration exceeded - limit set by --max-duration reached
 
 Environment Variables
 ---------------------
diff --git a/docs/content/flags.md b/docs/content/flags.md
index 8fbe43a4a..8e816d34a 100644
--- a/docs/content/flags.md
+++ b/docs/content/flags.md
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ These flags are available for every command.
       --max-delete int                              When synchronizing, limit the number of deletes (default -1)
       --max-delete-size SizeSuffix                  When synchronizing, limit the total size of deletes (default off)
       --max-depth int                               If set limits the recursion depth to this (default -1)
-      --max-duration Duration                       Maximum duration rclone will transfer data for (default 0s)
+      --max-duration Duration                       Maximum duration rclone will transfer data for (default off)
       --max-size SizeSuffix                         Only transfer files smaller than this in KiB or suffix B|K|M|G|T|P (default off)
       --max-stats-groups int                        Maximum number of stats groups to keep in memory, on max oldest is discarded (default 1000)
       --max-transfer SizeSuffix                     Maximum size of data to transfer (default off)
diff --git a/fs/sync/sync.go b/fs/sync/sync.go
index f3da4adf3..96f7e30de 100644
--- a/fs/sync/sync.go
+++ b/fs/sync/sync.go
@@ -20,6 +20,14 @@ import (
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/operations"
 )
 
+// ErrorMaxDurationReached defines error when transfer duration is reached
+// Used for checking on exit and matching to correct exit code.
+var ErrorMaxDurationReached = errors.New("max transfer duration reached as set by --max-duration")
+
+// ErrorMaxDurationReachedFatal is returned from when the max
+// duration limit is reached.
+var ErrorMaxDurationReachedFatal = fserrors.FatalError(ErrorMaxDurationReached)
+
 type syncCopyMove struct {
 	// parameters
 	fdst               fs.Fs
@@ -845,10 +853,6 @@ func (s *syncCopyMove) tryRename(src fs.Object) bool {
 	return true
 }
 
-// errorMaxDurationReached defines error when transfer duration is reached
-// Used for checking on exit and matching to correct exit code.
-var errorMaxDurationReached = fserrors.FatalError(errors.New("max transfer duration reached as set by --max-duration"))
-
 // Syncs fsrc into fdst
 //
 // If Delete is true then it deletes any files in fdst that aren't in fsrc
@@ -945,8 +949,8 @@ func (s *syncCopyMove) run() error {
 
 	// If the duration was exceeded then add a Fatal Error so we don't retry
 	if !s.maxDurationEndTime.IsZero() && time.Since(s.maxDurationEndTime) > 0 {
-		fs.Errorf(s.fdst, "%v", errorMaxDurationReached)
-		s.processError(errorMaxDurationReached)
+		fs.Errorf(s.fdst, "%v", ErrorMaxDurationReachedFatal)
+		s.processError(ErrorMaxDurationReachedFatal)
 	}
 
 	// Print nothing to transfer message if there were no transfers and no errors
diff --git a/fs/sync/sync_test.go b/fs/sync/sync_test.go
index fd05e9f44..99b425ebe 100644
--- a/fs/sync/sync_test.go
+++ b/fs/sync/sync_test.go
@@ -996,7 +996,7 @@ func testSyncWithMaxDuration(t *testing.T, cutoffMode fs.CutoffMode) {
 	accounting.GlobalStats().ResetCounters()
 	startTime := time.Now()
 	err := Sync(ctx, r.Fremote, r.Flocal, false)
-	require.True(t, errors.Is(err, errorMaxDurationReached))
+	require.True(t, errors.Is(err, ErrorMaxDurationReached))
 
 	if cutoffMode == fs.CutoffModeHard {
 		r.CheckRemoteItems(t, file1)
diff --git a/lib/exitcode/exitcode.go b/lib/exitcode/exitcode.go
index 7b850cdb8..6cedb3303 100644
--- a/lib/exitcode/exitcode.go
+++ b/lib/exitcode/exitcode.go
@@ -22,4 +22,6 @@ const (
 	TransferExceeded
 	// NoFilesTransferred everything succeeded, but no transfer was made.
 	NoFilesTransferred
+	// DurationExceeded is returned when transfer duration exceeded the quota.
+	DurationExceeded
 )