diff --git a/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/cocoa/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java b/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/cocoa/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java
index abd8b2446dc..619e5212782 100644
--- a/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/cocoa/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java	
+++ b/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/cocoa/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java	
@@ -116,6 +116,8 @@ enum APPEARANCE {
 	APPEARANCE appAppearance;
 	/* System property to be set for SWT application to use the system's theme */
 	static final String USE_SYSTEM_THEME = "org.eclipse.swt.display.useSystemTheme";
+	/* System property to control beep sounds */
+	public static final boolean BEEP_ENABLED = !"off".equalsIgnoreCase(System.getProperty("swt.beep"));
 
 	/* Windows and Events */
 	Event [] eventQueue;
@@ -671,7 +673,9 @@ public void execute(Runnable runnable) {
  */
 public void beep () {
 	checkDevice ();
-	OS.NSBeep ();
+	if (BEEP_ENABLED) {
+		OS.NSBeep ();
+	}
 }
 
 void cascadeWindow (NSWindow window, NSScreen screen) {
diff --git a/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/gtk/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java b/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/gtk/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java
index 5b52c106f48..d6b6f41902f 100644
--- a/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/gtk/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java	
+++ b/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/gtk/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java	
@@ -509,6 +509,8 @@ public void stop() {
 
 	/* Package name */
 	static final String PACKAGE_PREFIX = "org.eclipse.swt.widgets."; //$NON-NLS-1$
+	/* System property to control beep sounds */
+	public static final boolean BEEP_ENABLED = !"off".equalsIgnoreCase(System.getProperty("swt.beep"));
 	/* This code is intentionally commented.
 	 * ".class" can not be used on CLDC.
 	 */
@@ -988,7 +990,9 @@ public void execute(Runnable runnable) {
  */
 public void beep () {
 	if (!isValidThread ()) error (SWT.ERROR_THREAD_INVALID_ACCESS);
-	GDK.gdk_display_beep(GDK.gdk_display_get_default());
+	if (BEEP_ENABLED) {
+		GDK.gdk_display_beep(GDK.gdk_display_get_default());
+	}
 }
 
 long cellDataProc (long tree_column, long cell, long tree_model, long iter, long data) {
diff --git a/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/win32/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java b/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/win32/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java
index 12ed1c2f9d5..4d41a343bb2 100644
--- a/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/win32/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java	
+++ b/bundles/org.eclipse.swt/Eclipse SWT/win32/org/eclipse/swt/widgets/Display.java	
@@ -224,6 +224,8 @@ public class Display extends Device implements Executor {
 	boolean useWsBorderTable = false;
 	static final String USE_WS_BORDER_TEXT_KEY       = "org.eclipse.swt.internal.win32.Text.use_WS_BORDER"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 	boolean useWsBorderText = false;
+	/* System property to control beep sounds */
+	public static final boolean BEEP_ENABLED = !"off".equalsIgnoreCase(System.getProperty("swt.beep"));
 	/**
 	 * Changes the color of Table header's column delimiters.
 	 * Only affects custom-drawn header, that is when background/foreground header color is set.
@@ -852,7 +854,9 @@ public void execute(Runnable runnable) {
  */
 public void beep () {
 	checkDevice ();
-	OS.MessageBeep (OS.MB_OK);
+	if (BEEP_ENABLED) {
+		OS.MessageBeep (OS.MB_OK);
+	}
 }
 
 /**