diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 49916f7c..1b41b118 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,20 @@
+2014-07-26  Mats Erik Andersson  <gnu@gisladisker.se>
+
+	whois: Cooperate with misbehaving servers.
+	Some servers, like "whois.ripe.net", "whois.arin.net",
+	and "whois.eu", partially abort communication when the
+	socket is closed for writing.  Report by Alexander Zubkov:
+	<http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2014-07/msg00003.html>.
+
+	* whois/whois.c (gwhois_argp_options): Increase GRP
+	and insert a separating subheader.
+	(do_query): Remove call to shutdown().  The alternate
+	and much similar lookup call query_crsnic() did not
+	half-close the socket for writing.
+
+	* doc/inetutils.texi (whois invocation): Add a section
+	about environment variables accessed by `whois'.
+
 2014-07-22  Mats Erik Andersson  <gnu@gisladisker.se>
 
 	libls: Inconsistent options.
diff --git a/doc/inetutils.texi b/doc/inetutils.texi
index 9b72a973..81fd9ff3 100644
--- a/doc/inetutils.texi
+++ b/doc/inetutils.texi
@@ -1285,6 +1285,34 @@ Verbosely explain all actions taken.
 @opindex -x
 Search only for exact matches.
 Applicable only to RPSL.
+@end table
+
+@section Environment variables
+@anchor{whois environment}
+
+@command{whois} holds an internal list of information servers
+and their assigned data bases.
+Queries are examined against this list to select the most
+plausible server, but the hint can always be overruled on
+the command line by use of the option @option{-h}.
+If neither of these have a say, then the default server to ask
+is @samp{whois.internic.net}, but this name is in turn overruled
+by a server name in the environment variable @env{WHOIS_SERVER}.
+
+@table @env
+@item LANG
+When the server @samp{whois.nic.ad.jp} is queried, and only then,
+any non-Japanese locale in @env{LANG} will ask the server to reply
+with English text, not Japanese.
+
+@item WHOIS_HIDE
+When set, the effect on @command{whois} is as if the
+option @option{-H} had been given.
+
+@item WHOIS_SERVER
+Data base server to query when internal hinting is inconclusive.
+When unset, @samp{whois.internic.net} is used as default server.
+
 @end table
 
 
diff --git a/whois/whois.c b/whois/whois.c
index ec720b01..386ea8ed 100644
--- a/whois/whois.c
+++ b/whois/whois.c
@@ -126,7 +126,8 @@ static struct argp ripe_argp =
   { ripe_argp_options, ripe_argp_parser, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL };
 
 static struct argp_option gwhois_argp_options[] = {
-#define GRP 10
+#define GRP 20
+  { NULL, 0, NULL, 0, "General options", GRP },
   { "verbose", 'V', NULL, 0,
     "explain what is being done", GRP },
   { "server", 'h', "HOST", 0,
@@ -470,8 +471,7 @@ do_query (const int sock, const char *query)
   fi = fdopen (sock, "r");
   if (write (sock, query, strlen (query)) < 0)
     err_sys ("write");
-  if (shutdown (sock, 1) < 0)
-    err_sys ("shutdown");
+
   while (fgets (buf, 200, fi))
     {				/* XXX errors? */
       if (hide == 1)
@@ -541,6 +541,7 @@ query_crsnic (const int sock, const char *query)
   fi = fdopen (sock, "r");
   if (write (sock, temp, strlen (temp)) < 0)
     err_sys ("write");
+
   while (fgets (buf, 100, fi))
     {
       /* If there are multiple matches only the server of the first record