diff --git a/Doc/library/socketserver.rst b/Doc/library/socketserver.rst
--- a/Doc/library/socketserver.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/socketserver.rst
@@ -174,6 +174,11 @@
 
    Tell the :meth:`serve_forever` loop to stop and wait until it does.
 
+.. attribute:: BaseServer.running
+
+   True if the server is running.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.3
 
 .. attribute:: BaseServer.address_family
 
diff --git a/Lib/socketserver.py b/Lib/socketserver.py
--- a/Lib/socketserver.py
+++ b/Lib/socketserver.py
@@ -200,6 +200,22 @@
         self.RequestHandlerClass = RequestHandlerClass
         self.__is_shut_down = threading.Event()
         self.__shutdown_request = False
+        self.__running = False
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        info = []
+        name = self.__class__.__module__ + "." + self.__class__.__name__
+        info.append("status=%s" % ("running" if self.running else "stopped"))
+        if self.server_address:
+            info.append("address=%s" % repr(self.server_address))
+        return '<%s %s at %#x>' % (name, ', '.join(info), id(self))
+
+    __str__ = __repr__
+
+    @property
+    def running(self):
+        """Return True if the server is running."""
+        return self.__running
 
     def server_activate(self):
         """Called by constructor to activate the server.
@@ -216,6 +232,9 @@
         self.timeout. If you need to do periodic tasks, do them in
         another thread.
         """
+        if self.running:
+            raise RuntimeError("the server is already running")
+        self.__running = True
         self.__is_shut_down.clear()
         try:
             while not self.__shutdown_request:
@@ -230,6 +249,7 @@
                 self.service_actions()
         finally:
             self.__shutdown_request = False
+            self.__running = False
             self.__is_shut_down.set()
 
     def shutdown(self):
@@ -239,6 +259,8 @@
         serve_forever() is running in another thread, or it will
         deadlock.
         """
+        if not self.running:
+            raise RuntimeError("the server is not running")
         self.__shutdown_request = True
         self.__is_shut_down.wait()
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_socketserver.py b/Lib/test/test_socketserver.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_socketserver.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_socketserver.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import tempfile
 import unittest
 import socketserver
+import time
 
 import test.support
 from test.support import reap_children, reap_threads, verbose
@@ -265,13 +266,41 @@
                 kwargs={'poll_interval':0.01})
             t.daemon = True  # In case this function raises.
             threads.append((t, s))
+
         for t, s in threads:
             t.start()
+        for t, s in threads:
             s.shutdown()
         for t, s in threads:
             t.join()
             s.server_close()
 
+    def test_running(self):
+        class MyServer(socketserver.TCPServer):
+            pass
+
+        class MyHandler(socketserver.StreamRequestHandler):
+            pass
+
+        s = MyServer((HOST, 0), MyHandler)
+        self.assertFalse(s.running)
+        with self.assertRaises(RuntimeError) as cm:
+            s.shutdown()
+        self.assertIn('not running', str(cm.exception))
+
+        t = threading.Thread(target=s.serve_forever,
+                             kwargs={'poll_interval':0.01})
+        t.start()
+        time.sleep(.1)
+        self.assertTrue(s.running)
+        try:
+            with self.assertRaises(RuntimeError) as cm:
+                s.serve_forever()
+            self.assertIn('already running', str(cm.exception))
+        finally:
+            s.shutdown()
+            s.server_close()
+
 
 def test_main():
     if imp.lock_held():