diff --git a/commands/core/docs.drush.inc b/commands/core/docs.drush.inc
index 79cc42c2a4..c8467e331b 100644
--- a/commands/core/docs.drush.inc
+++ b/commands/core/docs.drush.inc
@@ -105,6 +105,14 @@ function docs_drush_command() {
     'callback' => 'drush_print_file',
     'callback arguments' => array($docs_dir . '/docs/shellscripts.html'),
   );
+  $items['docs-shell-aliases'] = array(
+    'description' => 'Overview on how to use drush shell aliases.',
+    'hidden' => TRUE,
+    'topic' => TRUE,
+    'bootstrap' => DRUSH_BOOTSTRAP_DRUSH,
+    'callback' => 'drush_print_file',
+    'callback arguments' => array($docs_dir . '/docs/shellaliases.html'),
+  );
   $items['docs-commands'] = array(
     'description' => 'Overview on how to write drush commands.',
     'hidden' => TRUE,
diff --git a/docs/shellaliases.html b/docs/shellaliases.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..902e494158
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/shellaliases.html
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+<h1>Drush Shell Aliases</h1>
+
+A Drush shell alias is a shortcut to any Drush command or
+any shell command.  Drush shell aliases are very similar
+to git aliases.
+<p>
+  See: https://git.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Aliases#Advanced
+<p>
+A shell alias is defined in a drush configuration file
+called drushrc.php.  See `drush topic docs-configuration`.
+There are two kinds of shell aliases:  an alias whose value
+begins with a '!' will execute the rest of the line as
+bash commands.  Aliases that do not start with a '!' will
+be interpreted as Drush commands.
+
+<h3>Example:</h3>
+<pre>
+    $options['shell-aliases']['pull'] = '!git pull'; // We've all done it.
+    $options['shell-aliases']['noncore'] = 'pm-list --no-core';
+</pre>
+With the above two aliases defined, `drush pull` will then be
+equivalent to `git pull`, and `drush nocore` will be equivalent
+to `drush pm-list --no-core`.
+
+<h2>Shell Alias Replacements</h2>
+
+Shell aliases are even more powerful when combined with shell alias
+replacements and site aliases.  Shell alias replacements take the
+form of {{sitealias-item}} or {{%pathalias-item}}, and also the 
+special {{@target}}, which is replaced with the name of the  site alias 
+used, or '@none' if none was used.
+<p>
+For example, given the following site alias:
+<pre>
+     $aliases['dev'] = array (
+       'root' => '/path/to/drupal',
+       'uri' => 'mysite.org',
+       '#peer' => '@stage',
+     );
+</pre>
+The aliases below can be used to pull the database to a dev site
+or push the code from the same site from/to its peer site (live or stage) 
+via `drush @dev site-pull` and `drush @dev site-push`.  Note that these
+aliases assume that the alias used defines an item named '#peer' 
+(as shown in the above alias) that names the live or stage site.
+
+<h3>Shell aliases using replacements:</h3>
+<pre>
+    $options['shell-aliases']['pull-data'] = '!drush sql-sync {{#peer}} {{@target}} && drush rsync {{#peer}}:%files {{@target}}:%files',
+    $options['shell-aliases']['push-code'] = '!drush rsync {{@target}} {{#peer}} && drush {{#peer}} updatedb',
+</pre>
+If the user does not use these shell aliases with any site alias, then
+an error will be returned and the script will not run.  If you define
+the site that you push to and pull from in the '#peer' value, though,
+then these aliases can be used to quickly run combinations of drush sql-sync
+and rsync commands on the "standard" peer site, reducing the risk of
+typos that might send information in the wrong direction or to the wrong site.
diff --git a/docs/shellscripts.html b/docs/shellscripts.html
index 039237a7a4..f306885bc1 100644
--- a/docs/shellscripts.html
+++ b/docs/shellscripts.html
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<h1>The Drush Shell Scripts</h1>
+<h1>Drush Shell Scripts</h1>
 <p>
 A drush shell script is any Unix shell script file that has
 its "execute" bit set (i.e., via `chmod +x myscript.drush`)
diff --git a/drush.php b/drush.php
index 1d99d49eb7..44d893feb7 100755
--- a/drush.php
+++ b/drush.php
@@ -51,12 +51,13 @@ function drush_main() {
 
   $return = '';
   drush_bootstrap_to_phase(DRUSH_BOOTSTRAP_DRUSH);
-  // Process a remote command if 'remote-host' option is set.
-  $command_handled = drush_remote_command();
-  if (!$command_handled) {
-    $return = _drush_bootstrap_and_dispatch();
+  if (!drush_get_error()) {
+    // Process a remote command if 'remote-host' option is set.
+    $command_handled = drush_remote_command();
+    if (!$command_handled) {
+      $return = _drush_bootstrap_and_dispatch();
+    }
   }
-
   drush_bootstrap_finish();
 
   // After this point the drush_shutdown function will run,
diff --git a/examples/example.aliases.drushrc.php b/examples/example.aliases.drushrc.php
index 496b88d298..30f8ed5730 100644
--- a/examples/example.aliases.drushrc.php
+++ b/examples/example.aliases.drushrc.php
@@ -201,6 +201,10 @@
  *   command.  In the example below, `--skip-tables-list=comments` whenever
  *   the alias @live is the target of an sql-sync command, but comments will
  *   be included if @live is the source for the sql-sync command.
+ * - '#peer': Settings that begin with a '#' are not used directly by Drush, and
+ *   in fact are removed before making a backend invoke call (for example). These
+ *   kinds of values are useful in conjunction with shell aliases.  See
+ *   `drush topic docs-shell-aliases` for more information on this.
  * Some examples appear below.  Remove the leading hash signs to enable.
  */
 #$aliases['stage'] = array(
diff --git a/examples/example.drushrc.php b/examples/example.drushrc.php
index 49cee9d98a..d89dc9179a 100644
--- a/examples/example.drushrc.php
+++ b/examples/example.drushrc.php
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@
 // Drush shell aliases act similar to git aliases.
 // See https://git.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Aliases#Advanced.
 // For best success, define these in drushrc files located in #6-3 above.
+// More information on shell aliases can be found in 
+// `drush topic docs-shell-aliases`
 # $options['shell-aliases']['pull'] = '!git pull'; // We've all done it.
 # $options['shell-aliases']['pulldb'] = '!git pull && drush updatedb';
 # $options['shell-aliases']['noncore'] = 'pm-list --no-core';
diff --git a/includes/command.inc b/includes/command.inc
index c65bcab712..59ad0e864c 100644
--- a/includes/command.inc
+++ b/includes/command.inc
@@ -1567,8 +1567,14 @@ function drush_shell_alias_replace() {
         }
       }
       $alias_value = str_replace(array_keys($alias_variables), array_values($alias_variables), $alias_value);
-      // Get rid of any unmatched replacements
-      $alias_value = preg_replace('/{{[%@#]*[a-z0-9.]*}}/i', '', $alias_value);
+      // Check for unmatched replacements
+      $matches = array();
+      $match_result = preg_match('/{{[%@#]*[a-z0-9.]*}}/', $alias_value, $matches);
+      if ($match_result) {
+        $unmatched_replacements = implode(', ', $matches);
+        $unmatched_replacements = preg_replace('/[{}]/', '', $unmatched_replacements);
+        return drush_set_error('DRUSH_SHELL_ALIAS_UNMATCHED_REPLACEMENTS', dt('The shell alias @alias-name uses replacements "@unmatched". You must use this command with a site alias (e.g. `drush @myalias @alias-name ...`) that defines all of these variables.', array('@alias-name' => $first, '@unmatched' => $unmatched_replacements)));
+      }
       $alias_value = explode(' ', $alias_value);
     }
     drush_log(dt('Shell alias found: !key => !value', array('!key' => $first, '!value' => implode(' ', $alias_value))), 'debug');
diff --git a/includes/sitealias.inc b/includes/sitealias.inc
index 503b8f622b..26bf7c449a 100644
--- a/includes/sitealias.inc
+++ b/includes/sitealias.inc
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ function drush_sitealias_get_record($alias) {
  * not intended to be called directly.
  */
 function _drush_sitealias_get_record($alias, $alias_context = NULL) {
+  $alias_record = array();
   // Before we do anything else, load $alias if it needs to be loaded
   _drush_sitealias_load_alias($alias, $alias_context);
 
diff --git a/tests/shellAliasTest.php b/tests/shellAliasTest.php
index 0bdfc70597..8dad72410f 100644
--- a/tests/shellAliasTest.php
+++ b/tests/shellAliasTest.php
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ static function setupBeforeClass() {
       \$options['shell-aliases'] = array(
         'glopts' => 'topic core-global-options',
         'pull' => '!git pull',
+        'echosimple' => '!echo {{@target}}',
         'echotest' => '!echo {{@target}} {{%root}} {{%mypath}}',
         'compound-command' => '!cd {{%sandbox}} && pwd && touch mytest && ls mytest',
       );
@@ -93,18 +94,29 @@ public function testShellAliasBashRemote() {
   }
   
   /*
-   * Test shell aliases with replacements -- no alias.
+   * Test shell aliases with simple replacements -- no alias.
    */
-  public function testShellAliasReplacementNoAlias() {
+  public function testShellAliasSimpleReplacement() {
     $options = array(
       'config' => UNISH_SANDBOX,
     );
-    $this->drush('echotest', array(), $options);
+    $this->drush('echosimple', array(), $options);
     $expected = "@none";
     $output = $this->getOutput();
     $this->assertEquals($expected, $output, 'Expected echo test returned "@none"');
   }
   
+  /*
+   * Test shell aliases with complex replacements -- no alias.
+   */
+  public function testShellAliasReplacementNoAlias() {
+    $options = array(
+      'config' => UNISH_SANDBOX,
+    );
+    // echo test has replacements that are not satisfied, so this is expected to return an error.
+    $this->drush('echotest', array(), $options, NULL, NULL, self::EXIT_ERROR);
+  }
+  
   /*
    * Test shell aliases with replacements -- alias.
    */