Breeding wheat adapted to low nitrogen (N) input will be favoured by environmental and economical concerns. Thus, it is worth studying the genetic control of wheat N stress tolerance. We investigated a population of 220 di-haploid (DH) lines derived from the cross between a N stress tolerant and a sensitive cultivar. QTL were detected for sensitivity to N stress and for traits involved in plant functioning under N-limited conditions. The population was evaluated for grain yield and its components in multi-environment field trials under low and high N levels as well as and in growth chamber under N-limited condition. N stress sensitivity was estimated as the slope of a factorial regression where grain yield was regressed on the nitrogen nutrition index (NNI) of cv. 'Récital' measured in each trial. Plant functioning under N-limited conditions was evaluated in growth chamber using a conceptual crop model and a root system characterization. Seven QTL were detected for N stress sensitivity and fourteen were detected for plant functioning. A majority of QTL was detected in the vicinity of the dwarfing gene Rht-B1. Results indicated that N stress sensitivity and plant functioning under N-limited conditions may not be under the same genetic control and that the dwarfing genes may play an important role in the tolerance to N stress.