diff --git a/validate/launcher/baseclasses.py b/validate/launcher/baseclasses.py
index 944aad0d81..a1d209cc88 100644
--- a/validate/launcher/baseclasses.py
+++ b/validate/launcher/baseclasses.py
@@ -385,7 +385,11 @@ class Test(Loggable):
         if self.hard_timeout is not None:
             self.hard_timeout *= GDB_TIMEOUT_FACTOR
         self.timeout *= GDB_TIMEOUT_FACTOR
-        return ["gdb", "-ex", "run", "-ex", "backtrace", "-ex", "quit", "--args"] + command
+        args = ["gdb"]
+        if self.options.gdb_non_stop:
+            args += ["-ex", "run", "-ex", "backtrace", "-ex", "quit"]
+        args += ["--args"] + command
+        return args
 
     def use_valgrind(self, command, subenv):
         vglogsfile = self.logfile + '.valgrind'
diff --git a/validate/launcher/main.py b/validate/launcher/main.py
index 6590f29dab..35e8a6f799 100644
--- a/validate/launcher/main.py
+++ b/validate/launcher/main.py
@@ -237,6 +237,9 @@ class LauncherConfig(Loggable):
         else:
             self.output_dir = os.path.abspath(self.output_dir)
 
+        if self.gdb_non_stop:
+            self.gdb = True
+
         if self.gdb:
             self.logsdir = "stdout"
             self.debug = True
@@ -457,6 +460,9 @@ Note that all testsuite should be inside python modules, so the directory should
                         action="store_true",
                         help="Run the tests inside gdb (implies"
                         " --output-dir=stdout and --jobs=1)")
+    parser.add_argument("--gdb-non-stop", dest="gdb_non_stop",
+                        action="store_true",
+                        help="Run the test automatically in gdb (implies --gdb)")
     parser.add_argument("-nd", "--no-display", dest="no_display",
                         action="store_true",
                         help="Run the tests without outputting graphics"