diff --git a/contrib/valgrind.supp b/contrib/valgrind.supp
index 969c597595..09f8135e1d 100644
--- a/contrib/valgrind.supp
+++ b/contrib/valgrind.supp
@@ -41,3 +41,32 @@
    ...
    fun:_ZN7leveldbL14InitDefaultEnvEv
 }
+{
+   Suppress lbdb warning
+   Memcheck:Cond
+   fun:__log_putr.isra.0
+}
+{
+   Suppress libdb warning
+   Memcheck:Param
+   pwrite64(buf)
+   fun:__libc_pwrite64
+   ...
+   fun:__db_open_pp
+}
+{
+   Suppress SPV wallet
+   Memcheck:Cond
+   fun:bcmp
+   fun:BRBIP32PubKey
+   fun:BRWalletUnusedAddrs
+}
+{
+   Suppress libdb warning
+   Memcheck:Param
+   pwrite64(buf)
+   fun:__libc_pwrite64
+   fun:pwrite
+   fun:__os_io
+}
+
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
index 1ffb122eb7..ed19bc35dc 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ def main(self):
                             help="use defi-cli instead of RPC for all commands")
         parser.add_argument("--perf", dest="perf", default=False, action="store_true",
                             help="profile running nodes with perf for the duration of the test")
+        parser.add_argument("--valgrind", dest="valgrind", default=False, action="store_true",
+                            help="run nodes under the valgrind memory error detector: expect at least a ~10x slowdown, valgrind 3.14 or later required")
         parser.add_argument("--randomseed", type=int,
                             help="set a random seed for deterministically reproducing a previous test run")
         self.add_options(parser)
@@ -439,6 +441,7 @@ def add_nodes(self, num_nodes, extra_args=None, *, rpchost=None, binary=None):
                 extra_args=extra_args[i],
                 use_cli=self.options.usecli,
                 start_perf=self.options.perf,
+                use_valgrind=self.options.valgrind,
             ))
 
     def start_node(self, i, *args, **kwargs):
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
index 7cba1896a8..7a78f33935 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class TestNode():
     To make things easier for the test writer, any unrecognised messages will
     be dispatched to the RPC connection."""
 
-    def __init__(self, i, datadir, *, chain, rpchost, timewait, defid, defi_cli, coverage_dir, cwd, extra_conf=None, extra_args=None, use_cli=False, start_perf=False):
+    def __init__(self, i, datadir, *, chain, rpchost, timewait, defid, defi_cli, coverage_dir, cwd, extra_conf=None, extra_args=None, use_cli=False, start_perf=False, use_valgrind=False):
         """
         Kwargs:
             start_perf (bool): If True, begin profiling the node with `perf` as soon as
@@ -98,6 +98,15 @@ def __init__(self, i, datadir, *, chain, rpchost, timewait, defid, defi_cli, cov
             "-dummypos=1",
             "-txnotokens=1",
         ]
+        if use_valgrind:
+            default_suppressions_file = os.path.join(
+                os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)),
+                "..", "..", "..", "contrib", "valgrind.supp")
+            suppressions_file = os.getenv("VALGRIND_SUPPRESSIONS_FILE",
+                                          default_suppressions_file)
+            self.args = ["valgrind", "--suppressions={}".format(suppressions_file),
+                         "--gen-suppressions=all", "--exit-on-first-error=yes",
+                         "--error-exitcode=1", "--quiet"] + self.args
 
         self.cli = TestNodeCLI(defi_cli, self.datadir)
         self.use_cli = use_cli