diff --git a/internal/bazel_integration_test/BUILD.bazel b/internal/bazel_integration_test/BUILD.bazel
index 8f1ce697a9..91d9672378 100644
--- a/internal/bazel_integration_test/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/internal/bazel_integration_test/BUILD.bazel
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package(default_visibility = ["//visibility:public"])
 
 nodejs_binary(
     name = "test_runner",
+    configuration_env_vars = ["BAZEL_INTEGRATION_TEST_DEBUG"],
     data = ["@npm//tmp"],
     entry_point = ":test_runner.js",
     # reduce memory usage by disabling source_map_support
diff --git a/internal/bazel_integration_test/bazel_integration_test.bzl b/internal/bazel_integration_test/bazel_integration_test.bzl
index c4df1c3bb9..8f5aa05c9a 100644
--- a/internal/bazel_integration_test/bazel_integration_test.bzl
+++ b/internal/bazel_integration_test/bazel_integration_test.bzl
@@ -244,7 +244,13 @@ is published on GitHub.
 
 bazel_integration_test = rule(
     implementation = _bazel_integration_test,
-    doc = """Runs an integration test by running a specified version of bazel against an external workspace.""",
+    doc = """Runs an integration test by running a specified version of bazel against an external workspace.
+
+Run with --define=BAZEL_INTEGRATION_TEST_DEBUG=1 to put the test in debug mode which will
+preserve the workspace under test root /tmp folder and exit without running the test. This
+allows you to change directory into the workspace under test root folder and run the integration
+test manually.
+""",
     attrs = BAZEL_INTEGRATION_TEST_ATTRS,
     test = True,
 )
diff --git a/internal/bazel_integration_test/test_runner.js b/internal/bazel_integration_test/test_runner.js
index 70276caf6e..14c25dfbdf 100644
--- a/internal/bazel_integration_test/test_runner.js
+++ b/internal/bazel_integration_test/test_runner.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const tmp = require('tmp');
 
-const DEBUG = process.env['COMPILATION_MODE'] === 'dbg';
+const DEBUG = !!process.env['BAZEL_INTEGRATION_TEST_DEBUG'];
 const VERBOSE_LOGS = !!process.env['VERBOSE_LOGS'];
 
 function log(...m) {
@@ -283,18 +283,25 @@ const isWindows = process.platform === 'win32';
 const bazelBinary =
     require.resolve(`${config.bazelBinaryWorkspace}/bazel${isWindows ? '.exe' : ''}`);
 
-if (DEBUG || VERBOSE_LOGS) {
-  // If DEBUG is set then the tmp folders created by the `tmp.dirSync` are not
-  // cleaned up so we should log out the location of the workspace under test
-  // tmp folder in that case even if VERBOSE_LOGS is not set as it may be useful
-  // to `cd /path/to/workspace/tmp` for manual testing at that point.
+if (DEBUG) {
   log(`
 
-********************************************************************************
-bazel binary under test is ${bazelBinary}
-workspace under test root is ${workspaceRoot}
-********************************************************************************
+================================================================================
+Integration test put in DEBUG mode with BAZEL_INTEGRATION_TEST_DEBUG env set.
+
+    bazel binary: ${bazelBinary}
+    workspace under test root: ${workspaceRoot}
+
+Change directory to workspace under test root folder,
+
+    cd ${workspaceRoot}
+
+and run integration test manually.
+================================================================================
 `);
+  // Exit with error code so that BAZEL_INTEGRATION_TEST_DEBUG does not lead
+  // to a accidental passing test.
+  process.exit(1);
 }
 
 log(`running 'bazel version'`);
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4ee123399b..b35ebb1961 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
         "test_e2e": "bazel --host_jvm_args=-Xms256m --host_jvm_args=-Xmx1280m test --test_tag_filters=e2e --local_resources=792,1.0,1.0 --test_arg=--local_resources=13288,1.0,1.0",
         "test_examples": "bazel --host_jvm_args=-Xms256m --host_jvm_args=-Xmx1280m test --test_tag_filters=examples --local_resources=792,1.0,1.0 --test_arg=--local_resources=13288,1.0,1.0",
         "run_integration_test": "bazel --host_jvm_args=-Xms256m --host_jvm_args=-Xmx1280m run --local_resources=792,1.0,1.0 --test_arg=--local_resources=13288,1.0,1.0",
-        "run_integration_test_debug": "yarn run_integration_test --compilation_mode=dbg",
+        "run_integration_test_debug": "yarn run_integration_test --define=BAZEL_INTEGRATION_TEST_DEBUG=1",
         "test_all": "./scripts/test_all.sh",
         "clean_all": "./scripts/clean_all.sh",
         "// Unchecked warnings": "The following warnings are not checked as disabling them locally is broken",