diff --git a/pkg/cli/debug.go b/pkg/cli/debug.go
index de79ee648417..055966c543f2 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/debug.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/debug.go
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/execinfrapb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage/engine"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage/engine/enginepb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage/rditer"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage/stateloader"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage/storagepb"
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/sysutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/uuid"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/pebble"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/pebble/tool"
 	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/jsonpb"
 	"github.com/kr/pretty"
@@ -118,31 +120,54 @@ func OpenExistingStore(dir string, stopper *stop.Stopper, readOnly bool) (engine
 // OpenEngine opens the engine at 'dir'. Depending on the supplied options,
 // an empty engine might be initialized.
 func OpenEngine(dir string, stopper *stop.Stopper, opts OpenEngineOptions) (engine.Engine, error) {
-	// TODO(hueypark): This seems to support all engines like engine.NewTempEngine.
-	cache := engine.NewRocksDBCache(server.DefaultCacheSize)
-	defer cache.Release()
 	maxOpenFiles, err := server.SetOpenFileLimitForOneStore()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	cfg := engine.RocksDBConfig{
-		StorageConfig: base.StorageConfig{
-			Settings:  serverCfg.Settings,
-			Dir:       dir,
-			MustExist: opts.MustExist,
-		},
-		MaxOpenFiles: maxOpenFiles,
-		ReadOnly:     opts.ReadOnly,
+	storageConfig := base.StorageConfig{
+		Settings:  serverCfg.Settings,
+		Dir:       dir,
+		MustExist: opts.MustExist,
 	}
-
 	if PopulateRocksDBConfigHook != nil {
-		if err := PopulateRocksDBConfigHook(&cfg.StorageConfig); err != nil {
+		if err := PopulateRocksDBConfigHook(&storageConfig); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
 
-	db, err := engine.NewRocksDB(cfg, cache)
+	var db engine.Engine
+
+	// TODO(peter): Using Pebble here causes TestRemoveDeadReplicas to fail with:
+	//
+	// debug_test.go:292: pebble: internal error: L0 flushed file 000004 overlaps with the largest seqnum of a preceding flushed file: 0-2278 vs 414
+
+	// engineType := engine.DefaultStorageEngine
+	engineType := enginepb.EngineTypeRocksDB
+	switch engineType {
+	case enginepb.EngineTypePebble:
+		cfg := engine.PebbleConfig{
+			StorageConfig: storageConfig,
+			Opts:          engine.DefaultPebbleOptions(),
+		}
+		cfg.Opts.Cache = pebble.NewCache(server.DefaultCacheSize)
+		cfg.Opts.MaxOpenFiles = int(maxOpenFiles)
+
+		db, err = engine.NewPebble(context.Background(), cfg)
+
+	case enginepb.EngineTypeRocksDB:
+		cache := engine.NewRocksDBCache(server.DefaultCacheSize)
+		defer cache.Release()
+
+		cfg := engine.RocksDBConfig{
+			StorageConfig: storageConfig,
+			MaxOpenFiles:  maxOpenFiles,
+			ReadOnly:      opts.ReadOnly,
+		}
+
+		db, err = engine.NewRocksDB(cfg, cache)
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/storage/engine/pebble.go b/pkg/storage/engine/pebble.go
index 58409ec8143f..4e1ad63f28b0 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/engine/pebble.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/engine/pebble.go
@@ -64,16 +64,18 @@ var MVCCComparer = &pebble.Comparer{
 	},
 
 	Split: func(k []byte) int {
-		if len(k) == 0 {
-			return len(k)
-		}
-		// This is similar to what enginepb.SplitMVCCKey does.
-		tsLen := int(k[len(k)-1])
-		keyPartEnd := len(k) - 1 - tsLen
-		if keyPartEnd < 0 {
+		key, _, ok := enginepb.SplitMVCCKey(k)
+		if !ok {
 			return len(k)
 		}
-		return keyPartEnd
+		// This matches the behavior of libroach/KeyPrefix. RocksDB requires that
+		// keys generated via a SliceTransform be comparable with normal encoded
+		// MVCC keys. Encoded MVCC keys have a suffix indicating the number of
+		// bytes of timestamp data. MVCC keys without a timestamp have a suffix of
+		// 0. We're careful in EncodeKey to make sure that the user-key always has
+		// a trailing 0. If there is no timestamp this falls out naturally. If
+		// there is a timestamp we prepend a 0 to the encoded timestamp data.
+		return len(key) + 1
 	},
 
 	Name: "cockroach_comparator",