diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6657b29985..e47a3ae411 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ help:
 .SUFFIXES:
 
 all: deb rpm calico/felix
-test: ut
+test: ut fv
 
 GO_BUILD_CONTAINER?=calico/go-build:v0.6
 
@@ -292,6 +292,12 @@ bin/calico-felix: $(FELIX_GO_FILES) vendor/.up-to-date
                ( ldd bin/calico-felix 2>&1 | grep -q "Not a valid dynamic program" || \
 	             ( echo "Error: bin/calico-felix was not statically linked"; false ) )'
 
+bin/iptables-locker: $(FELIX_GO_FILES) vendor/.up-to-date
+	@echo Building iptables-locker...
+	mkdir -p bin
+	$(DOCKER_GO_BUILD) \
+	    sh -c 'go build -v -i -o $@ -v $(LDFLAGS) "github.com/projectcalico/felix/fv/iptables-locker"'
+
 bin/k8sfv.test: $(K8SFV_GO_FILES) vendor/.up-to-date
 	@echo Building $@...
 	$(DOCKER_GO_BUILD) \
@@ -324,6 +330,16 @@ ut combined.coverprofile: vendor/.up-to-date $(FELIX_GO_FILES)
 	@echo Running Go UTs.
 	$(DOCKER_GO_BUILD) ./utils/run-coverage
 
+bin/fv.test: vendor/.up-to-date $(FELIX_GO_FILES)
+	$(DOCKER_GO_BUILD) go test ./fv -c --tags fvtests -o bin/fv.test
+
+.PHONY: fv
+fv: calico/felix bin/iptables-locker bin/fv.test
+	@echo Running Go FVs.
+	# For now, we pre-build the binary so that we can run it outside a container and allow it
+	# to interact with docker.
+	bin/fv.test
+
 bin/check-licenses: $(FELIX_GO_FILES)
 	$(DOCKER_GO_BUILD) go build -v -i -o $@ "github.com/projectcalico/felix/check-licenses"
 
diff --git a/fv/fv.go b/fv/fv.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b6a6d43dde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fv/fv.go
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017 Tigera, Inc. All rights reserved.
+
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+// The fv packge contains FV tests that execute Felix for-real.
+package fv
diff --git a/fv/fv_suite_test.go b/fv/fv_suite_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f605c8719c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fv/fv_suite_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017 Tigera, Inc. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package fv_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	"github.com/onsi/ginkgo/reporters"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	"github.com/projectcalico/libcalico-go/lib/testutils"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	testutils.HookLogrusForGinkgo()
+}
+
+func TestFv(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
+	junitReporter := reporters.NewJUnitReporter("junit.xml")
+	RunSpecsWithDefaultAndCustomReporters(t, "FV Suite", []Reporter{junitReporter})
+}
diff --git a/fv/iptables-locker/iptables-locker.go b/fv/iptables-locker/iptables-locker.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..83879237ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fv/iptables-locker/iptables-locker.go
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017 Tigera, Inc. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"time"
+
+	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/docopt/docopt-go"
+
+	"github.com/projectcalico/felix/iptables"
+)
+
+const usage = `iptables-locker, test tool for grabbing the iptables lock.
+
+Usage:
+  iptables-locker <duration>
+
+`
+
+func main() {
+	arguments, err := docopt.Parse(usage, nil, true, "v0.1", false)
+	if err != nil {
+		println(usage)
+		log.WithError(err).Fatal("Failed to parse usage")
+	}
+	durationStr := arguments["<duration>"].(string)
+	duration, err := time.ParseDuration(durationStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		println(usage)
+		log.WithError(err).Fatal("Failed to parse usage")
+	}
+
+	iptablesLock := iptables.NewSharedLock(
+		"/run/xtables.lock",
+		1*time.Second,
+		50*time.Millisecond,
+	)
+	iptablesLock.Lock()
+	println("LOCKED")
+	time.Sleep(duration)
+	iptablesLock.Unlock()
+}
diff --git a/fv/iptables_lock_test.go b/fv/iptables_lock_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4f6215b052
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fv/iptables_lock_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+// +build fvtests
+
+// Copyright (c) 2017 Tigera, Inc. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package fv_test
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("with running container", func() {
+	var containerIdx int
+	var containerName string
+	var felixCmd *exec.Cmd
+
+	cmdInContainer := func(cmd ...string) *exec.Cmd {
+		arg := []string{"exec", containerName}
+		arg = append(arg, cmd...)
+		return exec.Command("docker", arg...)
+	}
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		containerName = fmt.Sprintf("felix-fv-%d-%d", os.Getpid(), containerIdx)
+		containerIdx++
+		felixDir, err := os.Getwd()
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		// Run a felix container.  The tests in this file don't actually rely on Felix
+		// but the calico/felix container has all the iptables dependencies we need to
+		// check the lock behaviour.
+		felixCmd = exec.Command("docker", "run",
+			"--rm",
+			"--name", containerName,
+			"-v", fmt.Sprintf("%s:/codebase", felixDir),
+			"--privileged",
+			"calico/felix")
+		err = felixCmd.Start()
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+		for {
+			cmd := exec.Command("docker", "ps")
+			out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+			if strings.Contains(string(out), containerName) {
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	AfterEach(func() {
+		// Send an interrupt to ensure that docker gracefully shuts down the container.
+		// If we kill the docker process then it detaches the container.
+		felixCmd.Process.Signal(os.Interrupt)
+	})
+
+	Describe("with the lock being held for 2s", func() {
+		var lockCmd *exec.Cmd
+		BeforeEach(func() {
+			// Start the iptables-locker, which is a simple test app that locks
+			// the iptables lock and then releases it after a timeout.
+			lockCmd = cmdInContainer("/codebase/bin/iptables-locker", "2s")
+			stdErr, err := lockCmd.StderrPipe()
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+			lockCmd.Start()
+
+			// Wait for the iptables-locker to tell us that it actually acquired the
+			// lock.
+			scanner := bufio.NewScanner(stdErr)
+			Expect(scanner.Scan()).To(BeTrue())
+			Expect(scanner.Text()).To(Equal("LOCKED"))
+			Expect(scanner.Err()).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+
+		It("iptables should fail to get the lock in 1s", func() {
+			iptCmd := cmdInContainer("iptables", "-w", "1", "-A", "FORWARD")
+			out, err := iptCmd.CombinedOutput()
+			Expect(string(out)).To(ContainSubstring("Stopped waiting"))
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+
+		It("iptables should succeed in getting the lock after 3s", func() {
+			iptCmd := cmdInContainer("iptables", "-w", "3", "-A", "FORWARD")
+			out, err := iptCmd.CombinedOutput()
+			Expect(string(out)).To(ContainSubstring("Another app is currently holding the xtables lock"))
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+
+		AfterEach(func() {
+			if lockCmd != nil {
+				err := lockCmd.Wait()
+				Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+			}
+		})
+	})
+})