diff --git a/newt/builder/selftest.go b/newt/builder/selftest.go
index 1ff1aaea94..fb3621dc6e 100644
--- a/newt/builder/selftest.go
+++ b/newt/builder/selftest.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (t *TargetBuilder) SelfTestCreateExe() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (t *TargetBuilder) SelfTestExecute() error {
+func (t *TargetBuilder) SelfTestExecute(valgrind bool) error {
 	if err := t.SelfTestCreateExe(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func (t *TargetBuilder) SelfTestExecute() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if err := t.AppBuilder.SelfTestExecute(testRpkg); err != nil {
+	if err := t.AppBuilder.SelfTestExecute(testRpkg, valgrind); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ func (b *Builder) testOwner(bpkg *BuildPackage) *BuildPackage {
 	}
 }
 
-func (b *Builder) SelfTestExecute(testRpkg *resolve.ResolvePackage) error {
+func (b *Builder) SelfTestExecute(testRpkg *resolve.ResolvePackage, valgrind bool) error {
 	testPath := b.TestExePath()
 	if err := os.Chdir(filepath.Dir(testPath)); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -149,11 +149,16 @@ func (b *Builder) SelfTestExecute(testRpkg *resolve.ResolvePackage) error {
 	util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT, "Executing test: %s\n",
 		testPath)
 	cmd := []string{testPath}
-	if _, err := util.ShellCommand(cmd, nil); err != nil {
+	if valgrind {
+		cmd = append([]string{"valgrind", "--error-exitcode=1"}, cmd...)
+	}
+	if output, err := util.ShellCommand(cmd, nil); err != nil {
 		newtError := err.(*util.NewtError)
 		newtError.Text = fmt.Sprintf("Test failure (%s):\n%s",
 			testRpkg.Lpkg.Name(), newtError.Text)
 		return newtError
+	} else if valgrind {
+		util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT, "%s", output)
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/newt/cli/build_cmds.go b/newt/cli/build_cmds.go
index ce16115368..b5f56cd6e6 100644
--- a/newt/cli/build_cmds.go
+++ b/newt/cli/build_cmds.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ package cli
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -235,11 +236,19 @@ func pkgnames(pkgs []*pkg.LocalPackage) string {
 	return s
 }
 
-func testRunCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, exclude string, executeShell bool) {
+func testRunCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, exclude string, executeShell bool, valgrind bool) {
 	if len(args) < 1 {
 		NewtUsage(cmd, nil)
 	}
 
+	if valgrind == true {
+		_, err := exec.LookPath("valgrind")
+		if err != nil {
+			NewtUsage(nil, util.FmtNewtError("Valgrind is not installed."+
+				"Please install it before running tests with --valgrind flag."))
+		}
+	}
+
 	util.ExecuteShell = executeShell
 
 	proj := TryGetProject()
@@ -320,7 +329,7 @@ func testRunCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, exclude string, executeShell
 		util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT, "Testing package %s\n",
 			pack.FullName())
 
-		err = b.SelfTestExecute()
+		err = b.SelfTestExecute(valgrind)
 		if err == nil {
 			passedPkgs = append(passedPkgs, pack)
 		} else {
@@ -435,6 +444,7 @@ func sizeRunCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, ram bool, flash bool, section
 func AddBuildCommands(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	var printShellCmds bool
 	var executeShell bool
+	var valgrind bool
 
 	buildCmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "build <target-name> [target-names...]",
@@ -474,12 +484,14 @@ func AddBuildCommands(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 		Use:   "test <package-name> [package-names...] | all",
 		Short: "Executes unit tests for one or more packages",
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-			testRunCmd(cmd, args, exclude, executeShell)
+			testRunCmd(cmd, args, exclude, executeShell, valgrind)
 		},
 	}
 	testCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&exclude, "exclude", "e", "", "Comma separated list of packages to exclude")
 	testCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&executeShell, "executeShell", false,
 		"Execute build command using /bin/sh (Linux and MacOS only)")
+	testCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&valgrind, "valgrind", false,
+		"Run test executables under Valgrind")
 	cmd.AddCommand(testCmd)
 	AddTabCompleteFn(testCmd, func() []string {
 		return append(testablePkgList(), "all", "allexcept")