diff --git a/apitest/src/main/java/bisq/apitest/config/ApiTestConfig.java b/apitest/src/main/java/bisq/apitest/config/ApiTestConfig.java
index ec2076e885e..1526e5d6698 100644
--- a/apitest/src/main/java/bisq/apitest/config/ApiTestConfig.java
+++ b/apitest/src/main/java/bisq/apitest/config/ApiTestConfig.java
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ public class ApiTestConfig {
     static final String ENABLE_BISQ_DEBUGGING = "enableBisqDebugging";
     static final String REGISTER_DISPUTE_AGENTS = "registerDisputeAgents";
 
+    static final String SUSPEND_INSTANCE = "suspendInstance";
+
     // Default values for certain options
     static final String DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME = "apitest.properties";
 
@@ -126,6 +128,8 @@ public class ApiTestConfig {
     public final String baseBuildResourcesDir;
     public final String baseSrcResourcesDir;
 
+    public final String suspendedInstances;
+
     // The parser that will be used to parse both cmd line and config file options
     private final OptionParser parser = new OptionParser();
 
@@ -261,6 +265,12 @@ public ApiTestConfig(String... args) {
                         .withRequiredArg()
                         .ofType(Boolean.class)
                         .defaultsTo(true);
+
+        ArgumentAcceptingOptionSpec<String> suspendInstancesOpt =
+                parser.accepts(SUSPEND_INSTANCE, "Suspended the given instances when debugging")
+                        .withRequiredArg()
+                        .ofType(String.class)
+                        .defaultsTo(EMPTY);
         try {
             CompositeOptionSet options = new CompositeOptionSet();
 
@@ -319,6 +329,7 @@ public ApiTestConfig(String... args) {
             this.callRateMeteringConfigPath = options.valueOf(callRateMeteringConfigPathOpt);
             this.enableBisqDebugging = options.valueOf(enableBisqDebuggingOpt);
             this.registerDisputeAgents = options.valueOf(registerDisputeAgentsOpt);
+            this.suspendedInstances = options.valueOf(suspendInstancesOpt);
 
             // Assign values to special-case static fields.
             BASH_PATH_VALUE = bashPath;
diff --git a/apitest/src/main/java/bisq/apitest/linux/BisqProcess.java b/apitest/src/main/java/bisq/apitest/linux/BisqProcess.java
index a3a9374d0b5..971cd3742f4 100644
--- a/apitest/src/main/java/bisq/apitest/linux/BisqProcess.java
+++ b/apitest/src/main/java/bisq/apitest/linux/BisqProcess.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
@@ -66,8 +67,9 @@ public BisqProcess(BisqAppConfig bisqAppConfig, ApiTestConfig config) {
         this.useDevPrivilegeKeys = true;
         this.findBisqPidScript = (config.isRunningTest ? "." : "./apitest")
                 + "/scripts/get-bisq-pid.sh";
-        this.debugOpts = config.enableBisqDebugging
-                ? " -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=n,address=*:" + bisqAppConfig.remoteDebugPort
+        this.debugOpts = config.enableBisqDebugging ? " -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,"
+                + "suspend=" + (Arrays.asList(config.suspendedInstances.split(",")).contains(bisqAppConfig.name()) ? "y" : "n")
+                + ",address=*:" + bisqAppConfig.remoteDebugPort
                 : "";
     }