diff --git a/src/pkg/runtime/extern.go b/src/pkg/runtime/extern.go
index a5bea7e46d7..1a2d9c21a29 100644
--- a/src/pkg/runtime/extern.go
+++ b/src/pkg/runtime/extern.go
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ a comma-separated list of name=val pairs. Supported names are:
 	schedtrace: setting schedtrace=X causes the scheduler to emit a single line to standard
 	error every X milliseconds, summarizing the scheduler state.
 
+	scavenge: scavenge=1 enables debugging mode of heap scavenger.
+
 The GOMAXPROCS variable limits the number of operating system threads that
 can execute user-level Go code simultaneously. There is no limit to the number of threads
 that can be blocked in system calls on behalf of Go code; those do not count against
diff --git a/src/pkg/runtime/proc.c b/src/pkg/runtime/proc.c
index ce0f74aa6c8..483903d6d9b 100644
--- a/src/pkg/runtime/proc.c
+++ b/src/pkg/runtime/proc.c
@@ -2632,10 +2632,15 @@ sysmon(void)
 	G *gp;
 
 	// If we go two minutes without a garbage collection, force one to run.
-	forcegcperiod = 2*60*1e6;
+	forcegcperiod = 2*60*1e9;
 	// If a heap span goes unused for 5 minutes after a garbage collection,
 	// we hand it back to the operating system.
-	scavengelimit = 5*60*1e6;
+	scavengelimit = 5*60*1e9;
+	if(runtime·debug.scavenge > 0) {
+		// Scavenge-a-lot for testing.
+		forcegcperiod = 10*1e6;
+		scavengelimit = 20*1e6;
+	}
 	lastscavenge = runtime·nanotime();
 	nscavenge = 0;
 	// Make wake-up period small enough for the sampling to be correct.
diff --git a/src/pkg/runtime/runtime.c b/src/pkg/runtime/runtime.c
index 275fffb347d..b1960088da7 100644
--- a/src/pkg/runtime/runtime.c
+++ b/src/pkg/runtime/runtime.c
@@ -302,6 +302,7 @@ runtime·tickspersecond(void)
 	return res;
 }
 
+#pragma dataflag NOPTR
 DebugVars	runtime·debug;
 
 static struct {
@@ -314,6 +315,7 @@ static struct {
 	{"gcdead", &runtime·debug.gcdead},
 	{"scheddetail", &runtime·debug.scheddetail},
 	{"schedtrace", &runtime·debug.schedtrace},
+	{"scavenge", &runtime·debug.scavenge},
 };
 
 void
diff --git a/src/pkg/runtime/runtime.h b/src/pkg/runtime/runtime.h
index 4f63fdf7184..8d4773b9f7a 100644
--- a/src/pkg/runtime/runtime.h
+++ b/src/pkg/runtime/runtime.h
@@ -562,6 +562,7 @@ struct DebugVars
 	int32	gcdead;
 	int32	scheddetail;
 	int32	schedtrace;
+	int32	scavenge;
 };
 
 extern bool runtime·precisestack;