diff --git a/tests/support/server.tcl b/tests/support/server.tcl
index 9894e6f2a..f2f6ceece 100644
--- a/tests/support/server.tcl
+++ b/tests/support/server.tcl
@@ -297,7 +297,20 @@ proc start_server {options {code undefined}} {
             lappend ::servers $srv
         }
         r flushall
-        uplevel 1 $code
+        if {[catch {set retval [uplevel 1 $code]} error]} {
+            if {$::durable} {
+                set msg [string range $error 10 end]
+                lappend details $msg
+                lappend details $::errorInfo
+                lappend ::tests_failed $details
+
+                incr ::num_failed
+                send_data_packet $::test_server_fd err [join $details "\n"]
+            } else {
+                # Re-raise, let handler up the stack take care of this.
+                error $error $::errorInfo
+            }
+        }
         set ::tags [lrange $::tags 0 end-[llength $tags]]
         return
     }
@@ -468,7 +481,18 @@ proc start_server {options {code undefined}} {
             }
             puts ""
 
-            error $error $backtrace
+            if {$::durable} {
+                set msg [string range $error 10 end]
+                lappend details $msg
+                lappend details $backtrace
+                lappend ::tests_failed $details
+
+                incr ::num_failed
+                send_data_packet $::test_server_fd err [join $details "\n"]
+            } else {
+                # Re-raise, let handler up the stack take care of this.
+                error $error $backtrace
+            }
         }
 
         # fetch srv back from the server list, in case it was restarted by restart_server (new PID)
diff --git a/tests/support/test.tcl b/tests/support/test.tcl
index 773461abb..f5b4c8bef 100644
--- a/tests/support/test.tcl
+++ b/tests/support/test.tcl
@@ -149,9 +149,13 @@ proc test {name code {okpattern undefined} {options undefined}} {
     send_data_packet $::test_server_fd testing $name
 
     if {[catch {set retval [uplevel 1 $code]} error]} {
-        if {[string match "assertion:*" $error]} {
+        set assertion [string match "assertion:*" $error]
+        if {$assertion || $::durable} {
             set msg [string range $error 10 end]
             lappend details $msg
+            if {!$assertion} {
+                lappend details $::errorInfo
+            }
             lappend ::tests_failed $details
 
             incr ::num_failed
diff --git a/tests/test_helper.tcl b/tests/test_helper.tcl
index 4a470ec30..fe2d484b8 100644
--- a/tests/test_helper.tcl
+++ b/tests/test_helper.tcl
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ set ::baseport 21111; # initial port for spawned redis servers
 set ::portcount 8000; # we don't wanna use more than 10000 to avoid collision with cluster bus ports
 set ::traceleaks 0
 set ::valgrind 0
+set ::durable 0
 set ::tls 0
 set ::stack_logging 0
 set ::verbose 0
@@ -521,6 +522,7 @@ proc send_data_packet {fd status data} {
 proc print_help_screen {} {
     puts [join {
         "--valgrind         Run the test over valgrind."
+        "--durable          suppress test crashes and keep running"
         "--stack-logging    Enable OSX leaks/malloc stack logging."
         "--accurate         Run slow randomized tests for more iterations."
         "--quiet            Don't show individual tests."
@@ -633,6 +635,8 @@ for {set j 0} {$j < [llength $argv]} {incr j} {
     } elseif {$opt eq {--clients}} {
         set ::numclients $arg
         incr j
+    } elseif {$opt eq {--durable}} {
+        set ::durable 1
     } elseif {$opt eq {--dont-clean}} {
         set ::dont_clean 1
     } elseif {$opt eq {--wait-server}} {