diff --git a/automation/README.md b/automation/README.md
index 9e98399f..f7b59b4d 100644
--- a/automation/README.md
+++ b/automation/README.md
@@ -35,8 +35,17 @@ just run:
 ## Development
 
 ### Run the tests manually in the container
-For debugging, it is convenient to run the container and then
-connect to it in order to run the tests.
+For debugging, it is convenient to run the container and then connect to it in
+order to run the tests. Setting the environment variable `debug_exit_shell`
+will make the script start a shell instead of exiting the script after an error
+or running the scripts:
+
+`debug_exit_shell=1 ./automation/run-integration-tests.sh`
+
+
+After closing the shell, the container will be removed. Alternatively, the
+following commands start the container manually:
+
 ```
 DOCKER_IMAGE="nmstate/centos7-nmstate-dev"
 NET0="nmstate-net0"
diff --git a/automation/run-integration-tests.sh b/automation/run-integration-tests.sh
index 5c79c790..7be7b15a 100755
--- a/automation/run-integration-tests.sh
+++ b/automation/run-integration-tests.sh
@@ -85,13 +85,22 @@ function run_exit {
     remove_container
 }
 
+function open_shell {
+    res=$?
+    [ "$res" -ne 0 ] && echo "*** ERROR: $res"
+    set +o errexit
+    docker_exec 'echo "pytest tests/integration --pdb" >> ~/.bash_history'
+    docker_exec 'cd /workspace/nmstate; exec /bin/bash'
+    run_exit
+}
+
 cd $EXEC_PATH 
 docker --version && cat /etc/resolv.conf && ping -c 1 github.com
 
 mkdir -p $EXPORT_DIR
 
 CONTAINER_ID="$(docker run --privileged -d -v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:ro -v $PROJECT_PATH:/workspace/nmstate -v $EXPORT_DIR:$CONT_EXPORT_DIR $DOCKER_IMAGE)"
-trap run_exit EXIT
+[ -n "$debug_exit_shell" ] && trap open_shell EXIT || trap run_exit EXIT
 docker_exec 'while ! systemctl is-active dbus; do sleep 1; done'
 pyclean