diff --git a/frappe/commands/utils.py b/frappe/commands/utils.py
index 6f783bb7ef..26d10988d9 100644
--- a/frappe/commands/utils.py
+++ b/frappe/commands/utils.py
@@ -752,6 +752,7 @@ def transform_database(context, table, engine, row_format, failfast):
 )
 @click.option("--test", multiple=True, help="Specific test")
 @click.option("--module", help="Run tests in a module")
+@click.option("--pdb", is_flag=True, default=False, help="Open pdb on AssertionError")
 @click.option("--profile", is_flag=True, default=False)
 @click.option("--coverage", is_flag=True, default=False)
 @click.option("--skip-test-records", is_flag=True, default=False, help="Don't create test records")
@@ -776,9 +777,14 @@ def run_tests(
 	skip_before_tests=False,
 	failfast=False,
 	case=None,
+	pdb=False,
 ):
 	"""Run python unit-tests"""
 
+	pdb_on_exceptions = None
+	if pdb:
+		pdb_on_exceptions = (AssertionError,)
+
 	with CodeCoverage(coverage, app):
 		import frappe
 		import frappe.test_runner
@@ -810,6 +816,7 @@ def run_tests(
 			case=case,
 			skip_test_records=skip_test_records,
 			skip_before_tests=skip_before_tests,
+			pdb_on_exceptions=pdb_on_exceptions,
 		)
 
 		if len(ret.failures) == 0 and len(ret.errors) == 0:
diff --git a/frappe/test_runner.py b/frappe/test_runner.py
index ccbec643eb..1c40d48232 100644
--- a/frappe/test_runner.py
+++ b/frappe/test_runner.py
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ def main(
 	case=None,
 	skip_test_records=False,
 	skip_before_tests=False,
+	pdb_on_exceptions=False,
 ):
 	global unittest_runner
 
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ def main(
 	try:
 		frappe.flags.print_messages = verbose
 		frappe.flags.in_test = True
+		frappe.flags.pdb_on_exceptions = pdb_on_exceptions
 
 		# workaround! since there is no separate test db
 		frappe.clear_cache()
@@ -290,6 +292,11 @@ def _run_unittest(
 		else:
 			final_test_suite.addTest(test_suite)
 
+		if frappe.flags.pdb_on_exceptions:
+			for test_case in iterate_suite(final_test_suite):
+				if hasattr(test_case, "_apply_debug_decorator"):
+					test_case._apply_debug_decorator(frappe.flags.pdb_on_exceptions)
+
 	if junit_xml_output:
 		runner = unittest_runner(verbosity=1 + cint(verbose), failfast=failfast)
 	else:
diff --git a/frappe/tests/utils.py b/frappe/tests/utils.py
index d62474ec4f..7294498d33 100644
--- a/frappe/tests/utils.py
+++ b/frappe/tests/utils.py
@@ -105,24 +105,10 @@ class FrappeTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 		cls.addClassCleanup(_restore_thread_locals, copy.deepcopy(frappe.local.flags))
 		cls.addClassCleanup(_rollback_db)
 
-		cls._apply_debug_decorator()
-
 		return super().setUpClass()
 
-	@classmethod
-	def _apply_debug_decorator(cls):
-		import sys
-
-		pdb_flag = next((arg for arg in sys.argv if arg.startswith('--pdb')), None)
-		if pdb_flag:
-			exceptions = (AssertionError,)
-			if pdb_flag.startswith('--pdb-on='):
-				exception_names = pdb_flag.split('=')[1].split(',')
-				exceptions = tuple(getattr(__builtins__, name.strip()) for name in exception_names)
-			
-			for attr in dir(cls):
-				if attr.startswith('test_'):
-					setattr(cls, attr, debug_on(*exceptions)(getattr(cls, attr)))
+	def _apply_debug_decorator(self, exceptions=()):
+		setattr(self, self._testMethodName, debug_on(*exceptions)(getattr(self, self._testMethodName)))
 
 	def assertSequenceSubset(self, larger: Sequence, smaller: Sequence, msg=None):
 		"""Assert that `expected` is a subset of `actual`."""