diff --git a/test/functional/test_runner.py b/test/functional/test_runner.py
index e438a60edc..9f69fd898d 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_runner.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_runner.py
@@ -434,6 +434,8 @@ def main():
     parser.add_argument('--tmpdirprefix', '-t', default=tempfile.gettempdir(), help="Root directory for datadirs")
     parser.add_argument('--failfast', '-F', action='store_true', help='stop execution after the first test failure')
     parser.add_argument('--filter', help='filter scripts to run by regular expression')
+    parser.add_argument('--skipunit', '-u', action='store_true', help='skip unit tests for the test framework')
+
 
     args, unknown_args = parser.parse_known_args()
     if not args.ansi:
@@ -544,9 +546,10 @@ def main():
         combined_logs_len=args.combinedlogslen,
         failfast=args.failfast,
         use_term_control=args.ansi,
+        skipunit=args.skipunit,
     )
 
-def run_tests(*, test_list, src_dir, build_dir, tmpdir, jobs=1, enable_coverage=False, args=None, combined_logs_len=0, failfast=False, use_term_control):
+def run_tests(*, test_list, src_dir, build_dir, tmpdir, jobs=1, enable_coverage=False, args=None, combined_logs_len=0, failfast=False, use_term_control, skipunit=False):
     args = args or []
 
     # Warn if bitcoind is already running
@@ -563,20 +566,20 @@ def run_tests(*, test_list, src_dir, build_dir, tmpdir, jobs=1, enable_coverage=
     if os.path.isdir(cache_dir):
         print("%sWARNING!%s There is a cache directory here: %s. If tests fail unexpectedly, try deleting the cache directory." % (BOLD[1], BOLD[0], cache_dir))
 
-    # Test Framework Tests
-    print("Running Unit Tests for Test Framework Modules")
 
     tests_dir = src_dir + '/test/functional/'
     # This allows `test_runner.py` to work from an out-of-source build directory using a symlink,
     # a hard link or a copy on any platform. See https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/27561.
     sys.path.append(tests_dir)
 
-    test_framework_tests = unittest.TestSuite()
-    for module in TEST_FRAMEWORK_MODULES:
-        test_framework_tests.addTest(unittest.TestLoader().loadTestsFromName("test_framework.{}".format(module)))
-    result = unittest.TextTestRunner(verbosity=1, failfast=True).run(test_framework_tests)
-    if not result.wasSuccessful():
-        sys.exit("Early exiting after failure in TestFramework unit tests")
+    if not skipunit:
+        print("Running Unit Tests for Test Framework Modules")
+        test_framework_tests = unittest.TestSuite()
+        for module in TEST_FRAMEWORK_MODULES:
+            test_framework_tests.addTest(unittest.TestLoader().loadTestsFromName("test_framework.{}".format(module)))
+        result = unittest.TextTestRunner(verbosity=1, failfast=True).run(test_framework_tests)
+        if not result.wasSuccessful():
+            sys.exit("Early exiting after failure in TestFramework unit tests")
 
     flags = ['--cachedir={}'.format(cache_dir)] + args