diff --git a/bazel/README.md b/bazel/README.md
index 227c87c9312a6..5817d9cd42555 100644
--- a/bazel/README.md
+++ b/bazel/README.md
@@ -100,6 +100,18 @@ bazel test //test/... --test_env=ENVOY_IP_TEST_VERSIONS=v4only
 bazel test //test/... --test_env=ENVOY_IP_TEST_VERSIONS=v6only
 ```
 
+By default, tests are run with the [gperftools](https://github.com/gperftools/gperftools) heap
+checker enabled in "normal" mode to detect leaks. For other mode options, see the gperftools
+heap checker [documentation](https://gperftools.github.io/gperftools/heap_checker.html). To
+disable the heap checker or change the mode, set the HEAPCHECK environment variable:
+
+```
+# Disables the heap checker
+bazel test //test/... --test_env=HEAPCHECK=
+# Changes the heap checker to "minimal" mode
+bazel test //test/... --test_env=HEAPCHECK=minimal
+```
+
 Bazel will by default cache successful test results. To force it to rerun tests:
 
 ```
diff --git a/ci/build_setup.sh b/ci/build_setup.sh
index ece8a76234503..ed30c98358a81 100755
--- a/ci/build_setup.sh
+++ b/ci/build_setup.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 set -e
 
-export HEAPCHECK=normal
 export PPROF_PATH=/thirdparty_build/bin/pprof
 
 NUM_CPUS=`grep -c ^processor /proc/cpuinfo`
diff --git a/tools/bazel.rc b/tools/bazel.rc
index c773e77960f16..c8ecbbeb5c546 100644
--- a/tools/bazel.rc
+++ b/tools/bazel.rc
@@ -38,3 +38,6 @@ build:clang-msan --copt -fsanitize=memory
 build:clang-msan --linkopt -fsanitize=memory
 build:clang-msan --define tcmalloc=disabled
 build:clang-msan --copt -fsanitize-memory-track-origins=2
+
+# Test options
+test --test_env=HEAPCHECK=normal --test_env=PPROF_PATH