diff --git a/test.go b/test.go
index 76247ac4216..dd51aee26f4 100755
--- a/test.go
+++ b/test.go
@@ -219,10 +219,13 @@ func (t *Test) run(dir, dataDir string) ([]byte, error) {
 	// Also try to make them use different port ranges
 	// to mitigate failures due to zombie processes.
 	cmd.Env = updateEnv(os.Environ(), map[string]string{
-		"VTROOT":      "/vt/src/vitess.io/vitess",
-		"VTDATAROOT":  dataDir,
-		"VTPORTSTART": strconv.FormatInt(int64(getPortStart(100)), 10),
-		"TOPO":        os.Getenv("TOPO"),
+		// Disable gRPC server GOAWAY/"too_many_pings" errors. Context:
+		// https://github.com/grpc/grpc/blob/master/doc/keepalive.md
+		"GRPC_ARG_HTTP2_MAX_PINGS_WITHOUT_DATA": "0",
+		"VTROOT":                                "/vt/src/vitess.io/vitess",
+		"VTDATAROOT":                            dataDir,
+		"VTPORTSTART":                           strconv.FormatInt(int64(getPortStart(100)), 10),
+		"TOPO":                                  os.Getenv("TOPO"),
 	})
 
 	// Capture test output.