diff --git a/src/runtime/extern.go b/src/runtime/extern.go
index 55dfbff7c4..8b92108c70 100644
--- a/src/runtime/extern.go
+++ b/src/runtime/extern.go
@@ -55,6 +55,15 @@ It is a comma-separated list of name=val pairs setting these named variables:
 	cgocheck mode can be enabled using GOEXPERIMENT (which
 	requires a rebuild), see https://pkg.go.dev/internal/goexperiment for details.
 
+	dontfreezetheworld: by default, the start of a fatal panic or throw
+	"freezes the world", stopping all goroutines, which makes it possible
+	to traceback all goroutines (running goroutines cannot be traced), and
+	keeps their state close to the point of panic. Setting
+	dontfreezetheworld=1 disables freeze, allowing goroutines to continue
+	executing during panic processing. This can be useful when debugging
+	the runtime scheduler, as freezetheworld perturbs scheduler state and
+	thus may hide problems.
+
 	efence: setting efence=1 causes the allocator to run in a mode
 	where each object is allocated on a unique page and addresses are
 	never recycled.
diff --git a/src/runtime/panic.go b/src/runtime/panic.go
index ccc4643711..89070d226c 100644
--- a/src/runtime/panic.go
+++ b/src/runtime/panic.go
@@ -1242,6 +1242,9 @@ func startpanic_m() bool {
 		if debug.schedtrace > 0 || debug.scheddetail > 0 {
 			schedtrace(true)
 		}
+		if debug.dontfreezetheworld > 0 {
+			return true
+		}
 		freezetheworld()
 		return true
 	case 1:
diff --git a/src/runtime/runtime1.go b/src/runtime/runtime1.go
index 991b92a0af..02237685c7 100644
--- a/src/runtime/runtime1.go
+++ b/src/runtime/runtime1.go
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ type dbgVar struct {
 var debug struct {
 	cgocheck           int32
 	clobberfree        int32
+	dontfreezetheworld int32
 	efence             int32
 	gccheckmark        int32
 	gcpacertrace       int32
@@ -340,6 +341,7 @@ var dbgvars = []*dbgVar{
 	{name: "allocfreetrace", value: &debug.allocfreetrace},
 	{name: "clobberfree", value: &debug.clobberfree},
 	{name: "cgocheck", value: &debug.cgocheck},
+	{name: "dontfreezetheworld", value: &debug.dontfreezetheworld},
 	{name: "efence", value: &debug.efence},
 	{name: "gccheckmark", value: &debug.gccheckmark},
 	{name: "gcpacertrace", value: &debug.gcpacertrace},