diff --git a/test.py b/test.py
index 6c8c3452fa..eb693e99cd 100755
--- a/test.py
+++ b/test.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 import os
 import sys
+import argparse
 import subprocess
 
 all_tests = [
@@ -18,13 +19,17 @@ def print_status(msg):
     print('\r' + msg, end='')
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Seastar test runner")
+    parser.add_argument('--fast',  action="store_true", help="Run only fast tests")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
     black_hole = open('/dev/null', 'w')
 
     test_to_run = []
     for mode in ['debug', 'release']:
         for test in all_tests:
             test_to_run.append(os.path.join('build', mode, 'tests', test))
-        test_to_run.append('tests/memcache/test.py ' + os.path.join('build', mode, 'apps', 'memcache', 'memcache') + ' --smp 1')
+        test_to_run.append('tests/memcache/test.py --mode ' + mode + (' --fast' if args.fast else ''))
 
     all_ok = True
 
diff --git a/tests/memcache/test.py b/tests/memcache/test.py
index 0b94f1a68c..55e31c95ad 100755
--- a/tests/memcache/test.py
+++ b/tests/memcache/test.py
@@ -1,24 +1,30 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 import time
-import subprocess
 import sys
+import os
+import argparse
+import subprocess
 
-if len(sys.argv) < 2:
-    print('Usage: %s <path-to-memcache> ...' % sys.argv[0])
 
-memcache_path = sys.argv[1]
-
-def run(cmd):
-    mc = subprocess.Popen([memcache_path] + sys.argv[2:])
+def run(args, cmd):
+    mc = subprocess.Popen([os.path.join('build', args.mode, 'apps', 'memcache', 'memcache'), '--smp', '1'])
     print('Memcache started.')
     try:
         time.sleep(0.1)
         cmdline = ['tests/memcache/test_memcache.py'] + cmd
+        if args.fast:
+            cmdline.append('--fast')
         print('Running: ' + ' '.join(cmdline))
         subprocess.check_call(cmdline)
     finally:
         print('Killing memcache...')
         mc.kill()
 
-run([])
-run(['-U'])
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Seastar test runner")
+    parser.add_argument('--fast',  action="store_true", help="Run only fast tests")
+    parser.add_argument('--mode', action="store", help="Test app in given mode", default='release')
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    run(args, [])
+    run(args, ['-U'])
diff --git a/tests/memcache/test_memcache.py b/tests/memcache/test_memcache.py
index 0b94e12bc6..f8c4ad36c5 100755
--- a/tests/memcache/test_memcache.py
+++ b/tests/memcache/test_memcache.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import unittest
 
 server_addr = None
 call = None
+args = None
 
 @contextmanager
 def tcp_connection():
@@ -20,6 +21,13 @@ def tcp_connection():
     yield call
     s.close()
 
+def slow(f):
+    def wrapper(self):
+        if args.fast:
+            raise unittest.SkipTest('Slow')
+        return f(self)
+    return wrapper
+
 def recv_all(s):
     m = b''
     while True:
@@ -119,12 +127,14 @@ class TestCommands(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_error_handling(self):
         self.assertEqual(call('get\r\n'), b'ERROR\r\n')
 
+    @slow
     def test_expiry(self):
         self.assertEqual(call('set key 0 1 5\r\nhello\r\n'), b'STORED\r\n')
         self.assertEqual(call('get key\r\n'), b'VALUE key 0 5\r\nhello\r\nEND\r\n')
         time.sleep(1)
         self.assertEqual(call('get key\r\n'), b'END\r\n')
 
+    @slow
     def test_expiry_at_epoch_time(self):
         expiry = int(time.time()) + 1
         self.assertEqual(call('set key 0 %d 5\r\nhello\r\n' % expiry), b'STORED\r\n')
@@ -159,6 +169,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="memcache protocol tests")
     parser.add_argument('--server', '-s', action="store", help="server adddress in <host>:<port> format", default="localhost:11211")
     parser.add_argument('--udp', '-U', action="store_true", help="Use UDP protocol")
+    parser.add_argument('--fast',  action="store_true", help="Run only fast tests")
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     host, port = args.server.split(':')