diff --git a/elf/dl-tunables.c b/elf/dl-tunables.c
index ee8c2f0..8ed66c8 100644
--- a/elf/dl-tunables.c
+++ b/elf/dl-tunables.c
@@ -22,10 +22,14 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+#include <libc-internal.h>
 
 #define TUNABLES_INTERNAL 1
 #include "dl-tunables.h"
 
+#define GLIBC_TUNABLES "GLIBC_TUNABLES"
+
 /* Compare environment names, bounded by the name hardcoded in glibc.  */
 static bool
 is_name (const char *orig, const char *envname)
@@ -41,6 +45,27 @@ is_name (const char *orig, const char *envname)
     return false;
 }
 
+static char *tunables_strdup (const char *in)
+{
+  size_t i = 0;
+
+  while (in[i++]);
+
+  char *out = __mmap (NULL, ALIGN_UP (i, __getpagesize ()),
+		      PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_PRIVATE, -1,
+		      0);
+
+  if (out == MAP_FAILED)
+    return NULL;
+
+  i--;
+
+  while (i-- > 0)
+    out[i] = in[i];
+
+  return out;
+}
+
 static bool
 get_next_env (char ***envp, char **name, size_t *namelen, char **val)
 {
@@ -109,6 +134,66 @@ tunable_initialize (tunable_t *cur)
     }
 }
 
+static void
+parse_tunables (char *tunestr)
+{
+  if (tunestr == NULL || *tunestr == '\0')
+    return;
+
+  char *p = tunestr;
+
+  while (true)
+    {
+      char *name = p;
+      size_t len = 0;
+
+      /* First, find where the name ends.  */
+      while (p[len] != '=' && p[len] != ':' && p[len] != '\0')
+	len++;
+
+      /* If we reach the end of the string before getting a valid name-value
+	 pair, bail out.  */
+      if (p[len] == '\0')
+	return;
+
+      /* We did not find a valid name-value pair before encountering the
+	 colon.  */
+      if (p[len]== ':')
+	{
+	  p += len + 1;
+	  continue;
+	}
+
+      p += len + 1;
+
+      char *value = p;
+      len = 0;
+
+      while (p[len] != ':' && p[len] != '\0')
+	len++;
+
+      char end = p[len];
+      p[len] = '\0';
+
+      /* Add the tunable if it exists.  */
+      for (size_t i = 0; i < sizeof (tunable_list) / sizeof (tunable_t); i++)
+	{
+	  if (is_name (tunable_list[i].name, name))
+	    {
+	      /* Tunable values take precedence over the env_alias.  */
+	      tunable_list[i].strval = value;
+	      tunable_initialize (&tunable_list[i]);
+	      break;
+	    }
+	}
+
+      if (end == ':')
+	p += len + 1;
+      else
+	return;
+    }
+}
+
 /* Initialize the tunables list from the environment.  For now we only use the
    ENV_ALIAS to find values.  Later we will also use the tunable names to find
    values.  */
@@ -121,6 +206,14 @@ __tunables_init (char **envp)
 
   while (get_next_env (&envp, &envname, &len, &envval))
     {
+      if (is_name (GLIBC_TUNABLES, envname))
+	{
+	  char *val = tunables_strdup (envval);
+	  if (val != NULL)
+	    parse_tunables (val);
+	  continue;
+	}
+
       for (int i = 0; i < sizeof (tunable_list) / sizeof (tunable_t); i++)
 	{
 	  tunable_t *cur = &tunable_list[i];
diff --git a/malloc/Makefile b/malloc/Makefile
index 23ab2f4..ba34da1 100644
--- a/malloc/Makefile
+++ b/malloc/Makefile
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ tests := mallocbug tst-malloc tst-valloc tst-calloc tst-obstack \
 	 tst-pvalloc tst-memalign tst-mallopt tst-scratch_buffer \
 	 tst-malloc-backtrace tst-malloc-thread-exit \
 	 tst-malloc-thread-fail tst-malloc-fork-deadlock \
-	 tst-mallocfork2
-tests-static := tst-malloc-usable-static
+	 tst-mallocfork2 tst-malloc-usable-tunables
+tests-static := tst-malloc-usable-static tst-malloc-usable-static-tunables
 tests += $(tests-static)
 test-srcs = tst-mtrace
 
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ endif
 tst-mcheck-ENV = MALLOC_CHECK_=3
 tst-malloc-usable-ENV = MALLOC_CHECK_=3
 tst-malloc-usable-static-ENV = $(tst-malloc-usable-ENV)
+tst-malloc-usable-tunables-ENV = GLIBC_TUNABLES=glibc.malloc.check=3
+tst-malloc-usable-static-tunables-ENV = $(tst-malloc-usable-tunables-ENV)
 
 # Uncomment this for test releases.  For public releases it is too expensive.
 #CPPFLAGS-malloc.o += -DMALLOC_DEBUG=1
diff --git a/malloc/tst-malloc-usable-static-tunables.c b/malloc/tst-malloc-usable-static-tunables.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8907db0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/malloc/tst-malloc-usable-static-tunables.c
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+#include <malloc/tst-malloc-usable.c>
diff --git a/malloc/tst-malloc-usable-tunables.c b/malloc/tst-malloc-usable-tunables.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8907db0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/malloc/tst-malloc-usable-tunables.c
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+#include <malloc/tst-malloc-usable.c>
