diff --git a/lib/internal/inspect_repl.js b/lib/internal/inspect_repl.js
index 7acb3c6..bfbedf6 100644
--- a/lib/internal/inspect_repl.js
+++ b/lib/internal/inspect_repl.js
@@ -782,6 +782,14 @@ function createRepl(inspector) {
   }
 
   Debugger.on('paused', ({ callFrames, reason /* , hitBreakpoints */ }) => {
+    if (process.env.NODE_INSPECT_RESUME_ON_START === '1' &&
+        reason === 'Break on start') {
+      debuglog('Paused on start, but NODE_INSPECT_RESUME_ON_START' +
+              ' environment variable is set to 1, resuming');
+      inspector.client.callMethod('Debugger.resume');
+      return;
+    }
+
     // Save execution context's data
     currentBacktrace = Backtrace.from(callFrames);
     selectedFrame = currentBacktrace[0];
diff --git a/test/cli/launch.test.js b/test/cli/launch.test.js
index 087a46c..c4ff3d8 100644
--- a/test/cli/launch.test.js
+++ b/test/cli/launch.test.js
@@ -174,3 +174,23 @@ test('run after quit / restart', (t) => {
     .then(() => cli.quit())
     .then(null, onFatal);
 });
+
+test('auto-resume on start if the environment variable is defined', (t) => {
+  const script = Path.join('examples', 'break.js');
+
+  const cli = startCLI([script], [], {
+    env: { NODE_INSPECT_RESUME_ON_START: '1' }
+  });
+
+  return cli.waitForInitialBreak()
+    .then(() => {
+      t.match(
+        cli.breakInfo,
+        { filename: script, line: 10 },
+        'skips to the first breakpoint');
+    })
+    .then(() => cli.quit())
+    .then((code) => {
+      t.equal(code, 0, 'exits with success');
+    });
+});
diff --git a/test/cli/start-cli.js b/test/cli/start-cli.js
index bec4270..32c666c 100644
--- a/test/cli/start-cli.js
+++ b/test/cli/start-cli.js
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ function isPreBreak(output) {
   return /Break on start/.test(output) && /1 \(function \(exports/.test(output);
 }
 
-function startCLI(args, flags = []) {
-  const child = spawn(process.execPath, [...flags, CLI, ...args]);
+function startCLI(args, flags = [], spawnOpts = {}) {
+  const child = spawn(process.execPath, [...flags, CLI, ...args], spawnOpts);
   let isFirstStdoutChunk = true;
 
   const outputBuffer = [];