diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dc2419360c..15fb211ce8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ Unreleased changes template.
 * (rules) APIs for creating custom rules based on the core py_binary, py_test,
   and py_library rules
   ([#1647](https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_python/issues/1647))
+* (rules) Added env-var to allow additional interpreter args for stage1 bootstrap.
+  See {obj}`RULES_PYTHON_ADDITIONAL_INTERPRETER_ARGS` environment variable.
+  Only applicable for {obj}`--bootstrap_impl=script`.
 * (rules) Added {obj}`interpreter_args` attribute to `py_binary` and `py_test`,
   which allows pass arguments to the interpreter before the regular args.
 
diff --git a/docs/environment-variables.md b/docs/environment-variables.md
index d50070af55..c7c0181d18 100644
--- a/docs/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/environment-variables.md
@@ -1,5 +1,33 @@
 # Environment Variables
 
+::::{envvar} RULES_PYTHON_ADDITIONAL_INTERPRETER_ARGS
+
+This variable allows for additional arguments to be provided to the Python interpreter
+at bootstrap time when the `bash` bootstrap is used. If
+`RULES_PYTHON_ADDITIONAL_INTERPRETER_ARGS` were provided as `-Xaaa`, then the command
+would be;
+
+```
+python -Xaaa /path/to/file.py
+```
+
+This feature is likely to be useful for the integration of debuggers. For example,
+it would be possible to configure the `RULES_PYTHON_ADDITIONAL_INTERPRETER_ARGS` to
+be set to `/path/to/debugger.py --port 12344 --file` resulting
+in the command executed being;
+
+```
+python /path/to/debugger.py --port 12345 --file /path/to/file.py
+```
+
+:::{seealso}
+The {bzl:obj}`interpreter_args` attribute.
+:::
+
+:::{versionadded} VERSION_NEXT_FEATURE
+
+::::
+
 :::{envvar} RULES_PYTHON_BOOTSTRAP_VERBOSE
 
 When `1`, debug information about bootstrapping of a program is printed to
diff --git a/python/private/py_executable.bzl b/python/private/py_executable.bzl
index d1905448a6..bbaed3104e 100644
--- a/python/private/py_executable.bzl
+++ b/python/private/py_executable.bzl
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ CPython, see https://docs.python.org/3/using/cmdline.html.
 Only supported for {obj}`--bootstrap_impl=script`. Ignored otherwise.
 :::
 
+:::{seealso}
+The {obj}`RULES_PYTHON_ADDITIONAL_INTERPRETER_ARGS` environment variable
+:::
+
 :::{versionadded} VERSION_NEXT_FEATURE
 :::
 """,
diff --git a/python/private/stage1_bootstrap_template.sh b/python/private/stage1_bootstrap_template.sh
index 523210ad14..bd142cf7c7 100644
--- a/python/private/stage1_bootstrap_template.sh
+++ b/python/private/stage1_bootstrap_template.sh
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ stage2_bootstrap="$RUNFILES_DIR/$STAGE2_BOOTSTRAP"
 
 declare -a interpreter_env
 declare -a interpreter_args
+declare -a additional_interpreter_args
 
 # Don't prepend a potentially unsafe path to sys.path
 # See: https://docs.python.org/3.11/using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONSAFEPATH
@@ -220,6 +221,12 @@ if [[ "$IS_ZIPFILE" == "1" ]]; then
   interpreter_args+=("-XRULES_PYTHON_ZIP_DIR=$zip_dir")
 fi
 
+if [[ -n "${RULES_PYTHON_ADDITIONAL_INTERPRETER_ARGS}" ]]; then
+  read -a additional_interpreter_args <<< "${RULES_PYTHON_ADDITIONAL_INTERPRETER_ARGS}"
+  interpreter_args+=("${additional_interpreter_args[@]}")
+  unset RULES_PYTHON_ADDITIONAL_INTERPRETER_ARGS
+fi
+
 export RUNFILES_DIR
 
 command=(