diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxscales.cpp b/maxscale-system-test/maxscales.cpp
index 6ba1b30b9..e7aadbf58 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/maxscales.cpp
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxscales.cpp
@@ -247,7 +247,11 @@ int Maxscales::restart_maxscale(int m)
     if (use_valgrind)
     {
         res = stop_maxscale(m);
-        res += start_maxscale(m);
+        res = ssh_node_f(m, false,
+                         "sudo --user=maxscale valgrind --leak-check=full --show-leak-kinds=all "
+                         "--log-file=/%s/valgrind%02d.log --trace-children=yes "
+                         "--track-origins=yes /usr/bin/maxscale", maxscale_log_dir[m], valgring_log_num);
+        valgring_log_num++;
     }
     else
     {
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/testconnections.cpp b/maxscale-system-test/testconnections.cpp
index 56052b4c5..cd50061e8 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/testconnections.cpp
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/testconnections.cpp
@@ -776,12 +776,16 @@ void TestConnections::init_maxscale(int m)
                           true,
                           "cp maxscale.cnf %s;"
                           "iptables -F INPUT;"
-                          "rm -rf %s/*.log /tmp/core* /dev/shm/* /var/lib/maxscale/maxscale.cnf.d/ /var/lib/maxscale/*;"
-                          "%s"
-                          "maxctrl api get maxscale/debug/monitor_wait",
+                          "rm -rf %s/*.log /tmp/core* /dev/shm/* /var/lib/maxscale/maxscale.cnf.d/ /var/lib/maxscale/*;",
                           maxscales->maxscale_cnf[m],
-                          maxscales->maxscale_log_dir[m],
-                          maxscale::start ? "service maxscale restart;" : "");
+                          maxscales->maxscale_log_dir[m]);
+    if (maxscale::start)
+    {
+        maxscales->restart_maxscale(m);
+        maxscales->ssh_node_f(m,
+                              true,
+                              "maxctrl api get maxscale/debug/monitor_wait");
+    }
 }
 
 void TestConnections::copy_one_mariadb_log(int i, std::string filename)