diff --git a/cmd/argoexec/commands/emissary.go b/cmd/argoexec/commands/emissary.go
index e85fe6320cca..3c0bc3c5c0e5 100644
--- a/cmd/argoexec/commands/emissary.go
+++ b/cmd/argoexec/commands/emissary.go
@@ -132,6 +132,18 @@ func NewEmissaryCommand() *cobra.Command {
 				command.Stderr = io.MultiWriter(os.Stderr, stderr)
 			}
 
+			if _, ok := os.LookupEnv("ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE"); ok {
+				for {
+					// User can create the file: /ctr/NAME_OF_THE_CONTAINER/before
+					// in order to break out of the sleep and release the container from
+					// the debugging state.
+					if _, err := os.Stat(varRunArgo + "/ctr/" + containerName + "/before"); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+						time.Sleep(time.Second)
+						continue
+					}
+					break
+				}
+			}
 			if err := command.Start(); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -150,6 +162,19 @@ func NewEmissaryCommand() *cobra.Command {
 
 			cmdErr := command.Wait()
 
+			if _, ok := os.LookupEnv("ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_AFTER"); ok {
+				for {
+					// User can create the file: /ctr/NAME_OF_THE_CONTAINER/after
+					// in order to break out of the sleep and release the container from
+					// the debugging state.
+					if _, err := os.Stat(varRunArgo + "/ctr/" + containerName + "/after"); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+						time.Sleep(time.Second)
+						continue
+					}
+					break
+				}
+			}
+
 			if cmdErr == nil {
 				exitCode = 0
 			} else if exitError, ok := cmdErr.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
diff --git a/cmd/argoexec/commands/wait.go b/cmd/argoexec/commands/wait.go
index 9504b3df4067..045580e060d4 100644
--- a/cmd/argoexec/commands/wait.go
+++ b/cmd/argoexec/commands/wait.go
@@ -31,9 +31,7 @@ func waitContainer(ctx context.Context) error {
 	stats.StartStatsTicker(5 * time.Minute)
 
 	defer func() {
-		// Killing sidecar containers
-		err := wfExecutor.KillSidecars(ctx)
-		if err != nil {
+		if err := wfExecutor.KillSidecars(ctx); err != nil {
 			wfExecutor.AddError(err)
 		}
 	}()
diff --git a/test/e2e/functional/pause-after.yaml b/test/e2e/functional/pause-after.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a95a56ec5e47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/functional/pause-after.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Workflow
+metadata:
+  generateName: pause-after-
+spec:
+  entrypoint: whalesay
+  templates:
+    - name: whalesay
+      container:
+        image: argoproj/argosay:v2
+        env:
+          - name: ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_AFTER
+            value: 'true'
diff --git a/test/e2e/functional/pause-before-after.yaml b/test/e2e/functional/pause-before-after.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..26acdc117d3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/functional/pause-before-after.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Workflow
+metadata:
+  generateName: pause-before-after
+spec:
+  entrypoint: whalesay
+  templates:
+    - name: whalesay
+      container:
+        image: argoproj/argosay:v2
+        env: 
+          - name: ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE
+            value: 'true'
+          - name: ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_AFTER
+            value: 'true'
diff --git a/test/e2e/functional/pause-before.yaml b/test/e2e/functional/pause-before.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0fa6b2c1ba1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/functional/pause-before.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Workflow
+metadata:
+  generateName: pause-before-
+spec:
+  entrypoint: whalesay
+  templates:
+    - name: whalesay
+      container:
+        image: argoproj/argosay:v2
+        env:
+          - name: ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE
+            value: 'true'
diff --git a/test/e2e/functional_test.go b/test/e2e/functional_test.go
index 71266f56f978..af77b97ac13f 100644
--- a/test/e2e/functional_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/functional_test.go
@@ -841,6 +841,37 @@ spec:
 		WaitForWorkflow(fixtures.ToBeSucceeded)
 }
 
+func (s *FunctionalSuite) TestPauseBefore() {
+	s.Given().
+		Workflow(`@functional/pause-before.yaml`).
+		When().
+		SubmitWorkflow().
+		WaitForWorkflow(fixtures.ToBeRunning).
+		Exec("bash", []string{"-c", "sleep 5 &&  kubectl exec -i $(kubectl get pods | awk '/pause-before/ {print $1;exit}') -c main -- bash -c 'touch /proc/1/root/run/argo/ctr/main/before'"}, fixtures.NoError).
+		WaitForWorkflow(fixtures.ToBeSucceeded)
+}
+
+func (s *FunctionalSuite) TestPauseAfter() {
+	s.Given().
+		Workflow(`@functional/pause-after.yaml`).
+		When().
+		SubmitWorkflow().
+		WaitForWorkflow(fixtures.ToBeRunning).
+		Exec("bash", []string{"-c", "sleep 5 && kubectl exec -i $(kubectl get pods -n argo | awk '/pause-after/ {print $1;exit}') -c main -- bash -c 'touch /proc/1/root/run/argo/ctr/main/after'"}, fixtures.NoError).
+		WaitForWorkflow(fixtures.ToBeSucceeded)
+}
+
+func (s *FunctionalSuite) TestPauseAfterAndBefore() {
+	s.Given().
+		Workflow(`@functional/pause-before-after.yaml`).
+		When().
+		SubmitWorkflow().
+		WaitForWorkflow(fixtures.ToBeRunning).
+		Exec("bash", []string{"-c", "sleep 5 && kubectl exec -i $(kubectl get pods | awk '/pause-before-after/ {print $1;exit}') -c main -- bash -c 'touch /proc/1/root/run/argo/ctr/main/before'"}, fixtures.NoError).
+		Exec("bash", []string{"-c", "kubectl exec -i $(kubectl get pods | awk '/pause-before-after/ {print $1;exit}') -c main -- bash -c 'touch /proc/1/root/run/argo/ctr/main/after'"}, fixtures.NoError).
+		WaitForWorkflow(fixtures.ToBeSucceeded)
+}
+
 func TestFunctionalSuite(t *testing.T) {
 	suite.Run(t, new(FunctionalSuite))
 }
diff --git a/workflow/controller/workflowpod.go b/workflow/controller/workflowpod.go
index 3380515ed7fa..ecb7cb34f6e5 100644
--- a/workflow/controller/workflowpod.go
+++ b/workflow/controller/workflowpod.go
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ func (woc *wfOperationCtx) createWorkflowPod(ctx context.Context, nodeName strin
 		case wfv1.TemplateTypeContainerSet:
 
 		}
+
 		mainCtrs[i] = c
 	}
 
@@ -191,6 +192,16 @@ func (woc *wfOperationCtx) createWorkflowPod(ctx context.Context, nodeName strin
 			activeDeadlineSeconds = tmplActiveDeadlineSeconds
 		}
 	}
+
+	// If the template is marked for debugging no deadline will be set
+	for _, c := range mainCtrs {
+		for _, env := range c.Env {
+			if env.Name == "ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE" || env.Name == "ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_AFTER" {
+				activeDeadlineSeconds = nil
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	pod := &apiv1.Pod{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Name:      util.PodName(woc.wf.Name, nodeName, tmpl.Name, nodeID),