diff --git a/doc/source/developer/developing_elements.rst b/doc/source/developer/developing_elements.rst
index aaa0739e6..da09d32f2 100644
--- a/doc/source/developer/developing_elements.rst
+++ b/doc/source/developer/developing_elements.rst
@@ -310,6 +310,18 @@ order to create a test case, follow these steps:
 * To exit early and indicate a success, touch a file /tmp/dib-test-should-fail
   in the image chroot, then exit 1.
 
+To run functional tests locally, install and start docker, then use
+the following tox command::
+
+    tox -efunc
+
+Note that running functional tests requires *sudo* rights, thus you may be
+asked for your password.
+
+To run functional tests for one element, append its name to the command::
+
+    tox -efunc ironic-agent
+
 Additionally, elements can be tested using python unittests. To create a
 a python test:
 
diff --git a/tests/run_functests.sh b/tests/run_functests.sh
index 8c903e27c..cb98cb1ce 100755
--- a/tests/run_functests.sh
+++ b/tests/run_functests.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@
 set -eux
 set -o pipefail
 
-$(dirname $0)/image_output_formats.bash
-$(dirname $0)/test_elements.bash
+element=${1:-}
+
+if [ -z $element ]; then
+    $(dirname $0)/image_output_formats.bash
+fi
+$(dirname $0)/test_elements.bash $element
 
 echo "Tests passed!"
diff --git a/tests/test_elements.bash b/tests/test_elements.bash
index 068f0d197..9acaa2bb1 100755
--- a/tests/test_elements.bash
+++ b/tests/test_elements.bash
@@ -4,16 +4,30 @@ set -eux
 set -o pipefail
 
 basedir=$(dirname $0)
+requested_element=${1:-}
 source $basedir/test_functions.bash
 
-for test_element in $basedir/../elements/*/test-elements/*; do
-    if [ -d "$test_element" ]; then
-        # our element name is two dirs up
-        element_name=$(basename $(dirname $(dirname $test_element)))
-        element_type=disk
-        if [ -f "$test_element/element-type" ]; then
-            element_type=$(cat "$test_element/element-type")
-        fi
-        run_${element_type}_element_test "$(basename $test_element)" "$element_name"
+function run_on_element {
+    test_element=$1
+    # our element name is two dirs up
+    local element_name=$(basename $(dirname $(dirname $test_element)))
+    local element_type=disk
+    if [ -f "$test_element/element-type" ]; then
+        element_type=$(cat "$test_element/element-type")
     fi
-done
+    run_${element_type}_element_test "$(basename $test_element)" "$element_name"
+}
+
+if [ -z $requested_element ]; then
+    for test_element in $basedir/../elements/*/test-elements/*; do
+        if [ -d "$test_element" ]; then
+            run_on_element "$test_element"
+        fi
+    done
+else
+    for test_element in $basedir/../elements/$requested_element/test-elements/*; do
+        if [ -d "$test_element" ]; then
+            run_on_element "$test_element"
+        fi
+    done
+fi
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 828c27dd0..d7965f833 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ commands =
 [testenv:venv]
 commands = {posargs}
 
+[testenv:func]
+envdir = {toxworkdir}/venv
+commands = {toxinidir}/tests/run_functests.sh {posargs}
+
 [testenv:cover]
 setenv = PYTHON=coverage run --source diskimage_builder
 commands = bash -c 'if [ ! -d ./.testrepository ] ; then testr init ; fi'