diff --git a/perfkitbenchmarker/linux_benchmarks/sysbench_benchmark.py b/perfkitbenchmarker/linux_benchmarks/sysbench_benchmark.py
index 6df359a321..e38a526d18 100644
--- a/perfkitbenchmarker/linux_benchmarks/sysbench_benchmark.py
+++ b/perfkitbenchmarker/linux_benchmarks/sysbench_benchmark.py
@@ -158,6 +158,13 @@
     ' benchmark mode to work',
 )
 
+_SYSBENCH_OPEN_FILE_LIMIT = flags.DEFINE_integer(
+    'sysbench_open_file_limit',
+    None,
+    'Override the default linux open file limit (ulimit -n) for sysbench'
+    ' execution.',
+)
+
 _SCALEUP_CLIENTS_TEST_NUM_CLIENTS = flags.DEFINE_integer(
     'sysbench_scaleup_clients_test_num_clients',
     1,
@@ -381,14 +388,24 @@ def _IsValidFlag(flag):
   )
 
 
+def _GetUlimitCommand() -> str:
+  """Returns the ulimit command prefix if an open file limit is set."""
+  if _SYSBENCH_OPEN_FILE_LIMIT.value:
+    return f'ulimit -n {_SYSBENCH_OPEN_FILE_LIMIT.value} && '
+  return ''
+
+
 def _GetSysbenchPrepareCommand(
     db: relational_db.BaseRelationalDb, num_vms: int, vm_index: int
 ) -> str:
   """Returns the sysbench command used to load the database."""
   # TODO(ruwa): Migrate to use sysbench.BuildLoadCommand()
+  ulimit_cmd = _GetUlimitCommand()
   data_load_cmd_tokens = [
-      'cd ~/sysbench/ && nice',  # run with a niceness of lower priority
-      '-15',  # to encourage cpu time for ssh commands
+      # Run with a niceness of lower priority to encourage CPU time for SSH
+      # commands.
+      f'cd ~/sysbench/ && {ulimit_cmd}nice',
+      '-15',
       'sysbench',
       _GetSysbenchTestParameter(),
       '--tables=%d' % FLAGS.sysbench_tables,
@@ -662,6 +679,7 @@ def _GetSysbenchRunCommand(
   if duration <= 0:
     raise ValueError('Duration must be greater than zero.')
 
+  ulimit_cmd = _GetUlimitCommand()
   run_cmd_tokens = [
       'nice',  # run with a niceness of lower priority
       '-15',  # to encourage cpu time for ssh commands
@@ -696,7 +714,7 @@ def _GetSysbenchRunCommand(
   ) and not spanner_read_committed:
     run_cmd_tokens.append('--trx_level=%s' % _TXN_ISOLATION_LEVEL.value)
   run_cmd = ' '.join(run_cmd_tokens + _GetCommonSysbenchOptions(db) + ['run'])
-  run_cmd = 'cd ~/sysbench/ && ' + run_cmd
+  run_cmd = f'cd ~/sysbench/ && {ulimit_cmd}' + run_cmd
   return run_cmd
 
 
diff --git a/perfkitbenchmarker/linux_packages/pgbench.py b/perfkitbenchmarker/linux_packages/pgbench.py
index 3c08dac3c2..d7def721ce 100644
--- a/perfkitbenchmarker/linux_packages/pgbench.py
+++ b/perfkitbenchmarker/linux_packages/pgbench.py
@@ -17,10 +17,18 @@
 import socket
 import statistics
 import time
+from absl import flags
 from perfkitbenchmarker import publisher
 from perfkitbenchmarker import sample
 from perfkitbenchmarker import sql_engine_utils
 
+_PGBENCH_OPEN_FILE_LIMIT = flags.DEFINE_integer(
+    'pgbench_open_file_limit',
+    None,
+    'Override the default linux open file limit (ulimit -n) for pgbench'
+    ' execution.',
+)
+
 APT_PACKAGES = (
     'postgresql-client-common',
     'postgresql-client',
@@ -176,8 +184,13 @@ def RunPgBench(
       jobs = min(client, 16)
 
     start_time = datetime.datetime.now()
+    ulimit_cmd = (
+        f'ulimit -n {_PGBENCH_OPEN_FILE_LIMIT.value} && '
+        if _PGBENCH_OPEN_FILE_LIMIT.value
+        else ''
+    )
     command = (
-        f'ulimit -n 10000 && pgbench {connection_string} --client={client} '
+        f'{ulimit_cmd}pgbench {connection_string} --client={client} '
         f'--jobs={jobs} --time={seconds_per_test} --progress=1 '
         '-r'
         + extended_protocol