diff --git a/compiler/tests/testutils.py b/compiler/tests/testutils.py
index d4d289bb..057fd7bf 100644
--- a/compiler/tests/testutils.py
+++ b/compiler/tests/testutils.py
@@ -309,16 +309,18 @@ def header(filename, technology):
 
 def debugTestRunner(post_mortem=None):
     """unittest runner doing post mortem debugging on failing tests"""
-    if post_mortem is None:
+    if post_mortem is None and not OPTS.purge_temp:
         post_mortem = pdb.post_mortem
     class DebugTestResult(unittest.TextTestResult):
         def addError(self, test, err):
             # called before tearDown()
             traceback.print_exception(*err)
-            post_mortem(err[2])
+            if post_mortem:
+                post_mortem(err[2])
             super(DebugTestResult, self).addError(test, err)
         def addFailure(self, test, err):
             traceback.print_exception(*err)
-            post_mortem(err[2])
+            if post_mortem:            
+                post_mortem(err[2])
             super(DebugTestResult, self).addFailure(test, err)
     return unittest.TextTestRunner(resultclass=DebugTestResult)