diff --git a/qa/README.md b/qa/README.md
index 746bd5cf94b..08ba59e117d 100644
--- a/qa/README.md
+++ b/qa/README.md
@@ -80,6 +80,15 @@ GITLAB_USERNAME=jsmith GITLAB_PASSWORD=password GITLAB_SANDBOX_NAME=jsmith-qa-sa
 
 All [supported environment variables are here](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/blob/master/docs/what_tests_can_be_run.md#supported-environment-variables).
 
+### Sending additional cookies
+
+The environment variable `QA_COOKIES` can be set to send additional cookies
+on every request. This is necessary on gitlab.com to direct traffic to the
+canary fleet. To do this set `QA_COOKIES="gitlab_canary=true"`.
+
+To set multiple cookies, separate them with the `;` character, for example: `QA_COOKIES="cookie1=value;cookie2=value2"` 
+
+
 ### Building a Docker image to test
 
 Once you have made changes to the CE/EE repositories, you may want to build a
diff --git a/qa/qa/runtime/browser.rb b/qa/qa/runtime/browser.rb
index 9aaf57e8d83..7fd2ba25527 100644
--- a/qa/qa/runtime/browser.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/runtime/browser.rb
@@ -117,6 +117,15 @@ module QA
         def perform(&block)
           visit(url)
 
+          if QA::Runtime::Env.qa_cookies
+            browser = Capybara.current_session.driver.browser
+            QA::Runtime::Env.qa_cookies.each do |cookie|
+              name, value = cookie.split("=")
+              value ||= ""
+              browser.manage.add_cookie name: name, value: value
+            end
+          end
+
           yield.tap { clear! } if block_given?
         end
 
diff --git a/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb b/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
index 7b2768548dd..3bc2b44ccd8 100644
--- a/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ module QA
         ENV['CI'] || ENV['CI_SERVER']
       end
 
+      def qa_cookies
+        ENV['QA_COOKIES'] && ENV['QA_COOKIES'].split(';')
+      end
+
       def signup_disabled?
         enabled?(ENV['SIGNUP_DISABLED'], default: false)
       end