diff --git a/contrib/valgrind.supp b/contrib/valgrind.supp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0f6d993fd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/valgrind.supp
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Valgrind suppressions file for Bitcoin.
+#
+# Includes known Valgrind warnings in our dependencies that cannot be fixed
+# in-tree.
+#
+# Example use:
+# $ valgrind --suppressions=contrib/valgrind.supp src/test/test_bitcoin
+# $ valgrind --suppressions=contrib/valgrind.supp --leak-check=full \
+#       --show-leak-kinds=all src/test/test_bitcoin --log_level=test_suite
+{
+   Suppress libstdc++ warning - https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=65434
+   Memcheck:Leak
+   match-leak-kinds: reachable
+   fun:malloc
+   obj:*/libstdc++.*
+   fun:call_init.part.0
+   fun:call_init
+   fun:_dl_init
+   obj:*/ld-*.so
+}
+{
+   Suppress libdb warning - https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=662917
+   Memcheck:Cond
+   obj:*/libdb_cxx-*.so
+   fun:__log_put
+   obj:*/libdb_cxx-*.so
+   fun:__log_put_record
+}
+{
+   Suppress leveldb warning (leveldb::InitModule()) - https://github.com/google/leveldb/issues/113
+   Memcheck:Leak
+   match-leak-kinds: reachable
+   fun:_Znwm
+   fun:_ZN7leveldbL10InitModuleEv
+}
+{
+   Suppress leveldb warning (leveldb::Env::Default()) - https://github.com/google/leveldb/issues/113
+   Memcheck:Leak
+   match-leak-kinds: reachable
+   fun:_Znwm
+   ...
+   fun:_ZN7leveldbL14InitDefaultEnvEv
+}
diff --git a/doc/developer-notes.md b/doc/developer-notes.md
index 001b7be5df..3bbd3f5ae8 100644
--- a/doc/developer-notes.md
+++ b/doc/developer-notes.md
@@ -168,6 +168,21 @@ can be very difficult to track down. Compiling with -DDEBUG_LOCKORDER (configure
 CXXFLAGS="-DDEBUG_LOCKORDER -g") inserts run-time checks to keep track of which locks
 are held, and adds warnings to the debug.log file if inconsistencies are detected.
 
+**Valgrind suppressions file**
+
+Valgrind is a programming tool for memory debugging, memory leak detection, and
+profiling. The repo contains a Valgrind suppressions file
+([`valgrind.supp`](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/contrib/valgrind.supp))
+which includes known Valgrind warnings in our dependencies that cannot be fixed
+in-tree. Example use:
+
+```shell
+$ valgrind --suppressions=contrib/valgrind.supp src/test/test_bitcoin
+$ valgrind --suppressions=contrib/valgrind.supp --leak-check=full \
+      --show-leak-kinds=all src/test/test_bitcoin --log_level=test_suite
+$ valgrind -v --leak-check=full src/bitcoind -printtoconsole
+```
+
 Locking/mutex usage notes
 -------------------------