diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fc952643706..06672beab93 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ ps:                                              ## Plain-text list of profiles
 ##
 PROFILES_BASE             := default default-p2p plutus plutus-secp-ecdsa plutus-secp-schnorr oldtracing idle tracer-only
 PROFILES_FAST             := fast fast-p2p fast-plutus fast-notracer fast-oldtracing faststartup-24M
-PROFILES_CI_TEST          := ci-test ci-test-p2p ci-test-plutus ci-test-notracer ci-test-rtview ci-test-dense10
+PROFILES_CI_TEST          := ci-test ci-test-p2p ci-test-plutus ci-test-notracer ci-test-rtview ci-test-dense10 ci-test-hydra
 PROFILES_CI_BENCH         := ci-bench ci-bench-p2p ci-bench-plutus ci-bench-plutus-secp-ecdsa ci-bench-plutus-secp-schnorr ci-bench-notracer ci-bench-rtview ci-bench-lmdb ci-bench-drep
 PROFILES_CI_BENCH         += ci-bench-plutusv3-blst ci-bench-plutus24
 PROFILES_TRACE_BENCH      := trace-bench trace-bench-notracer trace-bench-oldtracing trace-bench-rtview
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 1b37fe287b7..5ba7786b3a9 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -206,11 +206,12 @@
 
             ## This is a very light profile, no caching&pinning needed.
             workbench-ci-test =
-              workbenchTest { profileName        = "ci-test-bage";
+              workbenchTest { profileName        = "ci-test-hydra-bage";
+                              workbenchStartArgs = [ "--create-testnet-data" ];
                             };
             workbench-ci-test-trace =
-              workbenchTest { profileName        = "ci-test-bage";
-                              workbenchStartArgs = [ "--trace" ];
+              workbenchTest { profileName        = "ci-test-hydra-bage";
+                              workbenchStartArgs = [ "--create-testnet-data" "--trace" ];
                             };
 
             inherit (pkgs) all-profiles-json;
diff --git a/nix/workbench/profile/prof1-variants.jq b/nix/workbench/profile/prof1-variants.jq
index 4eaae5b01eb..0925f66b8d0 100644
--- a/nix/workbench/profile/prof1-variants.jq
+++ b/nix/workbench/profile/prof1-variants.jq
@@ -1022,6 +1022,10 @@ def all_profile_variants:
     { name: "ci-test-nomadperf-nop2p"
     , desc: "ci-test on P&T exclusive cluster with P2P disabled"
     }
+  , $citest_base * $plutus_base * $plutus_loop_counter * $costmodel_v8_preview * $p2p *
+    { name: "ci-test-hydra"
+    , desc: "ci-test variant intended for Hydra CI"
+    }
 
   ## CI variants: bench duration, 15 blocks
   , $cibench_base *
diff --git a/nix/workbench/wb b/nix/workbench/wb
index 1ff6b80ab47..c20ba587395 100755
--- a/nix/workbench/wb
+++ b/nix/workbench/wb
@@ -198,6 +198,7 @@ start() {
         --verbose | -v )                 export verbose=t;;
         --trace | --debug )              set -x;;
         --trace-wb | --trace-workbench ) export WB_EXTRA_FLAGS=--trace;;
+        --create-testnet-data )          export WB_CREATE_TESTNET_DATA=1;;
 
         --help )                         usage_start
                                          exit 1;;