diff --git a/src/systemcmds/motor_test/motor_test.c b/src/systemcmds/motor_test/motor_test.c
index 76ec68d0d4..258e38e1ef 100644
--- a/src/systemcmds/motor_test/motor_test.c
+++ b/src/systemcmds/motor_test/motor_test.c
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ void motor_test(unsigned channel, float value)
 
 	} else {
 		/* advertise and publish */
-		_test_motor_pub = orb_advertise(ORB_ID(test_motor), &_test_motor);
+		_test_motor_pub = orb_advertise_queue(ORB_ID(test_motor), &_test_motor, 4);
 	}
 
 	printf("motor %d set to %.2f\n", channel, (double)value);
@@ -92,7 +92,8 @@ static void usage(const char *reason)
 	     "motor_test\n"
 	     "    -m <channel>            Motor to test (0..7), all if -m not given\n"
 	     "    -p <power>              Power (0..100), 0 if -p not given\n"
-	     "motor_test stop             Stop all motors\n");
+	     "motor_test stop             Stop all motors\n"
+	     "motor_test iterate          Iterate all motors starting and stopping one after the other\n");
 }
 
 int motor_test_main(int argc, char *argv[])
@@ -126,19 +127,37 @@ int motor_test_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (argc > 1 && strcmp("stop", argv[1]) == 0) {
-		channel = -1;
-		value = 0.f;
+	bool run_test = true;
+
+	if (argc > 1) {
+		if (strcmp("stop", argv[1]) == 0) {
+			channel = -1;
+			value = 0.f;
+
+		} else if (strcmp("iterate", argv[1]) == 0) {
+			value = 0.3f;
+
+			for (int i = 0; i < 8; ++i) {
+				motor_test(i, value);
+				usleep(500000);
+				motor_test(i, 0.f);
+				usleep(10000);
+			}
+
+			run_test = false;
+		}
 	}
 
-	if (channel == -1) {
-		for (int i = 0; i < 8; ++i) {
-			motor_test(i, value);
-			usleep(10000);
-		}
+	if (run_test) {
+		if (channel == -1) {
+			for (int i = 0; i < 8; ++i) {
+				motor_test(i, value);
+				usleep(10000);
+			}
 
-	} else {
-		motor_test(channel, value);
+		} else {
+			motor_test(channel, value);
+		}
 	}
 
 	exit(0);