diff --git a/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_distribtests_standalone.cfg b/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_distribtests_standalone.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bc6c8e8f805
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_distribtests_standalone.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Copyright 2017 gRPC authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# Config file for the internal CI (in protobuf text format)
+
+# Location of the continuous shell script in repository.
+build_file: "grpc/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_distribtests_standalone.sh"
+timeout_mins: 120
+action {
+  define_artifacts {
+    regex: "**/*sponge_log.xml"
+    regex: "github/grpc/reports/**"
+    regex: "github/grpc/artifacts/**"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_distribtests_standalone.sh b/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_distribtests_standalone.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..084daa9bc6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_distribtests_standalone.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Copyright 2017 gRPC authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -ex
+
+# change to grpc repo root
+cd $(dirname $0)/../../..
+
+source tools/internal_ci/helper_scripts/prepare_build_linux_rc
+
+tools/run_tests/task_runner.py -f distribtest linux cpp -j 6
diff --git a/tools/internal_ci/windows/grpc_distribtests_standalone.bat b/tools/internal_ci/windows/grpc_distribtests_standalone.bat
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..229840bc982
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/internal_ci/windows/grpc_distribtests_standalone.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+@rem Copyright 2017 gRPC authors.
+@rem
+@rem Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+@rem you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+@rem You may obtain a copy of the License at
+@rem
+@rem     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+@rem
+@rem Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+@rem distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+@rem WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+@rem See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+@rem limitations under the License.
+
+@rem Move python installation from _32bit to _32bits where they are expected by python artifact builder
+@rem TODO(jtattermusch): get rid of this hack
+rename C:\Python27_32bit Python27_32bits
+rename C:\Python34_32bit Python34_32bits
+rename C:\Python35_32bit Python35_32bits
+rename C:\Python36_32bit Python36_32bits
+
+@rem enter repo root
+cd /d %~dp0\..\..\..
+
+call tools/internal_ci/helper_scripts/prepare_build_windows.bat
+
+python tools/run_tests/task_runner.py -f distribtests windows cpp -j 4 || goto :error
+goto :EOF
+
+:error
+exit /b %errorlevel%
diff --git a/tools/internal_ci/windows/grpc_distribtests_standalone.cfg b/tools/internal_ci/windows/grpc_distribtests_standalone.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..33a50fdc456
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/internal_ci/windows/grpc_distribtests_standalone.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Copyright 2017 gRPC authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# Config file for the internal CI (in protobuf text format)
+
+# Location of the continuous shell script in repository.
+build_file: "grpc/tools/internal_ci/windows/grpc_distribtests_standalone.bat"
+timeout_mins: 120
+action {
+  define_artifacts {
+    regex: "**/*sponge_log.xml"
+    regex: "github/grpc/reports/**"
+    regex: "github/grpc/artifacts/**"
+  }
+}