diff --git a/xla/debug_options_flags.cc b/xla/debug_options_flags.cc
index 281f936fd772b..71602cb4e8d6b 100644
--- a/xla/debug_options_flags.cc
+++ b/xla/debug_options_flags.cc
@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ DebugOptions DefaultDebugOptionsIgnoringFlags() {
   opts.set_xla_gpu_executable_terminate_timeout_seconds(30);
   opts.set_xla_gpu_experimental_disable_binary_libraries(false);
   opts.set_xla_experimental_ignore_channel_id(false);
+  opts.set_xla_gpu_dot_merger_threshold_mb(32);
   return opts;
 }
 
@@ -1951,6 +1952,11 @@ void MakeDebugOptionsFlags(std::vector<tsl::Flag>* flag_list,
       bool_setter_for(&DebugOptions::set_xla_experimental_ignore_channel_id),
       debug_options->xla_experimental_ignore_channel_id(),
       "Experimental: ignore channel ids for collective operations."));
+  flag_list->push_back(tsl::Flag(
+      "xla_gpu_dot_merger_threshold_mb",
+      int32_setter_for(&DebugOptions::set_xla_gpu_dot_merger_threshold_mb),
+      debug_options->xla_gpu_dot_merger_threshold_mb(),
+      "Dot merger pass threshold to be set in MB."));
 }  // NOLINT(readability/fn_size)
 
 // Allocates flag_values and flag_objects; this function must not be called more
diff --git a/xla/service/gpu/gpu_compiler.cc b/xla/service/gpu/gpu_compiler.cc
index 3bc29969e3997..68a26a18bb5f6 100644
--- a/xla/service/gpu/gpu_compiler.cc
+++ b/xla/service/gpu/gpu_compiler.cc
@@ -790,9 +790,12 @@ absl::Status RunOptimizationPasses(
     // AlgebraicSimplifier may add contracting dimensions to a dot.
     pipeline.AddPass<DotDimensionSorter>();
     pipeline.AddPass<DotDecomposer>();
-    // Only merge "smallish" dots.  This threshold was not set carefully, but
-    // so far we know that 1mb is too small.
-    pipeline.AddPass<DotMerger>(/*max_size_to_merge=*/int64_t{32} << 20);
+    // Only merge "smallish" dots.  This threshold defaults to 32MB today, with
+    // a flag to override.
+    pipeline.AddPass<DotMerger>(
+        /*max_size_to_merge=*/int64_t{
+            debug_options.xla_gpu_dot_merger_threshold_mb()}
+        << 20);
     pipeline.AddPass<SortSimplifier>();
     pipeline.AddPass<TupleSimplifier>();
     pipeline.AddPass<WhileLoopConstantSinking>();
diff --git a/xla/xla.proto b/xla/xla.proto
index 74eaf1166e459..018320d9c8df6 100644
--- a/xla/xla.proto
+++ b/xla/xla.proto
@@ -978,7 +978,10 @@ message DebugOptions {
   // for collectives in the given HLO.
   bool xla_experimental_ignore_channel_id = 330;
 
-  // Next id: 331
+  // DotMerger pass threshold size to be used in MB.
+  int32 xla_gpu_dot_merger_threshold_mb = 331;
+
+  // Next id: 332
 
   // Extra options to pass to the compilation backend (e.g. LLVM); specific
   // interpretation of these values is left to the backend.