diff --git a/src/avalanche/processor.cpp b/src/avalanche/processor.cpp
--- a/src/avalanche/processor.cpp
+++ b/src/avalanche/processor.cpp
@@ -249,8 +249,21 @@
             }
         }
 
-        // Generate the delegation to the session key.
         DelegationBuilder dgb(peerData->proof);
+
+        if (argsman.IsArgSet("-avadelegation")) {
+            Delegation dg;
+            CDataStream stream(ParseHex(argsman.GetArg("-avadelegation", "")),
+                               SER_NETWORK, 0);
+            stream >> dg;
+
+            if (!dgb.importDelegation(dg)) {
+                error = _("the supplied avalanche delegation is invalid");
+                return nullptr;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Generate the delegation to the session key.
         if (sessionKey.GetPubKey() != peerData->proof.getMaster()) {
             dgb.addLevel(masterKey, sessionKey.GetPubKey());
         }
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -1227,6 +1227,12 @@
         strprintf("Mandatory cooldown between two avapoll (default: %u)",
                   AVALANCHE_DEFAULT_COOLDOWN),
         ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::AVALANCHE);
+    argsman.AddArg(
+        "-avadelegation",
+        "Avalanche proof delegation to the master key used by this node "
+        "(default: none). Should be used in conjunction with -avaproof and "
+        "-avamasterkey",
+        ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::AVALANCHE);
     argsman.AddArg("-avaproof",
                    "Avalanche proof to be used by this node (default: none)",
                    ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::AVALANCHE);
diff --git a/test/functional/abc_p2p_avalanche.py b/test/functional/abc_p2p_avalanche.py
--- a/test/functional/abc_p2p_avalanche.py
+++ b/test/functional/abc_p2p_avalanche.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 from test_framework.avatools import get_stakes
 from test_framework.key import (
+    bytes_to_wif,
     ECKey,
     ECPubKey,
 )
@@ -351,15 +352,40 @@
             int(node.getnetworkinfo()['localservices'], 16) & NODE_AVALANCHE,
             NODE_AVALANCHE)
 
-        self.log.info("Test the avahello signature")
-        quorum = get_quorum()
-        poll_node = quorum[0]
+        def check_avahello(args):
+            # Restart the node with the given args
+            self.restart_node(0, self.extra_args[0] + args)
 
-        avahello = poll_node.wait_for_avahello().hello
+            quorum = get_quorum()
+            poll_node = quorum[0]
 
-        avakey.set(bytes.fromhex(node.getavalanchekey()))
-        assert avakey.verify_schnorr(
-            avahello.sig, avahello.get_sighash(poll_node))
+            avahello = poll_node.wait_for_avahello().hello
+
+            avakey.set(bytes.fromhex(node.getavalanchekey()))
+            assert avakey.verify_schnorr(
+                avahello.sig, avahello.get_sighash(poll_node))
+
+        self.log.info(
+            "Test the avahello signature with a generated delegation")
+        check_avahello([
+            "-avaproof={}".format(proof),
+            "-avamasterkey=cND2ZvtabDbJ1gucx9GWH6XT9kgTAqfb6cotPt5Q5CyxVDhid2EN"
+        ])
+
+        master_key = ECKey()
+        master_key.generate()
+        delegation = node.delegateavalancheproof(
+            proof,
+            bytes_to_wif(privkey.get_bytes()),
+            master_key.get_pubkey().get_bytes().hex(),
+        )
+
+        self.log.info("Test the avahello signature with a supplied delegation")
+        check_avahello([
+            "-avaproof={}".format(proof),
+            "-avadelegation={}".format(delegation),
+            "-avamasterkey={}".format(bytes_to_wif(master_key.get_bytes())),
+        ])
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/test/functional/abc_rpc_avalancheproof.py b/test/functional/abc_rpc_avalancheproof.py
--- a/test/functional/abc_rpc_avalancheproof.py
+++ b/test/functional/abc_rpc_avalancheproof.py
@@ -237,6 +237,23 @@
             match=ErrorMatch.PARTIAL_REGEX,
         )
 
+        self.log.info("Bad delegation should be rejected at startup")
+
+        def check_delegation_init_error(delegation, message):
+            node.assert_start_raises_init_error(
+                self.extra_args[0] + [
+                    "-avadelegation={}".format(delegation),
+                    "-avaproof={}".format(proof),
+                    "-avamasterkey={}".format(
+                        bytes_to_wif(privkey.get_bytes())),
+                ],
+                expected_msg="Error: " + message,
+            )
+
+        bad_proof_id = AvalancheDelegation()
+        check_delegation_init_error(bad_proof_id.serialize().hex(),
+                                    "the supplied avalanche delegation is invalid")
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     AvalancheProofTest().main()