diff --git a/utils/p4runtime_switch.py b/utils/p4runtime_switch.py
index 18ec0ecb..542b41c4 100644
--- a/utils/p4runtime_switch.py
+++ b/utils/p4runtime_switch.py
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ def __init__(self, name, sw_path = None, json_path = None,
         if "cpu_port" in kwargs:
             self.cpu_port = kwargs["cpu_port"]
 
+        self.priority_queues = None
+        if "priority_queues" in kwargs:
+            self.priority_queues = kwargs["priority_queues"]
+
 
     def check_switch_started(self, pid):
         for _ in range(SWITCH_START_TIMEOUT * 2):
@@ -129,6 +133,8 @@ def start(self, controllers):
             args.append("-- --grpc-server-addr 0.0.0.0:" + str(self.grpc_port))
         if self.cpu_port:
             args.append("--cpu-port " + str(self.cpu_port))
+        if self.priority_queues:
+            args.append("--priority-queues " + str(self.priority_queues))
         cmd = ' '.join(args)
         info(cmd + "\n")
         print(cmd + "\n")
diff --git a/utils/run_exercise.py b/utils/run_exercise.py
index a2169fe9..4c0d8fbc 100755
--- a/utils/run_exercise.py
+++ b/utils/run_exercise.py
@@ -92,10 +92,17 @@ def __init__(self, hosts, switches, links, log_dir, bmv2_exe, pcap_dir, **opts):
             else:
                 # add default switch
                 switchClass = None
-            if "cpu_port" in params:
-                self.addSwitch(sw, log_file="%s/%s.log" %(log_dir, sw), cpu_port=params["cpu_port"], cls=switchClass)
-            else:
-                self.addSwitch(sw, log_file="%s/%s.log" %(log_dir, sw), cls=switchClass)
+
+            switch_opts = {
+                "log_file": "%s/%s.log" % (log_dir, sw),
+                "cls": switchClass
+            }
+
+            for key in ("cpu_port", "priority_queues"):
+                if key in params:
+                    switch_opts[key] = params[key]
+
+            self.addSwitch(sw, **switch_opts)
 
         for link in host_links:
             host_name = link['node1']