diff --git a/ci/localnet-sanity.sh b/ci/localnet-sanity.sh
index f730732a36..59e5e5bf12 100755
--- a/ci/localnet-sanity.sh
+++ b/ci/localnet-sanity.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ source ci/upload_ci_artifact.sh
 
 ./multinode-demo/setup.sh
 
-backgroundCommands="drone leader validator"
+backgroundCommands="drone leader validator validator-x"
 pids=()
 
 for cmd in $backgroundCommands; do
diff --git a/multinode-demo/setup.sh b/multinode-demo/setup.sh
index ad9e5adc35..38e2c2df9a 100755
--- a/multinode-demo/setup.sh
+++ b/multinode-demo/setup.sh
@@ -77,8 +77,7 @@ mint_path="$SOLANA_CONFIG_PRIVATE_DIR"/mint.json
 
 set -e
 
-for i in "$SOLANA_CONFIG_DIR" "$SOLANA_CONFIG_PRIVATE_DIR" "$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR"
-do
+for i in "$SOLANA_CONFIG_DIR" "$SOLANA_CONFIG_PRIVATE_DIR" "$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR"; do
   echo "Cleaning $i"
   rm -rvf "$i"
   mkdir -p "$i"
diff --git a/multinode-demo/validator-x.sh b/multinode-demo/validator-x.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..a0b7608120
--- /dev/null
+++ b/multinode-demo/validator-x.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+here=$(dirname "$0")
+
+exec "$here"/validator.sh -x "$@"
diff --git a/multinode-demo/validator.sh b/multinode-demo/validator.sh
index 36674008da..72b74dc80d 100755
--- a/multinode-demo/validator.sh
+++ b/multinode-demo/validator.sh
@@ -4,78 +4,80 @@ here=$(dirname "$0")
 source "$here"/common.sh
 
 usage() {
-  if [[ -n "$1" ]]; then
+  if [[ -n $1 ]]; then
     echo "$*"
     echo
   fi
-  echo "usage: $0 [rsync network path to solana repo on leader machine] [network ip address of leader]"
+  echo "usage: $0 [-x] [rsync network path to solana repo on leader machine] [network ip address of leader]"
+  echo ""
+  echo "       -x: runs a new, dynamically-configured validator"
   exit 1
 }
 
-if [[ "$1" = "-h" || -n "$3" ]]; then
+if [[ $1 = -h || -n $3 ]]; then
   usage
 fi
 
-if [[ "$1" == "-x" ]]; then
+if [[ $1 == -x ]]; then
   self_setup=1
   shift
 else
   self_setup=0
 fi
 
-if [[ -d "$SNAP" ]]; then
+if [[ -d $SNAP ]]; then
   # Exit if mode is not yet configured
   # (typically the case after the Snap is first installed)
-  [[ -n "$(snapctl get mode)" ]] || exit 0
+  [[ -n $(snapctl get mode) ]] || exit 0
 
   # Select leader from the Snap configuration
   leader_address="$(snapctl get leader-address)"
-  if [[ -z "$leader_address" ]]; then
+  if [[ -z $leader_address ]]; then
     # Assume public testnet by default
     leader_address=35.230.65.68  # testnet.solana.com
   fi
-  leader="$leader_address"
+  leader=$leader_address
 else
-  if [[ -z "$1" ]]; then
+  if [[ -z $1 ]]; then
     leader=${1:-${here}/..}    # Default to local solana repo
     leader_address=${2:-127.0.0.1}  # Default to local leader
   elif [[ -z "$2" ]]; then
-    leader="$1"
+    leader=$1
     leader_address=$(dig +short "$1" | head -n1)
-    if [[ -z "$leader_address" ]]; then
+    if [[ -z $leader_address ]]; then
       usage "Error: unable to resolve IP address for $leader"
     fi
   else
-    leader="$1"
-    leader_address="$2"
+    leader=$1
+    leader_address=$2
   fi
 fi
 leader_port=8001
 
-if [[ -n "$SOLANA_CUDA" ]]; then
-  program="$solana_fullnode_cuda"
+if [[ -n $SOLANA_CUDA ]]; then
+  program=$solana_fullnode_cuda
 else
-  program="$solana_fullnode"
+  program=$solana_fullnode
 fi
 
-if (( ! self_setup)); then
-  [[ -f "$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR"/validator.json ]] || {
+if ((!self_setup)); then
+  [[ -f $SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/validator.json ]] || {
     echo "$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/validator.json not found, create it by running:"
     echo
     echo "  ${here}/setup.sh"
     exit 1
   }
-  validator_json_path="$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR"/validator.json
-  SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR="$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR"/leader-config
+  validator_json_path=$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/validator.json
+  SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR=$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/leader-config
 else
 
-  validator_id_path="$SOLANA_CONFIG_PRIVATE_DIR"/validator-id-x$$.json
+  validator_id_path=$SOLANA_CONFIG_PRIVATE_DIR/validator-id-x$$.json
   $solana_keygen -o "$validator_id_path"
 
-  validator_json_path="$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR"/validator-x$$.json
-  $solana_fullnode_config --keypair="$validator_id_path" -l -b $((9000+($$%1000))) > "$validator_json_path"
+  validator_json_path=$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/validator-x$$.json
+  $solana_fullnode_config --keypair="$validator_id_path" -l -b $((9000 + ($$ % 1000))) > "$validator_json_path"
 
-  SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR="$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR"/leader-config-x$$
+  SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR=$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/leader-config-x$$
 fi
 
 rsync_leader_url=$(rsync_url "$leader")
@@ -85,7 +87,7 @@ tune_networking
 rm -rf "$SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR"
 set -ex
 $rsync -vPrz --max-size=100M "$rsync_leader_url"/config/ "$SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR"
-[[ -r "$SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR"/ledger.log ]] || {
+[[ -r $SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR/ledger.log ]] || {
   echo "Unable to retrieve ledger.log from $rsync_leader_url"
   exit 1
 }