diff --git a/ops/_main.py b/ops/_main.py
index 07adc041c..38c9eb220 100644
--- a/ops/_main.py
+++ b/ops/_main.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import warnings
+from optparse import Option
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, Type, Union, cast
 
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@
 from ops.log import setup_root_logging
 
 CHARM_STATE_FILE = '.unit-state.db'
+CHARM_EVAL_EXPR_ENVVAR = 'CHARM_EVAL_EXPR'
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger()
@@ -523,15 +525,43 @@ def _commit(self):
         """Commit the framework and gracefully teardown."""
         self.framework.commit()
 
+    def _eval(self, expr: str):
+        """Eval an expression in the context of the charm and print the result to stdout."""
+        import json
+
+        globs = {'self': self.charm, 'ops': ops, 'json': json}
+        try:
+            globs = {'self': self.charm, 'ops': ops, 'json': json}
+            out = eval(expr, globs)
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception(
+                f'failure evaluating expression {expr!r} ' f'given available globs ({globs})'
+            )
+            return
+        logger.debug(f'expression {expr!r} evaluated to {out!r}')
+        print(out)
+
     def run(self):
         """Emit and then commit the framework."""
         try:
+            if eval_expr := _is_eval_set():
+                return self._eval(eval_expr)
             self._emit()
             self._commit()
         finally:
             self.framework.close()
 
 
+def _is_eval_set() -> Optional[str]:
+    """Return the value of the `CHARM_EVAL_EXPR_ENVVAR` envvar, if set.
+
+    This allows the admin to run, for example,
+    `CHARM_EVAL_EXPR="self.foo()" juju exec mycharm/0`
+     and see the result printed to stdout.
+    """
+    return os.getenv(CHARM_EVAL_EXPR_ENVVAR)
+
+
 def main(charm_class: Type[ops.charm.CharmBase], use_juju_for_storage: Optional[bool] = None):
     """Set up the charm and dispatch the observed event.
 
diff --git a/test/test_main.py b/test/test_main.py
index 2ce616268..f2abf2fe7 100644
--- a/test/test_main.py
+++ b/test/test_main.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import abc
 import importlib.util
 import io
+import json
 import logging
 import os
 import re
@@ -30,10 +31,9 @@
 import pytest
 
 import ops
-from ops._main import _should_use_controller_storage
+from ops._main import _should_use_controller_storage, CHARM_EVAL_EXPR_ENVVAR
 from ops.jujucontext import _JujuContext
 from ops.storage import SQLiteStorage
-
 from .charms.test_main.src.charm import MyCharmEvents
 from .test_helpers import FakeScript
 
@@ -1491,3 +1491,56 @@ def test_not_if_already_local(self):
         with patch.dict(os.environ, {'JUJU_VERSION': '2.8'}), tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile() as fd:
             juju_context = _JujuContext.from_dict(os.environ)
             assert not _should_use_controller_storage(Path(fd.name), meta, juju_context)
+
+
+class TestCharmEval:
+    def _check(
+        self,
+        charm_class: typing.Type[ops.CharmBase],
+        *,
+        extra_environ: typing.Optional[typing.Dict[str, str]] = None,
+        **kwargs: typing.Any,
+    ):
+        """Helper for below tests."""
+
+        fake_environ = {
+            'JUJU_UNIT_NAME': 'test_main/0',
+            'JUJU_MODEL_NAME': 'mymodel',
+            'JUJU_VERSION': '2.7.0',
+        }
+        if extra_environ is not None:
+            fake_environ.update(extra_environ)
+
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdirname:
+            fake_environ.update({'JUJU_CHARM_DIR': tmpdirname})
+            with patch.dict(os.environ, fake_environ):
+                tmpdirname = Path(tmpdirname)
+                fake_metadata = tmpdirname / 'metadata.yaml'
+                with fake_metadata.open('wb') as fh:
+                    fh.write(b'name: test')
+
+                ops.main(charm_class, **kwargs)
+
+    def test_eval_charm_stmt(self, fake_script: FakeScript):
+        fake_script.write('juju-log', 'exit 0')
+
+        for expr, expected_result in (
+            ('type(self).__name__', 'CharmBase'),
+            ('ops.StatusBase.__name__', 'StatusBase'),
+            ('json.dumps({1:2})', json.dumps({1: 2})),
+            ('type(self.framework).__name__', 'Framework'),
+            ('2 + 2', 4),
+        ):
+            with patch.dict(os.environ, {CHARM_EVAL_EXPR_ENVVAR: expr}):
+                self._check(ops.CharmBase)
+
+            expected = [
+                'juju-log',
+                '--log-level',
+                'DEBUG',
+                '--',
+                f'expression {expr!r} evaluated to {expected_result!r}',
+            ]
+
+            calls = fake_script.calls()
+            assert expected in calls