diff --git a/scripts/local_testnet/kill_processes.sh b/scripts/local_testnet/kill_processes.sh
index be6b7f3d6..d63725ac1 100755
--- a/scripts/local_testnet/kill_processes.sh
+++ b/scripts/local_testnet/kill_processes.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Kill processes
 
-set -Eeuo pipefail
+set -Euo pipefail
 
 # First parameter is the file with
 # one pid per line.
diff --git a/scripts/local_testnet/start_local_testnet.sh b/scripts/local_testnet/start_local_testnet.sh
index a5c6c0b5e..33c1d642e 100755
--- a/scripts/local_testnet/start_local_testnet.sh
+++ b/scripts/local_testnet/start_local_testnet.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ set -Eeuo pipefail
 
 source ./vars.env
 
+# Set a higher ulimit in case we want to import 1000s of validators.
+ulimit -n 65536
+
 # VC_COUNT is defaulted in vars.env
 DEBUG_LEVEL=${DEBUG_LEVEL:-info}