diff --git a/src/kudu/tools/kudu-tool-test.cc b/src/kudu/tools/kudu-tool-test.cc
index 1dd63a193d..cc2687cad6 100644
--- a/src/kudu/tools/kudu-tool-test.cc
+++ b/src/kudu/tools/kudu-tool-test.cc
@@ -377,6 +377,7 @@ TEST_F(ToolTest, TestModeHelp) {
   }
   {
     const vector<string> kFsDumpModeRegexes = {
+        "block.*binary contents of a data block",
         "cfile.*contents of a CFile",
         "tree.*tree of a Kudu filesystem",
         "uuid.*UUID of a Kudu filesystem"
@@ -818,6 +819,27 @@ TEST_F(ToolTest, TestFsDumpCFile) {
   }
 }
 
+TEST_F(ToolTest, TestFsDumpBlock) {
+  const string kTestDir = GetTestPath("test");
+  FsManager fs(env_, kTestDir);
+  ASSERT_OK(fs.CreateInitialFileSystemLayout());
+  ASSERT_OK(fs.Open());
+
+  unique_ptr<WritableBlock> block;
+  ASSERT_OK(fs.CreateNewBlock({}, &block));
+  ASSERT_OK(block->Append("hello world"));
+  ASSERT_OK(block->Close());
+  BlockId block_id = block->id();
+
+  {
+    string stdout;
+    NO_FATALS(RunActionStdoutString(Substitute(
+        "fs dump block --fs_wal_dir=$0 $1",
+        kTestDir, block_id.ToString()), &stdout));
+    ASSERT_EQ("hello world", stdout);
+  }
+}
+
 TEST_F(ToolTest, TestWalDump) {
   const string kTestDir = GetTestPath("test");
   const string kTestTablet = "test-tablet";
diff --git a/src/kudu/tools/tool_action_fs.cc b/src/kudu/tools/tool_action_fs.cc
index fc4ef59fd2..a0c9dfe284 100644
--- a/src/kudu/tools/tool_action_fs.cc
+++ b/src/kudu/tools/tool_action_fs.cc
@@ -173,14 +173,21 @@ Status DumpUuid(const RunnerContext& /*context*/) {
   return Status::OK();
 }
 
-Status DumpCFile(const RunnerContext& context) {
+Status ParseBlockIdArg(const RunnerContext& context,
+                       BlockId* id) {
   const string& block_id_str = FindOrDie(context.required_args, "block_id");
   uint64_t numeric_id;
   if (!safe_strtou64(block_id_str, &numeric_id)) {
     return Status::InvalidArgument(Substitute(
         "Could not parse $0 as numeric block ID", block_id_str));
   }
-  BlockId block_id(numeric_id);
+  *id = BlockId(numeric_id);
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
+Status DumpCFile(const RunnerContext& context) {
+  BlockId block_id;
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(ParseBlockIdArg(context, &block_id));
 
   FsManagerOpts fs_opts;
   fs_opts.read_only = true;
@@ -209,6 +216,35 @@ Status DumpCFile(const RunnerContext& context) {
   return Status::OK();
 }
 
+Status DumpBlock(const RunnerContext& context) {
+  BlockId block_id;
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(ParseBlockIdArg(context, &block_id));
+
+  FsManagerOpts fs_opts;
+  fs_opts.read_only = true;
+  FsManager fs_manager(Env::Default(), fs_opts);
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(fs_manager.Open());
+
+  unique_ptr<fs::ReadableBlock> block;
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(fs_manager.OpenBlock(block_id, &block));
+
+  uint64_t size = 0;
+  RETURN_NOT_OK_PREPEND(block->Size(&size), "couldn't get block size");
+
+  faststring buf;
+  uint64_t offset = 0;
+  while (offset < size) {
+    int64_t chunk = std::min<int64_t>(size - offset, 64 * 1024);
+    buf.resize(chunk);
+    Slice s(buf);
+    RETURN_NOT_OK(block->Read(offset, &s));
+    offset += s.size();
+    cout << s.ToString();
+  }
+
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
 Status DumpFsTree(const RunnerContext& /*context*/) {
   FsManagerOpts fs_opts;
   fs_opts.read_only = true;
@@ -225,6 +261,8 @@ static unique_ptr<Mode> BuildFsDumpMode() {
   unique_ptr<Action> dump_cfile =
       ActionBuilder("cfile", &DumpCFile)
       .Description("Dump the contents of a CFile (column file)")
+      .ExtraDescription("This interprets the contents of a CFile-formatted block "
+                        "and outputs the decoded row data.")
       .AddRequiredParameter({ "block_id", "block identifier" })
       .AddOptionalParameter("fs_wal_dir")
       .AddOptionalParameter("fs_data_dirs")
@@ -232,6 +270,16 @@ static unique_ptr<Mode> BuildFsDumpMode() {
       .AddOptionalParameter("print_rows")
       .Build();
 
+  unique_ptr<Action> dump_block =
+      ActionBuilder("block", &DumpBlock)
+      .Description("Dump the binary contents of a data block")
+      .ExtraDescription("This performs no parsing or interpretation of the data stored "
+                        "in the block but rather outputs its binary contents directly.")
+      .AddRequiredParameter({ "block_id", "block identifier" })
+      .AddOptionalParameter("fs_wal_dir")
+      .AddOptionalParameter("fs_data_dirs")
+      .Build();
+
   unique_ptr<Action> dump_tree =
       ActionBuilder("tree", &DumpFsTree)
       .Description("Dump the tree of a Kudu filesystem")
@@ -248,6 +296,7 @@ static unique_ptr<Mode> BuildFsDumpMode() {
 
   return ModeBuilder("dump")
       .Description("Dump a Kudu filesystem")
+      .AddAction(std::move(dump_block))
       .AddAction(std::move(dump_cfile))
       .AddAction(std::move(dump_tree))
       .AddAction(std::move(dump_uuid))