diff --git a/vlib/gg/gg.c.v b/vlib/gg/gg.c.v
index 889b668dee..d6360a8291 100644
--- a/vlib/gg/gg.c.v
+++ b/vlib/gg/gg.c.v
@@ -339,6 +339,7 @@ fn gg_frame_fn(mut ctx Context) {
 	}
 
 	ctx.record_frame()
+	ctx.memory_trace_frame()
 
 	if ctx.ui_mode && !ctx.needs_refresh {
 		// println('ui mode, exiting')
@@ -884,3 +885,18 @@ pub fn wait_events() {
 	}
 }
 */
+
+// memory_trace_frame creates a small allocation at the start of each frame,
+// that is easy to search for in memdump.bin files, created with:
+// -prealloc -d prealloc_memset -d prealloc_memset_value=65 -d prealloc_dump -d gg_memory_trace_frame
+@[if gg_memory_trace_frame ?; manualfree]
+fn (mut ctx Context) memory_trace_frame() {
+	frame_tag_size := 61 // uneven, and easy to spot in heaptrack histograms as well
+	unsafe {
+		frame_tag := &u8(vcalloc(frame_tag_size))
+		C.snprintf(frame_tag, frame_tag_size, c'@@ gg_memory_trace_frame: %06d ', ctx.frame)
+		frame_tag[frame_tag_size - 2] = `@`
+		frame_tag[frame_tag_size - 1] = `@`
+		free(frame_tag)
+	}
+}