diff --git a/core/meson.build b/core/meson.build
index cad35decec..1295efb33d 100644
--- a/core/meson.build
+++ b/core/meson.build
@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
 # For now, we use KMN_KBP to inject the km::kbp::kmx namespace
 defns = ['-DKMN_KBP']
 
+# #define DEBUG when we are on a debug build
+if get_option('buildtype') == 'debug'
+  add_global_arguments('-DDEBUG', language : 'cpp')
+endif
+
 subdir('doc')
 subdir('include')
 subdir('src')
diff --git a/core/src/kmx/kmx_plus.h b/core/src/kmx/kmx_plus.h
index 74dfac4046..33feac07c8 100644
--- a/core/src/kmx/kmx_plus.h
+++ b/core/src/kmx/kmx_plus.h
@@ -15,8 +15,12 @@
  * @def KMXPLUS_DEBUG Set to 1 to enable debug output
  */
 #ifndef KMXPLUS_DEBUG
+#if defined(DEBUG)
+#define KMXPLUS_DEBUG 1
+#else
 #define KMXPLUS_DEBUG 0
 #endif
+#endif
 
 namespace km {
 namespace kbp {