diff --git a/libc/Android.mk b/libc/Android.mk
index 330802a..333dd1e 100644
--- a/libc/Android.mk
+++ b/libc/Android.mk
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@
 		-DINET6 \
 		-I$(LOCAL_PATH)/private \
 
-ifeq ($(TARGET_BUILD_TYPE),debug)
+ifeq ($(strip $(DEBUG_BIONIC_LIBC)),true)
   libc_common_cflags += -DDEBUG
 endif