diff --git a/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/bb/main.cpp b/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/bb/main.cpp
index 16f2b16d609d..f56f49c84541 100644
--- a/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/bb/main.cpp
+++ b/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/bb/main.cpp
@@ -1316,7 +1316,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
     try {
         std::vector<std::string> args(argv + 1, argv + argc);
-        verbose_logging = flag_present(args, "-v") || flag_present(args, "--verbose_logging");
+        debug_logging = flag_present(args, "-d") || flag_present(args, "--debug_logging");
+        verbose_logging = debug_logging || flag_present(args, "-v") || flag_present(args, "--verbose_logging");
         if (args.empty()) {
             std::cerr << "No command provided.\n";
             return 1;
diff --git a/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.cpp b/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.cpp
index a3917413603c..60c9679cedb8 100644
--- a/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.cpp
+++ b/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.cpp
@@ -7,3 +7,6 @@ bool verbose_logging = std::getenv("BB_VERBOSE") == nullptr ? false : std::strin
 #else
 bool verbose_logging = true;
 #endif
+
+// Used for `debug` in log.hpp.
+bool debug_logging = false;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.hpp b/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.hpp
index 19486b163073..a200473c6dc2 100644
--- a/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.hpp
+++ b/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.hpp
@@ -47,10 +47,14 @@ template <typename... Args> std::string benchmark_format(Args... args)
     return os.str();
 }
 
+extern bool debug_logging;
 #ifndef NDEBUG
 template <typename... Args> inline void debug(Args... args)
 {
-    logstr(format(args...).c_str());
+    // NDEBUG is used to turn off asserts, so we want this flag to prevent debug log spamming.
+    if (debug_logging) {
+        logstr(format(args...).c_str());
+    }
 }
 #else
 template <typename... Args> inline void debug(Args... /*unused*/) {}