diff --git a/nemo_rl/data/llm_message_utils.py b/nemo_rl/data/llm_message_utils.py
index a66403aefd..2b77112103 100644
--- a/nemo_rl/data/llm_message_utils.py
+++ b/nemo_rl/data/llm_message_utils.py
@@ -433,6 +433,7 @@ def get_formatted_message_log(
     add_eos_token: bool = True,
     add_generation_prompt: bool = False,
     tools: Optional[list[dict[str, Any]]] = None,
+    debug: bool = False,
 ) -> LLMMessageLogType:
     """Format and tokenize chat messages using the specified template.
 
@@ -444,6 +445,7 @@ def get_formatted_message_log(
         add_eos_token: Whether to add eos token to last message if it is not already present. Default: True
         add_generation_prompt: Whether to include assistant's generation prompt in user messages. Default: False
         tools: Optional list of tool/function definitions to pass to the chat template. Default: None
+        debug: Whether to print debug information showing each message turn. Default: False
     Returns:
         The message log with updated 'token_ids' and 'content' fields.
     """
@@ -537,8 +539,8 @@ def _format_content_helper(
         ## pull out the chunk corresponding to the current message
         message_chunk = formatted_message[prev_message_len_no_eos:]
 
-        # Debug: Print each message turn separately (only once for the first sample)
-        if not hasattr(get_formatted_message_log, "_debug_printed"):
+        # Debug: Print each message turn separately
+        if debug:
             if i == 0:
                 # Print header only at the start of first message
                 print("\n" + "=" * 80)
@@ -554,8 +556,6 @@ def _format_content_helper(
             print("-" * 40)
 
             if i == len(message_log_strs) - 1:
-                # Mark as printed after processing all turns of the first sample
-                get_formatted_message_log._debug_printed = True
                 print("\n" + "=" * 80)
                 print("DEBUG: Complete formatted conversation:")
                 print("-" * 80)
diff --git a/tests/unit/data/test_llm_message_utils.py b/tests/unit/data/test_llm_message_utils.py
index 39b8fab49d..015280b484 100644
--- a/tests/unit/data/test_llm_message_utils.py
+++ b/tests/unit/data/test_llm_message_utils.py
@@ -792,3 +792,41 @@ def test_get_formatted_message_log_multimodal_prompt_formatting() -> None:
         isinstance(out[1]["token_ids"], torch.Tensor)
         and out[1]["token_ids"].numel() > 0
     )
+
+
+def test_get_formatted_message_log_debug_off_by_default(
+    raw_chat_message_log: LLMMessageLogType,
+    capsys,
+) -> None:
+    """Verify debug output is disabled by default."""
+    tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("Qwen/Qwen2.5-0.5B-Instruct")
+    task_data_spec = TaskDataSpec(task_name="test")
+
+    get_formatted_message_log(
+        raw_chat_message_log,
+        tokenizer,
+        task_data_spec,
+    )
+
+    captured = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert "DEBUG: Individual message turns" not in captured.out
+
+
+def test_get_formatted_message_log_debug_enabled(
+    raw_chat_message_log: LLMMessageLogType,
+    capsys,
+) -> None:
+    """Verify debug output is printed when debug=True."""
+    tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("Qwen/Qwen2.5-0.5B-Instruct")
+    task_data_spec = TaskDataSpec(task_name="test")
+
+    get_formatted_message_log(
+        raw_chat_message_log,
+        tokenizer,
+        task_data_spec,
+        debug=True,
+    )
+
+    captured = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert "DEBUG: Individual message turns from apply_chat_template" in captured.out
+    assert "DEBUG: Complete formatted conversation:" in captured.out