diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
index abc409c4c..5e86b62bf 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils.hs
@@ -379,15 +379,19 @@ ptrace msg = do
 -- | Global debug level, which controls the verbosity of debug output
 -- on the console. The default is 0 meaning no debug output. The
 -- @--debug@ command line flag sets it to 1, or @--debug=N@ sets it to
--- a higher value (note: not @--debug N@).  This uses unsafePerformIO
--- and can be accessed from anywhere and before normal command-line
--- processing. After command-line processing, it is also available as
--- the @debug_@ field of 'Hledger.Cli.Options.CliOpts'.
+-- a higher value (note: not @--debug N@ for some reason).  This uses
+-- unsafePerformIO and can be accessed from anywhere and before normal
+-- command-line processing. After command-line processing, it is also
+-- available as the @debug_@ field of 'Hledger.Cli.Options.CliOpts'.
 debugLevel :: Int
 debugLevel = case snd $ break (=="--debug") args of
                "--debug":[]  -> 1
                "--debug":n:_ -> readDef 1 n
-               _             -> 0
+               _             ->
+                 case take 1 $ filter ("--debug" `isPrefixOf`) args of
+                   ['-':'-':'d':'e':'b':'u':'g':'=':v] -> readDef 1 v
+                   _                                   -> 0
+
     where
       args = unsafePerformIO getArgs
 
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
index f53c693b8..c7b94d524 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ main = do
     isNullCommand        = null rawcmd
     (argsbeforecmd, argsaftercmd') = break (==rawcmd) args
     argsaftercmd         = drop 1 argsaftercmd'
-  when ("--debug" `elem` args) $ do
+  when (debugLevel > 0) $ do
     printf "running: %s\n" prognameandversion
     printf "raw args: %s\n" (show args)
     printf "raw args rearranged for cmdargs: %s\n" (show args')
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Options.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Options.hs
index 4d80b1291..aba9e84fa 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Options.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Options.hs
@@ -510,6 +510,7 @@ moveFlagsAfterCommand args = move args
     move (fv:a:as)          | isMovableReqArgFlagAndValue fv = (move $ a:as) ++ [fv]
     move ("--debug":v:a:as) | not (null v) && all isDigit v  = (move $ a:as) ++ ["--debug",v]
     move ("--debug":a:as)                                    = (move $ a:as) ++ ["--debug"]
+    move (fv@('-':'-':'d':'e':'b':'u':'g':'=':_):a:as)       = (move $ a:as) ++ [fv]
     move as = as
 
     isMovableNoArgFlag a  = "-" `isPrefixOf` a && dropWhile (=='-') a `elem` noargflagstomove