diff --git a/make/component_wrapper.mk b/make/component_wrapper.mk
index 31e3c27654..87c05479ad 100644
--- a/make/component_wrapper.mk
+++ b/make/component_wrapper.mk
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ $(1)/%.o: $$(COMPONENT_PATH)/$(1)/%.cpp $(COMMON_MAKEFILES) $(COMPONENT_MAKEFILE
 
 $(1)/%.o: $$(COMPONENT_PATH)/$(1)/%.S $(COMMON_MAKEFILES) $(COMPONENT_MAKEFILE) | $(1)
 	$$(summary) AS $$@
-	$$(CC) $$(CPPFLAGS) $$(addprefix -I ,$$(COMPONENT_INCLUDES)) $$(addprefix -I ,$$(COMPONENT_EXTRA_INCLUDES)) -I$(1) -c $$< -o $$@
+	$$(CC) $$(CPPFLAGS) $$(DEBUG_FLAGS) $$(addprefix -I ,$$(COMPONENT_INCLUDES)) $$(addprefix -I ,$$(COMPONENT_EXTRA_INCLUDES)) -I$(1) -c $$< -o $$@
 
 # CWD is build dir, create the build subdirectory if it doesn't exist
 $(1):
diff --git a/make/project.mk b/make/project.mk
index e1a23e96e9..617e8aedd0 100644
--- a/make/project.mk
+++ b/make/project.mk
@@ -241,13 +241,14 @@ OPTIMIZATION_FLAGS = -Og
 endif
 
 # Enable generation of debugging symbols
-OPTIMIZATION_FLAGS += -ggdb
+# (we generate even in Release mode, as this has no impact on final binary size.)
+DEBUG_FLAGS ?= -ggdb
 
 # List of flags to pass to C compiler
 # If any flags are defined in application Makefile, add them at the end.
 CFLAGS := $(strip \
 	-std=gnu99 \
-	$(OPTIMIZATION_FLAGS) \
+	$(OPTIMIZATION_FLAGS) $(DEBUG_FLAGS) \
 	$(COMMON_FLAGS) \
 	$(COMMON_WARNING_FLAGS) -Wno-old-style-declaration \
 	$(CFLAGS) \
@@ -259,7 +260,7 @@ CXXFLAGS := $(strip \
 	-std=gnu++11 \
 	-fno-exceptions \
 	-fno-rtti \
-	$(OPTIMIZATION_FLAGS) \
+	$(OPTIMIZATION_FLAGS) $(DEBUG_FLAGS) \
 	$(COMMON_FLAGS) \
 	$(COMMON_WARNING_FLAGS) \
 	$(CXXFLAGS) \