diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritem.cpp b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritem.cpp
index 8d3ccaa242f..ffa8c520369 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritem.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritem.cpp
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ const char DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_AUTODETECTED[] = "AutoDetected";
 const char DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_AUTODETECTION_SOURCE[] = "AutoDetectionSource";
 const char DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_VERSION[] = "Version";
 const char DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_ABIS[] = "Abis";
+const char DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_LASTMODIFIED[] = "LastModified";
 
 namespace Debugger {
 
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ DebuggerItem::DebuggerItem(const QVariantMap &data)
     m_version = data.value(QLatin1String(DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_VERSION)).toString();
     m_engineType = DebuggerEngineType(data.value(QLatin1String(DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_ENGINETYPE),
                                                  static_cast<int>(NoEngineType)).toInt());
+    m_lastModified = data.value(QLatin1String(DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_LASTMODIFIED)).toDateTime();
 
     foreach (const QString &a, data.value(QLatin1String(DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_ABIS)).toStringList()) {
         Abi abi(a);
@@ -110,7 +112,9 @@ void DebuggerItem::reinitializeFromFile()
     // happy with both -version and --version. So use the "working" -version
     // except for the experimental LLDB-MI which insists on --version.
     const char *version = "-version";
-    if (m_command.toFileInfo().baseName().toLower().contains(QLatin1String("lldb-mi")))
+    const QFileInfo fileInfo = m_command.toFileInfo();
+    m_lastModified = fileInfo.lastModified();
+    if (fileInfo.baseName().toLower().contains(QLatin1String("lldb-mi")))
         version = "--version";
 
     QProcess proc;
@@ -203,6 +207,11 @@ QStringList DebuggerItem::abiNames() const
     return list;
 }
 
+QDateTime DebuggerItem::lastModified() const
+{
+    return m_lastModified;
+}
+
 bool DebuggerItem::isGood() const
 {
     return m_engineType != NoEngineType;
@@ -234,6 +243,7 @@ QVariantMap DebuggerItem::toMap() const
     data.insert(QLatin1String(DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_AUTODETECTION_SOURCE), m_autoDetectionSource);
     data.insert(QLatin1String(DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_VERSION), m_version);
     data.insert(QLatin1String(DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_ABIS), abiNames());
+    data.insert(QLatin1String(DEBUGGER_INFORMATION_LASTMODIFIED), m_lastModified);
     return data;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritem.h b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritem.h
index f33d4d37f5f..2e0e6ea5af0 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritem.h
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritem.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 
 #include <utils/fileutils.h>
 
+#include <QDateTime>
 #include <QList>
 #include <QVariant>
 
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ public:
     MatchLevel matchTarget(const ProjectExplorer::Abi &targetAbi) const;
 
     QStringList abiNames() const;
+    QDateTime lastModified() const;
 
     bool isGood() const;
     QString validityMessage() const;
@@ -112,6 +114,7 @@ private:
     QString m_autoDetectionSource;
     QString m_version;
     QList<ProjectExplorer::Abi> m_abis;
+    QDateTime m_lastModified;
 
     friend class Internal::DebuggerConfigWidget;
     friend class Internal::DebuggerItemConfigWidget;
diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritemmanager.cpp b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritemmanager.cpp
index e2b3b82864d..e5716e4a15f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritemmanager.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritemmanager.cpp
@@ -256,8 +256,12 @@ void DebuggerItemManager::autoDetectGdbOrLldbDebuggers()
     }
 
     foreach (const FileName &command, suspects) {
-        if (findByCommand(command))
+        DebuggerItem *existingItem = findByCommand(command);
+        if (existingItem) {
+            if (command.toFileInfo().lastModified() != existingItem->lastModified())
+                existingItem->reinitializeFromFile();
             continue;
+        }
         DebuggerItem item;
         item.createId();
         item.setCommand(command);
@@ -309,9 +313,9 @@ void DebuggerItemManager::readLegacyDebuggers(const FileName &file)
     }
 }
 
-const DebuggerItem *DebuggerItemManager::findByCommand(const FileName &command)
+DebuggerItem *DebuggerItemManager::findByCommand(const FileName &command)
 {
-    foreach (const DebuggerItem &item, m_debuggers)
+    for (auto &item: m_debuggers)
         if (item.command() == command)
             return &item;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritemmanager.h b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritemmanager.h
index c2cdd134a16..620c097c40a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritemmanager.h
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggeritemmanager.h
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ public:
     static QVariant registerDebugger(const DebuggerItem &item);
     static void deregisterDebugger(const QVariant &id);
 
-    static const DebuggerItem *findByCommand(const Utils::FileName &command);
+    static DebuggerItem *findByCommand(const Utils::FileName &command);
     static const DebuggerItem *findById(const QVariant &id);
     static const DebuggerItem *findByEngineType(DebuggerEngineType engineType);