diff --git a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
index 39468e93f..a0d4d0f53 100644
--- a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -132,8 +132,8 @@ bool CmdLineParser::parseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
             }
 
             // Flag used for various purposes during debugging
-            else if (std::strcmp(argv[i], "--debug") == 0)
-                _settings->debug = _settings->debugwarnings = true;
+            else if (std::strcmp(argv[i], "--debug-simplified") == 0)
+                _settings->debugSimplified = true;
 
             // Show --debug output after the first simplifications
             else if (std::strcmp(argv[i], "--debug-normal") == 0)
diff --git a/lib/checkmemoryleak.cpp b/lib/checkmemoryleak.cpp
index 891926e29..dc136b8c3 100644
--- a/lib/checkmemoryleak.cpp
+++ b/lib/checkmemoryleak.cpp
@@ -2066,7 +2066,7 @@ void CheckMemoryLeakInFunction::checkScope(const Token *startTok, const std::str
 
     simplifycode(tok);
 
-    if (mSettings->debug && mSettings->verbose) {
+    if (mSettings->debugwarnings) {
         tok->printOut(("Checkmemoryleak: simplifycode result for: " + varname).c_str());
     }
 
diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.cpp b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
index 658278b6a..900fc08e3 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.cpp
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ unsigned int CppCheck::checkFile(const std::string& filename, const std::string
                 if (mSettings.force || mSettings.maxConfigs > 1) {
                     const unsigned long long checksum = mTokenizer.list.calculateChecksum();
                     if (checksums.find(checksum) != checksums.end()) {
-                        if (mSettings.isEnabled(Settings::INFORMATION) && (mSettings.debug || mSettings.verbose))
+                        if (mSettings.debugwarnings)
                             purgedConfigurationMessage(filename, mCurrentConfig);
                         continue;
                     }
diff --git a/lib/settings.cpp b/lib/settings.cpp
index 2930fcfc2..9ed72d77f 100644
--- a/lib/settings.cpp
+++ b/lib/settings.cpp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ bool Settings::mTerminated;
 
 Settings::Settings()
     : mEnabled(0),
-      debug(false),
+      debugSimplified(false),
       debugnormal(false),
       debugwarnings(false),
       dump(false),
diff --git a/lib/settings.h b/lib/settings.h
index 7406ea9ee..87bf1c598 100644
--- a/lib/settings.h
+++ b/lib/settings.h
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ public:
     /** @brief --cppcheck-build-dir */
     std::string buildDir;
 
-    /** @brief Is --debug given? */
-    bool debug;
+    /** @brief Is --debug-simplified given? */
+    bool debugSimplified;
 
     /** @brief Is --debug-normal given? */
     bool debugnormal;
diff --git a/lib/tokenize.cpp b/lib/tokenize.cpp
index e4a0ab2da..4e69ecbe8 100644
--- a/lib/tokenize.cpp
+++ b/lib/tokenize.cpp
@@ -4038,7 +4038,7 @@ bool Tokenizer::simplifyTokenList2()
 
 void Tokenizer::printDebugOutput(unsigned int simplification) const
 {
-    const bool debug = (simplification != 1U && mSettings->debug) ||
+    const bool debug = (simplification != 1U && mSettings->debugSimplified) ||
                        (simplification != 2U && mSettings->debugnormal);
 
     if (debug && list.front()) {