diff --git a/src/hb-blob.cc b/src/hb-blob.cc
index 5443e57c2..f6537cd5c 100644
--- a/src/hb-blob.cc
+++ b/src/hb-blob.cc
@@ -243,27 +243,27 @@ _try_make_writable_inplace_unix (hb_blob_t *blob)
 #endif
 
   if ((uintptr_t) -1L == pagesize) {
-    DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s: failed to get pagesize: %s\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, strerror (errno)));
+    DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s: failed to get pagesize: %s\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, strerror (errno));
     return FALSE;
   }
-  DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s: pagesize is %lu\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, (unsigned long) pagesize));
+  DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s: pagesize is %lu\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, (unsigned long) pagesize);
 
   mask = ~(pagesize-1);
   addr = (const char *) (((uintptr_t) blob->data) & mask);
   length = (const char *) (((uintptr_t) blob->data + blob->length + pagesize-1) & mask)  - addr;
-  DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s: calling mprotect on [%p..%p] (%lu bytes)\n",
-	       (void *) blob, HB_FUNC,
-	       addr, addr+length, (unsigned long) length));
+  DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s: calling mprotect on [%p..%p] (%lu bytes)\n",
+		   (void *) blob, HB_FUNC,
+		   addr, addr+length, (unsigned long) length);
   if (-1 == mprotect ((void *) addr, length, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE)) {
-    DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s: %s\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, strerror (errno)));
+    DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s: %s\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, strerror (errno));
     return FALSE;
   }
 
   blob->mode = HB_MEMORY_MODE_WRITABLE;
 
-  DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s: successfully made [%p..%p] (%lu bytes) writable\n",
-	       (void *) blob, HB_FUNC,
-	       addr, addr+length, (unsigned long) length));
+  DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s: successfully made [%p..%p] (%lu bytes) writable\n",
+		   (void *) blob, HB_FUNC,
+		   addr, addr+length, (unsigned long) length);
   return TRUE;
 #else
   return FALSE;
@@ -273,12 +273,12 @@ _try_make_writable_inplace_unix (hb_blob_t *blob)
 static bool
 _try_writable_inplace (hb_blob_t *blob)
 {
-  DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s: making writable inplace\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC));
+  DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s: making writable inplace\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC);
 
   if (_try_make_writable_inplace_unix (blob))
     return TRUE;
 
-  DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s: making writable -> FAILED\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC));
+  DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s: making writable -> FAILED\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC);
 
   /* Failed to make writable inplace, mark that */
   blob->mode = HB_MEMORY_MODE_READONLY;
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ _try_writable (hb_blob_t *blob)
     return TRUE;
 
 
-  DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s -> %p\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, blob->data));
+  DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s -> %p\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, blob->data);
 
   char *new_data;
 
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ _try_writable (hb_blob_t *blob)
   if (unlikely (!new_data))
     return FALSE;
 
-  DEBUG (BLOB, fprintf (stderr, "%p %s: dupped successfully -> %p\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, blob->data));
+  DEBUG_MSG (BLOB, "%p %s: dupped successfully -> %p\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC, blob->data);
 
   memcpy (new_data, blob->data, blob->length);
   _hb_blob_destroy_user_data (blob);
diff --git a/src/hb-object-private.hh b/src/hb-object-private.hh
index bdb1b36fb..37b470343 100644
--- a/src/hb-object-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-object-private.hh
@@ -191,10 +191,10 @@ struct _hb_object_header_t {
   }
 
   inline void trace (const char *function) const {
-    DEBUG (OBJECT, fprintf (stderr, "OBJECT(%p) refcount=%d %s\n",
-		   (void *) this,
-		   this ? ref_count.get () : 0,
-		   function));
+    DEBUG_MSG (OBJECT, "OBJECT(%p) refcount=%d %s\n",
+		       (void *) this,
+		       this ? ref_count.get () : 0,
+		       function);
   }
 
 };
diff --git a/src/hb-open-type-private.hh b/src/hb-open-type-private.hh
index a6499ee5e..b20e5cae6 100644
--- a/src/hb-open-type-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-open-type-private.hh
@@ -196,17 +196,15 @@ struct hb_sanitize_context_t
     this->edit_count = 0;
     this->debug_depth = 0;
 
-    (void) (HB_DEBUG_SANITIZE &&
-      fprintf (stderr, "sanitize %p init [%p..%p] (%lu bytes)\n",
-	       (void *) this->blob, this->start, this->end,
-	       (unsigned long) (this->end - this->start)));
+    DEBUG_MSG (SANITIZE, "sanitize %p init [%p..%p] (%lu bytes)\n",
+			 (void *) this->blob, this->start, this->end,
+			 (unsigned long) (this->end - this->start));
   }
 
   inline void finish (void)
   {
-    (void) (HB_DEBUG_SANITIZE &&
-      fprintf (stderr, "sanitize %p fini [%p..%p] %u edit requests\n",
-	       (void *) this->blob, this->start, this->end, this->edit_count));
+    DEBUG_MSG (SANITIZE, "sanitize %p fini [%p..%p] %u edit requests\n",
+			 (void *) this->blob, this->start, this->end, this->edit_count);
 
     hb_blob_destroy (this->blob);
     this->blob = NULL;
@@ -220,13 +218,13 @@ struct hb_sanitize_context_t
 	       p <= this->end &&
 	       (unsigned int) (this->end - p) >= len;
 
-    DEBUG_DEPTH (SANITIZE, this->debug_depth,
-		 fprintf (stderr, "SANITIZE(%p) %-*d-> range [%p..%p] (%d bytes) in [%p..%p] -> %s\n",
-			  p,
-			  this->debug_depth, this->debug_depth,
-			  p, p + len, len,
-			  this->start, this->end,
-			  ret ? "pass" : "FAIL"));
+    DEBUG_MSG_LEVEL (SANITIZE, this->debug_depth,
+		     "SANITIZE(%p) %-*d-> range [%p..%p] (%d bytes) in [%p..%p] -> %s\n",
+		     p,
+		     this->debug_depth, this->debug_depth,
+		     p, p + len, len,
+		     this->start, this->end,
+		     ret ? "pass" : "FAIL");
 
     return likely (ret);
   }
@@ -236,13 +234,13 @@ struct hb_sanitize_context_t
     const char *p = (const char *) base;
     bool overflows = _hb_unsigned_int_mul_overflows (len, record_size);
 
-    DEBUG_DEPTH (SANITIZE, this->debug_depth,
-		 fprintf (stderr, "SANITIZE(%p) %-*d-> array [%p..%p] (%d*%d=%ld bytes) in [%p..%p] -> %s\n",
-			  p,
-			  this->debug_depth, this->debug_depth,
-			  p, p + (record_size * len), record_size, len, (unsigned long) record_size * len,
-			  this->start, this->end,
-			  !overflows ? "does not overflow" : "OVERFLOWS FAIL"));
+    DEBUG_MSG_LEVEL (SANITIZE, this->debug_depth,
+		     "SANITIZE(%p) %-*d-> array [%p..%p] (%d*%d=%ld bytes) in [%p..%p] -> %s\n",
+		     p,
+		     this->debug_depth, this->debug_depth,
+		     p, p + (record_size * len), record_size, len, (unsigned long) record_size * len,
+		     this->start, this->end,
+		     !overflows ? "does not overflow" : "OVERFLOWS FAIL");
 
     return likely (!overflows && this->check_range (base, record_size * len));
   }
@@ -258,14 +256,14 @@ struct hb_sanitize_context_t
     const char *p = (const char *) base;
     this->edit_count++;
 
-    DEBUG_DEPTH (SANITIZE, this->debug_depth,
-		 fprintf (stderr, "SANITIZE(%p) %-*d-> edit(%u) [%p..%p] (%d bytes) in [%p..%p] -> %s\n",
-			  p,
-			  this->debug_depth, this->debug_depth,
-			  this->edit_count,
-			  p, p + len, len,
-			  this->start, this->end,
-			  this->writable ? "granted" : "REJECTED"));
+    DEBUG_MSG_LEVEL (SANITIZE, this->debug_depth,
+		     "SANITIZE(%p) %-*d-> edit(%u) [%p..%p] (%d bytes) in [%p..%p] -> %s\n",
+		     p,
+		     this->debug_depth, this->debug_depth,
+		     this->edit_count,
+		     p, p + len, len,
+		     this->start, this->end,
+		     this->writable ? "granted" : "REJECTED");
 
     return this->writable;
   }
@@ -292,8 +290,7 @@ struct Sanitizer
     c->init (blob);
 
   retry:
-    (void) (HB_DEBUG_SANITIZE &&
-      fprintf (stderr, "Sanitizer %p start %s\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC));
+    DEBUG_MSG (SANITIZE, "Sanitizer %p start %s\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC);
 
     c->setup ();
 
@@ -307,17 +304,15 @@ struct Sanitizer
     sane = t->sanitize (c);
     if (sane) {
       if (c->edit_count) {
-	(void) (HB_DEBUG_SANITIZE &&
-	  fprintf (stderr, "Sanitizer %p passed first round with %d edits; doing a second round %s\n",
-		   (void *) blob, c->edit_count, HB_FUNC));
+	DEBUG_MSG (SANITIZE, "Sanitizer %p passed first round with %d edits; doing a second round %s\n",
+			     (void *) blob, c->edit_count, HB_FUNC);
 
         /* sanitize again to ensure no toe-stepping */
         c->edit_count = 0;
 	sane = t->sanitize (c);
 	if (c->edit_count) {
-	  (void) (HB_DEBUG_SANITIZE &&
-	    fprintf (stderr, "Sanitizer %p requested %d edits in second round; FAILLING %s\n",
-		     (void *) blob, c->edit_count, HB_FUNC));
+	  DEBUG_MSG (SANITIZE, "Sanitizer %p requested %d edits in second round; FAILLING %s\n",
+			       (void *) blob, c->edit_count, HB_FUNC);
 	  sane = false;
 	}
       }
@@ -330,8 +325,7 @@ struct Sanitizer
 	if (c->start) {
 	  c->writable = true;
 	  /* ok, we made it writable by relocating.  try again */
-	  (void) (HB_DEBUG_SANITIZE &&
-	    fprintf (stderr, "Sanitizer %p retry %s\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC));
+	  DEBUG_MSG (SANITIZE, "Sanitizer %p retry %s\n", (void *) blob, HB_FUNC);
 	  goto retry;
 	}
       }
@@ -339,8 +333,7 @@ struct Sanitizer
 
     c->finish ();
 
-    (void) (HB_DEBUG_SANITIZE &&
-      fprintf (stderr, "Sanitizer %p %s %s\n", (void *) blob, sane ? "passed" : "FAILED", HB_FUNC));
+    DEBUG_MSG (SANITIZE, "Sanitizer %p %s %s\n", (void *) blob, sane ? "passed" : "FAILED", HB_FUNC);
     if (sane)
       return blob;
     else {
diff --git a/src/hb-private.hh b/src/hb-private.hh
index b5e85c0b0..f7731df03 100644
--- a/src/hb-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-private.hh
@@ -466,8 +466,11 @@ static inline unsigned char TOLOWER (unsigned char c)
 #define HB_DEBUG 0
 #endif
 
-#define DEBUG(WHAT, CODE) (void) (HB_DEBUG_##WHAT && (CODE))
-#define DEBUG_DEPTH(WHAT, DEPTH, CODE) (void) (HB_DEBUG_##WHAT && (int) (DEPTH) < (int) (HB_DEBUG_##WHAT) && (CODE))
+#define DEBUG_LEVEL(WHAT, LEVEL) (HB_DEBUG_##WHAT && (int) (LEVEL) < (int) (HB_DEBUG_##WHAT))
+#define DEBUG(WHAT) (DEBUG_LEVEL (WHAT, 0))
+
+#define DEBUG_MSG_LEVEL(WHAT, LEVEL, ...) (void) (DEBUG_LEVEL (WHAT, LEVEL)  && fprintf (stderr, __VA_ARGS__))
+#define DEBUG_MSG(WHAT, ...) DEBUG_MSG_LEVEL (WHAT, 0, __VA_ARGS__)
 
 static inline bool /* always returns TRUE */
 _hb_trace (const char *what,