diff --git a/java/dex.go b/java/dex.go
index faf51a3..e16b052 100644
--- a/java/dex.go
+++ b/java/dex.go
@@ -223,18 +223,11 @@
 	var requestReleaseMode bool
 	requestReleaseMode, flags = android.RemoveFromList("--release", flags)
 
-	if ctx.Config().Getenv("NO_OPTIMIZE_DX") != "" {
+	if ctx.Config().Getenv("NO_OPTIMIZE_DX") != "" || ctx.Config().Getenv("GENERATE_DEX_DEBUG") != "" {
 		flags = append(flags, "--debug")
 		requestReleaseMode = false
 	}
 
-	if ctx.Config().Getenv("GENERATE_DEX_DEBUG") != "" {
-		flags = append(flags,
-			"--debug",
-			"--verbose")
-		requestReleaseMode = false
-	}
-
 	// Don't strip out debug information for eng builds, unless the target
 	// explicitly provided the `--release` build flag. This allows certain
 	// test targets to remain optimized as part of eng test_suites builds.