diff --git a/saphyr/src/debug.rs b/saphyr/src/debug.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b43ea2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/saphyr/src/debug.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+//! Debugging helpers.
+//!
+//! Debugging is governed by two conditions:
+//!   1. The build mode. Debugging code is not emitted in release builds and thus not available.
+//!   2. The `YAMLALL_DEBUG` environment variable. If built in debug mode, the program must be fed
+//!      the `YAMLALL_DEBUG` variable in its environment. While debugging code is present in debug
+//!      build, debug helpers will only trigger if that variable is set when running the program.
+
+// If a debug build, use stuff in the debug submodule.
+#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+pub use debug::enabled;
+
+// Otherwise, just export dummies for publicly visible functions.
+/// Evaluates to nothing.
+#[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+macro_rules! debug_print {
+    ($($arg:tt)*) => {{}};
+}
+
+#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+#[macro_use]
+#[allow(clippy::module_inception)]
+mod debug {
+    use std::sync::OnceLock;
+
+    /// If debugging is [`enabled`], print the format string on the error output.
+    macro_rules! debug_print {
+    ($($arg:tt)*) => {{
+        if $crate::debug::enabled() {
+            eprintln!($($arg)*)
+        }
+    }};
+    }
+
+    /// Return whether debugging features are enabled in this execution.
+    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+    pub fn enabled() -> bool {
+        static ENABLED: OnceLock<bool> = OnceLock::new();
+        *ENABLED.get_or_init(|| std::env::var("YAMLRUST2_DEBUG").is_ok())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/saphyr/src/lib.rs b/saphyr/src/lib.rs
index 5107745..9c13e9a 100644
--- a/saphyr/src/lib.rs
+++ b/saphyr/src/lib.rs
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@
 extern crate linked_hash_map;
 
 pub(crate) mod char_traits;
+#[macro_use]
+pub(crate) mod debug;
 pub mod emitter;
 pub mod parser;
 pub mod scanner;
diff --git a/saphyr/src/parser.rs b/saphyr/src/parser.rs
index 56e8a6f..a6e40b8 100644
--- a/saphyr/src/parser.rs
+++ b/saphyr/src/parser.rs
@@ -413,9 +413,8 @@ impl<T: Iterator<Item = char>> Parser<T> {
     fn state_machine(&mut self) -> ParseResult {
         // let next_tok = self.peek_token().cloned()?;
         // println!("cur_state {:?}, next tok: {:?}", self.state, next_tok);
-        if std::env::var("YAMLRUST_DEBUG").is_ok() {
-            eprintln!("\n\x1B[;33mParser state: {:?} \x1B[;0m", self.state);
-        }
+        debug_print!("\n\x1B[;33mParser state: {:?} \x1B[;0m", self.state);
+
         match self.state {
             State::StreamStart => self.stream_start(),
 
diff --git a/saphyr/src/scanner.rs b/saphyr/src/scanner.rs
index 391dc28..a666269 100644
--- a/saphyr/src/scanner.rs
+++ b/saphyr/src/scanner.rs
@@ -364,12 +364,11 @@ impl<T: Iterator<Item = char>> Iterator for Scanner<T> {
         }
         match self.next_token() {
             Ok(Some(tok)) => {
-                if std::env::var("YAMLRUST_DEBUG").is_ok() {
-                    eprintln!(
-                        "    \x1B[;32m\u{21B3} {:?} \x1B[;36m{:?}\x1B[;m",
-                        tok.1, tok.0
-                    );
-                }
+                debug_print!(
+                    "    \x1B[;32m\u{21B3} {:?} \x1B[;36m{:?}\x1B[;m",
+                    tok.1,
+                    tok.0
+                );
                 Some(tok)
             }
             Ok(tok) => tok,
@@ -565,13 +564,11 @@ impl<T: Iterator<Item = char>> Scanner<T> {
         }
         self.skip_to_next_token()?;
 
-        if std::env::var("YAMLRUST_DEBUG").is_ok() {
-            eprintln!(
-                "  \x1B[38;5;244m\u{2192} fetch_next_token after whitespace {:?} {:?}\x1B[m",
-                self.mark,
-                self.ch()
-            );
-        }
+        debug_print!(
+            "  \x1B[38;5;244m\u{2192} fetch_next_token after whitespace {:?} {:?}\x1B[m",
+            self.mark,
+            self.ch()
+        );
 
         self.stale_simple_keys()?;