diff --git a/packages/devel/attr/build b/packages/devel/attr/build
index e232d61181..1d36e7a2d6 100755
--- a/packages/devel/attr/build
+++ b/packages/devel/attr/build
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@
 . config/options $1
 
 cd $PKG_BUILD
+if [ "$DEBUG" = yes ]; then
+  ATTR_DEBUG=-DDEBUG
+else
+  ATTR_DEBUG=-DNDEBUG
+fi
+
+DEBUG=$ATTR_DEBUG \
 CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/bash \
 ./configure --host=$TARGET_NAME \
             --build=$HOST_NAME \