diff --git a/scripts/checkdeps b/scripts/checkdeps
index 629ca750d9..2b1d142b03 100755
--- a/scripts/checkdeps
+++ b/scripts/checkdeps
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@
 
 set -e
 
-# set up arrays
+# set up variables
 declare -A dep_map file_map perl_map need_map
+DEBUG="false"
 
 get_deps() {
   # start from a blank slate
@@ -210,9 +211,31 @@ case "${DISTRO}" in
       ;;
 esac
 
+if [ "${DEBUG}" = "true" ]; then
+  echo "DEP MAP"
+  for key in "${!dep_map[@]}"; do
+    echo "${key}:${dep_map[${key}]}"
+  done
+  echo "FILE MAP"
+  for key in "${!file_map[@]}"; do
+    echo "${key}:${file_map[${key}]}"
+  done
+  echo "PERL MAP"
+  for key in "${!perl_map[@]}"; do
+    echo "${key}:${perl_map[${key}]}"
+  done
+fi
+
 ### DEPENDENCY CHECKING AND INSTALLATION ###
 get_deps
 
+if [ "${DEBUG}" = "true" ]; then
+  echo "NEED MAP"
+  for key in "${!need_map[@]}"; do
+    echo "${key}:${need_map[${key}]}"
+  done
+fi
+
 if [ "${#need_map[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
   echo "**** This system lacks the following tools needed to build ${DISTRONAME} ****"
   for key in "${!need_map[@]}"; do