diff --git a/package/Makefile.in b/package/Makefile.in
index a0c5a7a48d..c02d31f486 100644
--- a/package/Makefile.in
+++ b/package/Makefile.in
@@ -373,12 +373,6 @@ ifneq ($(BR2_INSTALL_LIBSTDCPP),y)
 TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS += CXX=false
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(BR2_ENABLE_DEBUG),y)
-ENABLE_DEBUG := --enable-debug
-else
-ENABLE_DEBUG := --disable-debug
-endif
-
 ifeq ($(BR2_STATIC_LIBS),y)
 SHARED_STATIC_LIBS_OPTS = --enable-static --disable-shared
 TARGET_CFLAGS += -static
diff --git a/package/pkg-autotools.mk b/package/pkg-autotools.mk
index 9dea08aabf..1d694f0618 100644
--- a/package/pkg-autotools.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-autotools.mk
@@ -202,7 +202,6 @@ define $(2)_CONFIGURE_CMDS
 		--disable-dependency-tracking \
 		--enable-ipv6 \
 		$$(DISABLE_NLS) \
-		$$(ENABLE_DEBUG) \
 		$$(SHARED_STATIC_LIBS_OPTS) \
 		$$(QUIET) $$($$(PKG)_CONF_OPTS) \
 	)