diff --git a/.github/workflows/syslog-ng-docker.yml b/.github/workflows/syslog-ng-docker.yml
index 15faf96a21..a7554e209e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/syslog-ng-docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/syslog-ng-docker.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ on:
 env:
   DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME: ghcr.io/axoflow/axosyslog
   PLATFORMS: linux/amd64,linux/arm64,linux/arm/v7
+  DEBUG_PLATFORM: linux/amd64
 
 jobs:
   docker:
@@ -58,15 +59,18 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           if [[ '${{ inputs.pkg-type }}' = 'stable' ]]; then
             TAGS='${{ steps.docker-metadata-tags.outputs.tags }}'
+            DEBUG_TAGS='${{ steps.docker-metadata-tags.outputs.tags }}-dbg'
           elif [[ '${{ inputs.pkg-type }}' = 'nightly' ]]; then
             TAGS="${DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME}:nightly,${DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME}:${{ inputs.snapshot-version }}"
+            DEBUG_TAGS="${DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME}:nightly-dbg,${DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME}:${{ inputs.snapshot-version }}-dbg"
           else
             echo Unexpected input: pkg-type=${{ inputs.pkg-type }}
             false
           fi
           echo "TAGS=$TAGS" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "DEBUG_TAGS=$DEBUG_TAGS" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - name: Build and push Docker image
+      - name: Build and push production Docker image
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v3
         with:
           context: syslog-ng
@@ -80,3 +84,16 @@ jobs:
           build-args: |
             PKG_TYPE=${{ inputs.pkg-type }}
             SNAPSHOT_VERSION=${{ inputs.snapshot-version }}
+
+      - name: Build and push debug Docker image
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v3
+        with:
+          context: syslog-ng
+          file: syslog-ng/alpine.dockerfile
+          platforms: ${{ env.DEBUG_PLATFORM }}
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ steps.tags.outputs.DEBUG_TAGS }}
+          build-args: |
+            PKG_TYPE=${{ inputs.pkg-type }}
+            SNAPSHOT_VERSION=${{ inputs.snapshot-version }}
+            DEBUG=true
diff --git a/syslog-ng/alpine.dockerfile b/syslog-ng/alpine.dockerfile
index e138a9e115..3508da9524 100644
--- a/syslog-ng/alpine.dockerfile
+++ b/syslog-ng/alpine.dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+ARG DEBUG=false
+
 FROM alpine:3.18 as apkbuilder
 
 ARG PKG_TYPE=stable
 ARG SNAPSHOT_VERSION
+ARG DEBUG
 
 RUN apk add --update-cache \
       alpine-conf \
@@ -14,6 +17,9 @@ RUN apk add --update-cache \
 USER builder
 WORKDIR /home/builder
 ADD --chown=builder:builder apkbuild .
+
+RUN [ $DEBUG = false ] || patch -d axoflow/syslog-ng -p1 -i APKBUILD-debug.patch
+
 RUN mkdir packages \
     && abuild-keygen -n -a \
     && printf 'export JOBS=$(nproc)\nexport MAKEFLAGS=-j$JOBS\n' >> .abuild/abuild.conf \
@@ -31,6 +37,8 @@ RUN mkdir packages \
 
 FROM alpine:3.18
 
+ARG DEBUG
+
 # https://github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/blob/main/annotations.md
 LABEL maintainer="axoflow.io"
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.title="AxoSyslog"
@@ -75,7 +83,13 @@ RUN apk add --repository /axoflow -U --upgrade --no-cache \
     syslog-ng-tags-parser \
     syslog-ng-xml
 
-RUN /var/lib/syslog-ng-venv/bin/pip install -U urllib3==1.26.18
+RUN [ $DEBUG = false ] || apk add -U --upgrade --no-cache \
+    gdb \
+    valgrind \
+    strace \
+    perf \
+    vim \
+    musl-dbg
 
 EXPOSE 514/udp
 EXPOSE 601/tcp
diff --git a/syslog-ng/apkbuild/axoflow/syslog-ng/APKBUILD-debug.patch b/syslog-ng/apkbuild/axoflow/syslog-ng/APKBUILD-debug.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d794fa47b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syslog-ng/apkbuild/axoflow/syslog-ng/APKBUILD-debug.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+--- a/APKBUILD	2023-12-13 13:55:56.402001521 +0100
++++ b/APKBUILD	2023-12-13 13:55:23.725512362 +0100
+@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ pkgdesc="Next generation logging daemon"
+ url="https://www.syslog-ng.com/products/open-source-log-management/"
+ arch="all"
+ license="GPL-2.0-or-later"
+-options="!check" # unit tests require https://github.com/Snaipe/Criterion with deps
++options="!check !strip" # unit tests require https://github.com/Snaipe/Criterion with deps
+ makedepends="
+ 	bison
+ 	bpftool
+@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ done
+ build() {
+ 	CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -flto=auto" \
+ 	./configure \
++		--enable-debug \
+ 		--prefix=/usr \
+ 		--sysconfdir=/etc/syslog-ng \
+ 		--localstatedir=/var/lib/syslog-ng \