diff --git a/src/elf.c b/src/elf.c
index 26037437..425b1852 100644
--- a/src/elf.c
+++ b/src/elf.c
@@ -34,8 +34,12 @@
 
 /* support for elf parsing debug printf */
 #if defined(DEBUG) || defined(ELF_PARSER)
+#if DEBUG_ELF == 0
+#undef DEBUG_ELF
+#else
 #define DEBUG_ELF
 #endif
+#endif
 
 /* support byte swapping if testing/reading an elf with different endianess */
 #if defined(ELF_PARSER) || defined(ELF_ENDIAN_SUPPORT)