diff --git a/i3bar/common.mk b/i3bar/common.mk
index 3d44b028..db0e549d 100644
--- a/i3bar/common.mk
+++ b/i3bar/common.mk
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 INSTALL=install
+ifndef DEBUG
 DEBUG=1
+endif
 PREFIX=/usr
 
 # The escaping is absurd, but we need to escape for shell, sed, make, define