diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c8bb0f72da3..992f8b4ca2a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
       - FIXED: treat `bicycle=use_sidepath` as no access on the tagged way. [#5622](https://github.com/Project-OSRM/osrm-backend/pull/5622)
     - Misc:
       - CHANGED: Reduce memory usage for raster source handling. [#5572](https://github.com/Project-OSRM/osrm-backend/pull/5572)
+      - CHANGED: Add cmake option `ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING` to control whether output debug logging. [#3427](https://github.com/Project-OSRM/osrm-backend/issues/3427)
 
 # 5.21.0
   - Changes from 5.20.0
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0b1aaf3ab7a..db52c58a61f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ option(ENABLE_CCACHE "Speed up incremental rebuilds via ccache" ON)
 option(BUILD_TOOLS "Build OSRM tools" OFF)
 option(BUILD_PACKAGE "Build OSRM package" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_ASSERTIONS "Use assertions in release mode" OFF)
+option(ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING "Use debug logging in release mode" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_COVERAGE "Build with coverage instrumentalisation" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_SANITIZER "Use memory sanitizer for Debug build" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_STXXL "Use STXXL library" OFF)
@@ -227,6 +228,7 @@ endif()
 if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug OR CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES RelWithDebInfo)
   message(STATUS "Configuring debug mode flags")
   set(ENABLE_ASSERTIONS ON)
+  set(ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING ON)
 endif()
 
 if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "MSVC")
@@ -734,6 +736,11 @@ if (ENABLE_ASSERTIONS)
   add_definitions(-DBOOST_ENABLE_ASSERT_HANDLER)
 endif()
 
+if (ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING)
+  message(STATUS "Enabling debug logging")
+  add_definitions(-DENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING)
+endif()
+
 # Add RPATH info to executables so that when they are run after being installed
 # (i.e., from /usr/local/bin/) the linker can find library dependencies. For
 # more info see http://www.cmake.org/Wiki/CMake_RPATH_handling
diff --git a/src/util/log.cpp b/src/util/log.cpp
index 602012bd996..0d9a0681337 100644
--- a/src/util/log.cpp
+++ b/src/util/log.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ namespace
 static const char COL_RESET[]{"\x1b[0m"};
 static const char RED[]{"\x1b[31m"};
 static const char YELLOW[]{"\x1b[33m"};
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING
 static const char MAGENTA[]{"\x1b[35m"};
 #endif
 // static const char GREEN[] { "\x1b[32m"};
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ Log::Log(LogLevel level_, std::ostream &ostream) : level(level_), stream(ostream
             stream << (is_terminal ? RED : "") << "[error] ";
             break;
         case logDEBUG:
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING
             stream << (is_terminal ? MAGENTA : "") << "[debug] ";
 #endif
             break;
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ Log::~Log()
                 std::cerr << std::endl;
                 break;
             case logDEBUG:
-#ifdef NDEBUG
+#ifndef ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING
                 break;
 #endif
             case logINFO: