diff --git a/packages/astro/package.json b/packages/astro/package.json
index bd21e98d183d..881f3070421c 100644
--- a/packages/astro/package.json
+++ b/packages/astro/package.json
@@ -69,10 +69,12 @@
     "@proload/core": "^0.2.1",
     "@proload/plugin-tsm": "^0.1.0",
     "@types/babel__core": "^7.1.15",
+    "@types/debug": "^4.1.7",
     "@web/parse5-utils": "^1.3.0",
     "astring": "^1.7.5",
     "ci-info": "^3.2.0",
     "common-ancestor-path": "^1.0.1",
+    "debug": "^4.3.3",
     "eol": "^0.9.1",
     "es-module-lexer": "^0.9.3",
     "esbuild": "0.13.7",
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/build/index.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/build/index.ts
index 17df0863a68b..024dc4d05354 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/build/index.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/build/index.ts
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class AstroBuilder {
 		this.viteConfig = viteConfig;
 		const viteServer = await vite.createServer(viteConfig);
 		this.viteServer = viteServer;
-		debug(logging, 'build', timerMessage('Vite started', timer.viteStart));
+		debug('build', timerMessage('Vite started', timer.viteStart));
 
 		timer.loadStart = performance.now();
 		const { assets, allPages } = await collectPagesData({
@@ -94,13 +94,13 @@ class AstroBuilder {
 				// TODO: add better type inference to data.preload[1]
 				const frontmatter = (data.preload[1] as any).frontmatter;
 				if (Boolean(frontmatter.draft) && !this.config.buildOptions.drafts) {
-					debug(logging, 'build', timerMessage(`Skipping draft page ${page}`, timer.loadStart));
+					debug('build', timerMessage(`Skipping draft page ${page}`, timer.loadStart));
 					delete allPages[page];
 				}
 			}
 		});
 
-		debug(logging, 'build', timerMessage('All pages loaded', timer.loadStart));
+		debug('build', timerMessage('All pages loaded', timer.loadStart));
 
 		// The names of each pages
 		const pageNames: string[] = [];
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ class AstroBuilder {
 				viteServer: this.viteServer,
 			});
 		}
-		debug(logging, 'build', timerMessage('Vite build finished', timer.buildStart));
+		debug('build', timerMessage('Vite build finished', timer.buildStart));
 
 		// Write any additionally generated assets to disk.
 		timer.assetsStart = performance.now();
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class AstroBuilder {
 			fs.writeFileSync(filePath, assets[k], 'utf8');
 			delete assets[k]; // free up memory
 		});
-		debug(logging, 'build', timerMessage('Additional assets copied', timer.assetsStart));
+		debug('build', timerMessage('Additional assets copied', timer.assetsStart));
 
 		// Build your final sitemap.
 		timer.sitemapStart = performance.now();
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ class AstroBuilder {
 			await fs.promises.mkdir(new URL('./', sitemapPath), { recursive: true });
 			await fs.promises.writeFile(sitemapPath, sitemap, 'utf8');
 		}
-		debug(logging, 'build', timerMessage('Sitemap built', timer.sitemapStart));
+		debug('build', timerMessage('Sitemap built', timer.sitemapStart));
 
 		// You're done! Time to clean up.
 		await viteServer.close();
@@ -164,8 +164,6 @@ class AstroBuilder {
 
 	/** Stats */
 	private async printStats({ logging, timeStart, pageCount }: { logging: LogOptions; timeStart: number; pageCount: number }) {
-		/* eslint-disable no-console */
-		debug(logging, ''); // empty line for debug
 		const buildTime = performance.now() - timeStart;
 		const total = buildTime < 750 ? `${Math.round(buildTime)}ms` : `${(buildTime / 1000).toFixed(2)}s`;
 		const perPage = `${Math.round(buildTime / pageCount)}ms`;
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/build/page-data.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/build/page-data.ts
index 19c86de55f14..106e09a057e0 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/build/page-data.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/build/page-data.ts
@@ -55,11 +55,11 @@ export async function collectPagesData(opts: CollectPagesDataOptions): Promise<C
 					})
 						.then((routes) => {
 							const html = `${route.pathname}`.replace(/\/?$/, '/index.html');
-							debug(logging, 'build', `├── ${colors.bold(colors.green('✔'))} ${route.component} → ${colors.yellow(html)}`);
+							debug('build', `├── ${colors.bold(colors.green('✔'))} ${route.component} → ${colors.yellow(html)}`);
 							return routes;
 						})
 						.catch((err) => {
-							debug(logging, 'build', `├── ${colors.bold(colors.red('✘'))} ${route.component}`);
+							debug('build', `├── ${colors.bold(colors.red('✘'))} ${route.component}`);
 							throw err;
 						}),
 				};
@@ -69,11 +69,11 @@ export async function collectPagesData(opts: CollectPagesDataOptions): Promise<C
 			const result = await getStaticPathsForRoute(opts, route)
 				.then((_result) => {
 					const label = _result.staticPaths.length === 1 ? 'page' : 'pages';
-					debug(logging, 'build', `├── ${colors.bold(colors.green('✔'))} ${route.component} → ${colors.magenta(`[${_result.staticPaths.length} ${label}]`)}`);
+					debug('build', `├── ${colors.bold(colors.green('✔'))} ${route.component} → ${colors.magenta(`[${_result.staticPaths.length} ${label}]`)}`);
 					return _result;
 				})
 				.catch((err) => {
-					debug(logging, 'build', `├── ${colors.bold(colors.red('✗'))} ${route.component}`);
+					debug('build', `├── ${colors.bold(colors.red('✗'))} ${route.component}`);
 					throw err;
 				});
 			const rssFn = generateRssFunction(astroConfig.buildOptions.site, route);
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/build/static-build.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/build/static-build.ts
index 453666adb216..ad2b51203988 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/build/static-build.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/build/static-build.ts
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ async function collectRenderers(opts: StaticBuildOptions): Promise<Renderer[]> {
 }
 
 async function generatePages(result: RollupOutput, opts: StaticBuildOptions, internals: BuildInternals, facadeIdToPageDataMap: Map<string, PageBuildData>) {
-	debug(opts.logging, 'generate', 'End build step, now generating');
+	debug('build', 'Finish build. Begin generating.');
 
 	// Get renderers to be shared for each page generation.
 	const renderers = await collectRenderers(opts);
@@ -331,11 +331,10 @@ async function generatePath(pathname: string, opts: StaticBuildOptions, gopts: G
 		const [params, pageProps] = await getParamsAndProps({
 			route: pageData.route,
 			routeCache,
-			logging,
 			pathname,
 		});
 
-		debug(logging, 'generate', `Generating: ${pathname}`);
+		debug('build', `Generating: ${pathname}`);
 
 		const rootpath = new URL(astroConfig.buildOptions.site || 'http://localhost/').pathname;
 		const links = new Set<SSRElement>(
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/logger.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/logger.ts
index ed6240bcc616..c00e71347abb 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/logger.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/logger.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { bold, blue, dim, red, grey, underline, yellow } from 'kleur/colors';
 import { performance } from 'perf_hooks';
 import { Writable } from 'stream';
 import stringWidth from 'string-width';
+import debugPackage from 'debug';
 import { format as utilFormat } from 'util';
 
 type ConsoleStream = Writable & {
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ interface LogWritable<T> extends Writable {
 }
 
 export type LoggerLevel = 'debug' | 'info' | 'warn' | 'error' | 'silent'; // same as Pino
-export type LoggerEvent = 'debug' | 'info' | 'warn' | 'error';
+export type LoggerEvent = 'info' | 'warn' | 'error';
 
 export interface LogOptions {
 	dest?: LogWritable<LogMessage>;
@@ -107,27 +108,35 @@ export function log(opts: LogOptions = {}, level: LoggerLevel, type: string | nu
 	dest.write(event);
 }
 
-/** Emit a message only shown in debug mode */
-export function debug(opts: LogOptions, type: string | null, ...messages: Array<any>) {
-	return log(opts, 'debug', type, ...messages);
+const debuggers: Record<string, debugPackage.Debugger['log']> = {};
+/**
+ * Emit a message only shown in debug mode.
+ * Astro (along with many of its dependencies) uses the `debug` package for debug logging.
+ * You can enable these logs with the `DEBUG=astro:*` environment variable.
+ * More info https://github.com/debug-js/debug#environment-variables
+ */
+export function debug(type: string, ...messages: Array<any>) {
+	const namespace = `astro:${type}`;
+	debuggers[namespace] = debuggers[namespace] || debugPackage(namespace);
+	return debuggers[namespace](messages);
 }
 
-/** Emit a general info message (be careful using this too much!) */
+/** Emit a user-facing message. Useful for UI and other console messages. */
 export function info(opts: LogOptions, type: string | null, ...messages: Array<any>) {
 	return log(opts, 'info', type, ...messages);
 }
 
-/** Emit a warning a user should be aware of */
+/** Emit a warning message. Useful for high-priority messages that aren't necessarily errors. */
 export function warn(opts: LogOptions, type: string | null, ...messages: Array<any>) {
 	return log(opts, 'warn', type, ...messages);
 }
 
-/** Emit a fatal error message the user should address. */
+/** Emit a error message, Useful when Astro can't recover from some error. */
 export function error(opts: LogOptions, type: string | null, ...messages: Array<any>) {
 	return log(opts, 'error', type, ...messages);
 }
 
-type LogFn = typeof debug | typeof info | typeof warn | typeof error;
+type LogFn = typeof info | typeof warn | typeof error;
 
 export function table(opts: LogOptions, columns: number[]) {
 	return function logTable(logFn: LogFn, ...input: Array<any>) {
@@ -163,7 +172,6 @@ ${frame}
 
 // A default logger for when too lazy to pass LogOptions around.
 export const logger = {
-	debug: debug.bind(null, defaultLogOptions),
 	info: info.bind(null, defaultLogOptions),
 	warn: warn.bind(null, defaultLogOptions),
 	error: error.bind(null, defaultLogOptions),
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/ssr/index.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/ssr/index.ts
index cb4d09797f4e..c4d214a72589 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/ssr/index.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/ssr/index.ts
@@ -125,17 +125,7 @@ export async function preload({ astroConfig, filePath, viteServer }: SSROptions)
 	return [renderers, mod];
 }
 
-export async function getParamsAndProps({
-	route,
-	routeCache,
-	pathname,
-	logging,
-}: {
-	route: RouteData | undefined;
-	routeCache: RouteCache;
-	pathname: string;
-	logging: LogOptions;
-}): Promise<[Params, Props]> {
+export async function getParamsAndProps({ route, routeCache, pathname }: { route: RouteData | undefined; routeCache: RouteCache; pathname: string }): Promise<[Params, Props]> {
 	// Handle dynamic routes
 	let params: Params = {};
 	let pageProps: Props;
@@ -151,7 +141,7 @@ export async function getParamsAndProps({
 			throw new Error(`[${route.component}] Internal error: route cache was empty, but expected to be full.`);
 		}
 		const paramsKey = JSON.stringify(params);
-		const matchedStaticPath = findPathItemByKey(routeCacheEntry.staticPaths, paramsKey, logging);
+		const matchedStaticPath = findPathItemByKey(routeCacheEntry.staticPaths, paramsKey);
 		if (!matchedStaticPath) {
 			throw new Error(`[getStaticPaths] route pattern matched, but no matching static path found. (${pathname})`);
 		}
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/ssr/route-cache.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/ssr/route-cache.ts
index f2dd9f4588ef..11988d36b89f 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/ssr/route-cache.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/ssr/route-cache.ts
@@ -73,12 +73,12 @@ export class RouteCache {
 	}
 }
 
-export function findPathItemByKey(staticPaths: GetStaticPathsResultKeyed, paramsKey: string, logging: LogOptions) {
+export function findPathItemByKey(staticPaths: GetStaticPathsResultKeyed, paramsKey: string) {
 	let matchedStaticPath = staticPaths.keyed.get(paramsKey);
 	if (matchedStaticPath) {
 		return matchedStaticPath;
 	}
 
-	debug(logging, 'findPathItemByKey', `Unexpected cache miss looking for ${paramsKey}`);
+	debug('findPathItemByKey', `Unexpected cache miss looking for ${paramsKey}`);
 	matchedStaticPath = staticPaths.find(({ params: _params }) => JSON.stringify(_params) === paramsKey);
 }
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index f46009e71fca..e08bce4e4d09 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -1752,7 +1752,7 @@
   dependencies:
     "@types/node" "*"
 
-"@types/debug@^4.0.0":
+"@types/debug@^4.0.0", "@types/debug@^4.1.7":
   version "4.1.7"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/debug/-/debug-4.1.7.tgz#7cc0ea761509124709b8b2d1090d8f6c17aadb82"
   integrity sha512-9AonUzyTjXXhEOa0DnqpzZi6VHlqKMswga9EXjpXnnqxwLtdvPPtlO8evrI5D9S6asFRCQ6v+wpiUKbw+vKqyg==