diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9ac76130640ad390357aae0f337e06ba5723c3cd..f58a4396ca856dc611d9818aa68cfef0a70d445e 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -58,6 +58,13 @@ fi
 # change the installation directory. This could surely be done more elegantly...
 AC_PREFIX_DEFAULT([`pwd`])
 
+if test "$GCC" = yes; then
+	ALBERT_DEBUG_CFLAGS="-ggdb -fno-inline -fno-builtin"
+else
+	ALBERT_DEBUG_CFLAGS="-g"
+fi
+AC_SUBST(ALBERT_DEBUG_CFLAGS)
+
 # Checks for libraries.
 
 # Replace `main' with a function in -lm: