diff --git a/core/core.el b/core/core.el
index b3340a463..f7f0eb8b9 100644
--- a/core/core.el
+++ b/core/core.el
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 (defvar doom-version "2.0.0"
   "Current version of DOOM emacs")
 
-(defvar doom-debug-mode (or (getenv "DEBUG") debug-on-error)
+(defvar doom-debug-mode (or (getenv "DEBUG") init-file-debug)
   "If non-nil, all doom functions will be verbose. Set DEBUG=1 in the command
 line or use --debug-init to enable this.")