diff --git a/gnu/usr.bin/perl/Makefile.bsd-wrapper b/gnu/usr.bin/perl/Makefile.bsd-wrapper
index 4fdf6f15853..7d9d9f4406b 100644
--- a/gnu/usr.bin/perl/Makefile.bsd-wrapper
+++ b/gnu/usr.bin/perl/Makefile.bsd-wrapper
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
-# $OpenBSD: Makefile.bsd-wrapper,v 1.114 2023/09/03 01:43:09 afresh1 Exp $
+# $OpenBSD: Makefile.bsd-wrapper,v 1.115 2026/04/07 16:41:33 jca Exp $
 #
 # Build wrapper for Perl
 #
 
 CONFIGURE_ARGS=	-dse -Dopenbsd_distribution=defined
 
+.if defined(DEBUG)
+CONFIGURE_ARGS+= -Doptimize="${DEBUG}"
+.endif
+
 .if !exists(${.OBJDIR}/config.over)
 CONFIGURE_ARGS+= -Dmksymlinks
 .endif