diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile b/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
index 0466d9d..1626860 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
@@ -85,13 +85,13 @@ endif
 
 # User-defined CFLAGS.
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG),y)
-CFLAGS += -pedantic -UNDEBUG
+CFLAGS += -pedantic
 ifneq ($(CONFIG_RTE_TOOLCHAIN_ICC),y)
 CFLAGS += -DPEDANTIC
 endif
 AUTO_CONFIG_CFLAGS += -Wno-pedantic
 else
-CFLAGS += -DNDEBUG -UPEDANTIC
+CFLAGS += -UPEDANTIC
 endif
 
 include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.lib.mk
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/meson.build b/drivers/net/mlx5/meson.build
index 3ad4f02..c7b835b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/meson.build
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/meson.build
@@ -84,9 +84,9 @@ if build
 		endif
 	endforeach
 	if get_option('buildtype').contains('debug')
-		cflags += [ '-pedantic', '-UNDEBUG', '-DPEDANTIC' ]
+		cflags += [ '-pedantic', '-DPEDANTIC' ]
 	else
-		cflags += [ '-DNDEBUG', '-UPEDANTIC' ]
+		cflags += [ '-UPEDANTIC' ]
 	endif
 	# To maintain the compatibility with the make build system
 	# mlx5_autoconf.h file is still generated.
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5.c
index ffee39c..6c6a66d 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5.c
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ struct mlx5_flow_id_pool *
 mlx5_free_shared_ibctx(struct mlx5_ibv_shared *sh)
 {
 	pthread_mutex_lock(&mlx5_ibv_list_mutex);
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 	/* Check the object presence in the list. */
 	struct mlx5_ibv_shared *lctx;
 
@@ -2612,7 +2612,7 @@ struct mlx5_flow_id_pool *
 		mac.addr_bytes[0], mac.addr_bytes[1],
 		mac.addr_bytes[2], mac.addr_bytes[3],
 		mac.addr_bytes[4], mac.addr_bytes[5]);
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 	{
 		char ifname[IF_NAMESIZE];
 
@@ -3658,7 +3658,7 @@ struct mlx5_flow_id_pool *
 		return;
 	assert(mlx5_glue);
 #endif
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 	/* Glue structure must not contain any NULL pointers. */
 	{
 		unsigned int i;
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c
index 5a1b426..2c0cb43 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c
@@ -5145,7 +5145,7 @@ struct field_modify_info modify_tcp[] = {
 	return dev_flow;
 }
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 /**
  * Sanity check for match mask and value. Similar to check_valid_spec() in
  * kernel driver. If unmasked bit is present in value, it returns failure.
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_mr.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_mr.c
index 0d549b6..07ce8df 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_mr.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_mr.c
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ struct mr_update_mp_data {
 void
 mlx5_mr_btree_dump(struct mlx5_mr_btree *bt __rte_unused)
 {
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 	int idx;
 	struct mlx5_mr_cache *lkp_tbl;
 
@@ -1551,7 +1551,7 @@ struct mr_update_mp_data {
 void
 mlx5_mr_dump_dev(struct mlx5_ibv_shared *sh __rte_unused)
 {
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 	struct mlx5_mr *mr;
 	int mr_n = 0;
 	int chunk_n = 0;
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_nl.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_nl.c
index e7ba034..ce37460 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_nl.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_nl.c
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ struct mlx5_nl_ifindex_data {
 				rte_errno = ENOMEM;
 				return -rte_errno;
 			}
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 			char m[18];
 
 			rte_ether_format_addr(m, 18, RTA_DATA(attribute));
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.c
index 5e31f01..4b69409 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.c
@@ -2179,11 +2179,11 @@ enum mlx5_txcmp_code {
 		last->cseg.flags = RTE_BE32(MLX5_COMP_ALWAYS <<
 					    MLX5_COMP_MODE_OFFSET);
 		/* Save elts_head in dedicated free on completion queue. */
-#ifdef NDEBUG
-		txq->fcqs[txq->cq_pi++ & txq->cqe_m] = head;
-#else
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 		txq->fcqs[txq->cq_pi++ & txq->cqe_m] = head |
-					(last->cseg.opcode >> 8) << 16;
+			  (last->cseg.opcode >> 8) << 16;
+#else
+		txq->fcqs[txq->cq_pi++ & txq->cqe_m] = head;
 #endif
 		/* A CQE slot must always be available. */
 		assert((txq->cq_pi - txq->cq_ci) <= txq->cqe_s);
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.h b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.h
index 3f659d2..fe13a03 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.h
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.h
@@ -295,10 +295,10 @@ struct mlx5_txq_data {
 	struct mlx5_mr_ctrl mr_ctrl; /* MR control descriptor. */
 	struct mlx5_wqe *wqes; /* Work queue. */
 	struct mlx5_wqe *wqes_end; /* Work queue array limit. */
-#ifdef NDEBUG
-	uint16_t *fcqs; /* Free completion queue. */
-#else
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 	uint32_t *fcqs; /* Free completion queue (debug extended). */
+#else
+	uint16_t *fcqs; /* Free completion queue. */
 #endif
 	volatile struct mlx5_cqe *cqes; /* Completion queue. */
 	volatile uint32_t *qp_db; /* Work queue doorbell. */
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_txq.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_txq.c
index 1a76f6e..06e5fac 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_txq.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_txq.c
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
 
 		assert(elt != NULL);
 		rte_pktmbuf_free_seg(elt);
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 		/* Poisoning. */
 		memset(&(*elts)[elts_tail & elts_m],
 		       0x77,
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_utils.h b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_utils.h
index ebf79b8..5cc0368 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_utils.h
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_utils.h
@@ -81,10 +81,10 @@
 		RTE_FMT_TAIL(__VA_ARGS__,)))
 
 /*
- * When debugging is enabled (NDEBUG not defined), file, line and function
+ * When debugging is enabled (MLX5_DEBUG is defined), file, line and function
  * information replace the driver name (MLX5_DRIVER_NAME) in log messages.
  */
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 
 #define PMD_DRV_LOG__(level, ...) \
 	PMD_DRV_LOG___(level, "%s:%u: %s(): " __VA_ARGS__)
@@ -96,13 +96,13 @@
 		__func__, \
 		__VA_ARGS__)
 
-#else /* NDEBUG */
+#else /* RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG */
 #define PMD_DRV_LOG__(level, ...) \
 	PMD_DRV_LOG___(level, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define PMD_DRV_LOG_(level, s, ...) \
 	PMD_DRV_LOG__(level, s "\n", __VA_ARGS__)
 
-#endif /* NDEBUG */
+#endif /* RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG */
 
 /* Generic printf()-like logging macro with automatic line feed. */
 #define DRV_LOG(level, ...) \
@@ -111,19 +111,19 @@
 		PMD_DRV_LOG_CPAREN)
 
 /* claim_zero() does not perform any check when debugging is disabled. */
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 
 #define DEBUG(...) DRV_LOG(DEBUG, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define claim_zero(...) assert((__VA_ARGS__) == 0)
 #define claim_nonzero(...) assert((__VA_ARGS__) != 0)
 
-#else /* NDEBUG */
+#else /* RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG */
 
 #define DEBUG(...) (void)0
 #define claim_zero(...) (__VA_ARGS__)
 #define claim_nonzero(...) (__VA_ARGS__)
 
-#endif /* NDEBUG */
+#endif /* RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG */
 
 #define INFO(...) DRV_LOG(INFO, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define WARN(...) DRV_LOG(WARNING, __VA_ARGS__)
