diff --git a/drivers/common/mlx5/Makefile b/drivers/common/mlx5/Makefile
index 9d4d81f..624d331 100644
--- a/drivers/common/mlx5/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/common/mlx5/Makefile
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ endif
 LDLIBS += -lrte_eal -lrte_pci -lrte_kvargs -lrte_net
 
 # A few warnings cannot be avoided in external headers.
-CFLAGS += -Wno-error=cast-qual -DNDEBUG -UPEDANTIC
+CFLAGS += -Wno-error=cast-qual -UPEDANTIC
 
 EXPORT_MAP := rte_common_mlx5_version.map
 
diff --git a/drivers/common/mlx5/meson.build b/drivers/common/mlx5/meson.build
index fdd1e85..2b70410 100644
--- a/drivers/common/mlx5/meson.build
+++ b/drivers/common/mlx5/meson.build
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@ 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/common/mlx5/mlx5_common.c b/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_common.c
index 922794e..3ff0172 100644
--- a/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_common.c
+++ b/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_common.c
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ enum mlx5_class
 	}
 	mlx5_glue = *sym;
 #endif /* RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_DLOPEN */
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 	/* Glue structure must not contain any NULL pointers. */
 	{
 		unsigned int i;
diff --git a/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_common.h b/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_common.h
index d9c2d26..884ec02 100644
--- a/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_common.h
+++ b/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_common.h
@@ -75,10 +75,10 @@
 		RTE_FMT_TAIL(__VA_ARGS__,)))
 
 /*
- * When debugging is enabled (NDEBUG not defined), file, line and function
+ * When debugging is enabled (MLX5_DEBUG not 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, type, name, ...) \
 	PMD_DRV_LOG___(level, type, name, "%s:%u: %s(): " __VA_ARGS__)
@@ -90,28 +90,28 @@
 		__func__, \
 		__VA_ARGS__)
 
-#else /* NDEBUG */
+#else /* RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG */
 #define PMD_DRV_LOG__(level, type, name, ...) \
 	PMD_DRV_LOG___(level, type, name, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define PMD_DRV_LOG_(level, type, name, s, ...) \
 	PMD_DRV_LOG__(level, type, name, s "\n", __VA_ARGS__)
 
-#endif /* NDEBUG */
+#endif /* RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG */
 
 /* 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 */
 
 /* Allocate a buffer on the stack and fill it with a printf format string. */
 #define MKSTR(name, ...) \
diff --git a/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_nl.c b/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_nl.c
index 0d1efd2..26547f4 100644
--- a/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_nl.c
+++ b/drivers/common/mlx5/mlx5_nl.c
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ 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/Makefile b/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
index d26afbb..e8ba624 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
@@ -67,13 +67,13 @@ 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 d45be00..d418d26 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/meson.build
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/meson.build
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ foreach option:cflags_options
 	endif
 endforeach
 if get_option('buildtype').contains('debug')
-	cflags += [ '-pedantic', '-UNDEBUG', '-DPEDANTIC' ]
+	cflags += [ '-pedantic', '-DPEDANTIC' ]
 else
-	cflags += [ '-DNDEBUG', '-UPEDANTIC' ]
+	cflags += [ '-UPEDANTIC' ]
 endif
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5.c
index 3b8de8f..5c83ea6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5.c
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ 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;
 
@@ -2624,7 +2624,7 @@ 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];
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c
index 5610d94..79af2aa 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c
@@ -5118,7 +5118,7 @@ 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 b1cd9f7..764a741 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_mr.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_mr.c
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ 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;
 
@@ -1552,7 +1552,7 @@ 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_rxtx.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.c
index b14ae31..82feca4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.c
@@ -2182,11 +2182,11 @@ 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 c2cd23b..9eec216 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.h
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_rxtx.h
@@ -297,10 +297,10 @@ 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 7bff769..5c91adf 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_txq.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_txq.c
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
 
 		assert(elt != NULL);
 		rte_pktmbuf_free_seg(elt);
-#ifndef NDEBUG
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG
 		/* Poisoning. */
 		memset(&(*elts)[elts_tail & elts_m],
 		       0x77,
