diff --git a/xdr/debug.go b/xdr/debug.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c11be6fa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xdr/debug.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package xdr
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/calmh/syncthing/logger"
+)
+
+var (
+	debug = strings.Contains(os.Getenv("STTRACE"), "xdr") || os.Getenv("STTRACE") == "all"
+	dl    = logger.DefaultLogger
+)
+
+const maxDebugBytes = 32
diff --git a/xdr/reader.go b/xdr/reader.go
index 8d553027c..bad58324b 100644
--- a/xdr/reader.go
+++ b/xdr/reader.go
@@ -48,9 +48,6 @@ func (r *Reader) ReadBytesMaxInto(max int, dst []byte) []byte {
 	if r.err != nil {
 		return nil
 	}
-	if debug {
-		dl.Debugf("rd bytes len=%d", l)
-	}
 	if max > 0 && l > max {
 		r.err = ErrElementSizeExceeded
 		return nil