diff --git a/docs/kernels.md b/docs/kernels.md
index 3caa920f8..5adf7500d 100644
--- a/docs/kernels.md
+++ b/docs/kernels.md
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ image is tagged with the full kernel version plus the hash of the
 files it was created from (git tree hash of the `./kernel`
 directory). For convenience, the latest kernel of each stable series
 is also available under a shorthand tag, e.g. `linuxkit/kernel:4.9.x`
-for the latest `4.9` kernel.
+for the latest `4.9` kernel. For selected kernels (mostly the LTS
+kernels and latest stable kernels) we also compile/push kernels with
+additional debugging enabled. The hub images for these kernels have
+the `_dbg` suffix in the tag.
 
 In addition to the official kernel images, LinuxKit offers the ability
 to build bootable Linux images with kernels from various
diff --git a/kernel/Dockerfile b/kernel/Dockerfile
index 47175b551..7cbf93542 100644
--- a/kernel/Dockerfile
+++ b/kernel/Dockerfile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ FROM linuxkit/kernel-compile:1b396c221af673757703258159ddc8539843b02b@sha256:6b3
 
 ARG KERNEL_VERSION
 ARG KERNEL_SERIES
-ARG DEBUG=0
+ARG DEBUG
 
 ENV KERNEL_SOURCE=https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/linux-${KERNEL_VERSION}.tar.xz
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ RUN cat linux-${KERNEL_VERSION}.tar.xz | tar --absolute-names -xJ &&  mv /linux-
 COPY kernel_config-${KERNEL_SERIES} /linux/arch/x86/configs/x86_64_defconfig
 COPY kernel_config.debug /linux/debug_config
 
-RUN if [ $DEBUG -ne "0" ]; then \
+RUN if [ -n "${DEBUG}" ]; then \
     sed -i 's/CONFIG_PANIC_ON_OOPS=y/# CONFIG_PANIC_ON_OOPS is not set/' /linux/arch/x86/configs/x86_64_defconfig; \
     cat /linux/debug_config >> /linux/arch/x86/configs/x86_64_defconfig; \
     fi
diff --git a/kernel/Makefile b/kernel/Makefile
index 27f529fae..f73c15e67 100644
--- a/kernel/Makefile
+++ b/kernel/Makefile
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@
 # of the current directory. The build will only rebuild the kernel
 # image if the git tree hash changed.
 
-# Enable a debug kernel
-DEBUG?=0
 # Git tree hash of this directory. Override to force build
 HASH?=$(shell git ls-tree HEAD -- ../$(notdir $(CURDIR)) | awk '{print $$3}')
 # Name on Hub
@@ -28,37 +26,44 @@ sign:
 # Arguments:
 # $1: Full kernel version, e.g., 4.9.22
 # $2: Kernel "series", e.g., 4.9.x
+# $3: Build a debug kernel (used as suffix for image)
 # This defines targets like:
-# tag_4.9.x, push_4.9.x and sign_4.9.x
-# and adds them as dependencies to the global targets
+# build_4.9.x, push_4.9.x and sign_4.9.x and adds them as dependencies
+# to the global targets
+# Set $3 to "_dbg", to build debug kernels. This defines targets like
+# build_4.9.x_dbg and adds "_dbg" to the hub image name.
 define kernel
-build_$(2): Dockerfile Makefile $(wildcard patches-$(2)/*) kernel_config-$(2) kernel_config.debug
-	docker pull linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)-$(HASH) || \
+build_$(2)$(3): Dockerfile Makefile $(wildcard patches-$(2)/*) kernel_config-$(2) kernel_config.debug
+	docker pull linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)$(3)-$(HASH) || \
 		docker build \
 			--build-arg KERNEL_VERSION=$(1) \
 			--build-arg KERNEL_SERIES=$(2) \
-			--no-cache -t linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)-$(HASH) .
+			--build-arg DEBUG=$(3) \
+			--no-cache -t linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)$(3)-$(HASH) .
 
-push_$(2): build_$(2)
-	docker pull linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)-$(HASH) || \
-		(docker push linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)-$(HASH) && \
-		 docker tag linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)-$(HASH) linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(2) && \
-		 docker push linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(2))
+push_$(2)$(3): build_$(2)$(3)
+	docker pull linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)$(3)-$(HASH) || \
+		(docker push linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)$(3)-$(HASH) && \
+		 docker tag linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)$(3)-$(HASH) linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(2)$(3) && \
+		 docker push linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(2)$(3))
 
-sign_$(2): build_$(2)
-	DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=1 docker pull linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)-$(HASH) || \
-		(DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=1 docker push linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)-$(HASH) && \
-		 docker tag linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)-$(HASH) linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(2) && \
-		 DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=1 docker push linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(2))
+sign_$(2)$(3): build_$(2)$(3)
+	DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=1 docker pull linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)$(3)-$(HASH) || \
+		(DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=1 docker push linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)$(3)-$(HASH) && \
+		 docker tag linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(1)$(3)-$(HASH) linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(2)$(3) && \
+		 DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=1 docker push linuxkit/$(IMAGE):$(2)$(3))
 
-build: build_$(2)
-push: push_$(2)
-sign: sign_$(2)
+build: build_$(2)$(3)
+push: push_$(2)$(3)
+sign: sign_$(2)$(3)
 endef
 
 #
 # Build Targets
+# Debug targets only for latest stable and LTS stable
 #
 $(eval $(call kernel,4.10.13,4.10.x))
+$(eval $(call kernel,4.10.13,4.10.x,_dbg))
 $(eval $(call kernel,4.9.25,4.9.x))
+$(eval $(call kernel,4.9.25,4.9.x,_dbg))
 $(eval $(call kernel,4.4.64,4.4.x))
diff --git a/kernel/kernel_config.debug b/kernel/kernel_config.debug
index 17b14daca..00e73d577 100644
--- a/kernel/kernel_config.debug
+++ b/kernel/kernel_config.debug
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 
 
-## MOBY DEBUG OPTIONS ##
+## LinuxKit DEBUG OPTIONS ##
 
 CONFIG_LOCKDEP=y
 CONFIG_FRAME_POINTER=y