diff --git a/early-init.el b/early-init.el
index b5db3a210..096a1740e 100644
--- a/early-init.el
+++ b/early-init.el
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@
 ;;   Still, stale byte-code will cause *heavy* losses in startup efficiency.
 (setq load-prefer-newer noninteractive)
 
+;; UX: Respect DEBUG envvar as an alternative to --debug-init, and to make are
+;;   startup sufficiently verbose from this point on.
+(when (getenv-internal "DEBUG")
+  (setq init-file-debug t
+        debug-on-error t))
+
 
 ;;
 ;;; Bootstrap
@@ -77,7 +83,7 @@
        (setenv "DOOMPROFILE" profile)
        (or (load (expand-file-name (format "profiles/init.%d" emacs-major-version)
                                    user-emacs-directory)
-                 'noerror 'nomessage nil 'must-suffix)
+                 'noerror (not init-file-debug) nil 'must-suffix)
            (user-error "Profiles not initialized yet; run 'doom sync' first"))))
 
    ;; PERF: When `load'ing or `require'ing files, each permutation of
@@ -92,7 +98,7 @@
    (if (let ((load-suffixes '(".elc" ".el")))
          ;; Load the heart of Doom Emacs.
          (load (expand-file-name "lisp/doom" user-emacs-directory)
-               'noerror 'nomessage nil 'must-suffix))
+               'noerror (not init-file-debug) nil 'must-suffix))
        ;; ...and prepare for the rest of the session.
        (doom-require (if noninteractive 'doom-cli 'doom-start))
      ;; Failing that, assume we're loading a non-Doom config and prepare.
@@ -103,6 +109,6 @@
      nil))
 
  ;; Then continue on to the config/profile we want to load.
- (load early-init-file 'noerror 'nomessage nil 'must-suffix))
+ (load early-init-file 'noerror (not init-file-debug) nil 'must-suffix))
 
 ;;; early-init.el ends here
diff --git a/lisp/doom-cli.el b/lisp/doom-cli.el
index edb74564c..7b4fa43f9 100644
--- a/lisp/doom-cli.el
+++ b/lisp/doom-cli.el
@@ -19,10 +19,6 @@
               doom-data-dir
               doom-cache-dir))
 
-  ;; UX: Ensure errors are sufficiently verbose from this point on.
-  (when (setq init-file-debug (getenv-internal "DEBUG"))
-    (setq debug-on-error t))
-
   ;; HACK: Load `cl' and site files manually to prevent polluting logs and
   ;;   stdout with deprecation and/or file load messages.
   (let ((inhibit-message (not init-file-debug)))