diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c10c45c48..6cd9fc30e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -102,6 +102,11 @@ LDFLAGS    = \
              -X=github.com/containers/nri-plugins/pkg/version.Build=$(BUILD_BUILDID) \
              -B 0x$(RANDOM_ID)"
 
+ifeq ($(DEBUG),1)
+    GCFLAGS ?= -gcflags "all=-N -l"
+    DOCKER_BUILD_DEBUG := --build-arg DEBUG=1
+endif
+
 # Documentation-related variables
 SPHINXOPTS    ?= -W
 SPHINXBUILD   = sphinx-build
@@ -139,12 +144,12 @@ verify: verify-godeps verify-fmt verify-generate verify-build verify-docs
 build-plugins: $(foreach bin,$(PLUGINS),$(BIN_PATH)/$(bin))
 
 build-plugins-static:
-	$(MAKE) STATIC=1 build-plugins
+	$(MAKE) STATIC=1 DEBUG=$(DEBUG) build-plugins
 
 build-binaries: $(foreach bin,$(BINARIES),$(BIN_PATH)/$(bin))
 
 build-binaries-static:
-	$(MAKE) STATIC=1 build-binaries
+	$(MAKE) STATIC=1 DEBUG=$(DEBUG) build-binaries
 
 build-images: images
 
@@ -236,6 +241,7 @@ image.%:
 	tag=$(patsubst image.%,%,$@); \
 	$(DOCKER_BUILD) . -f "$$dir/Dockerfile" \
 	    --build-arg GO_VERSION=$(GO_VERSION) \
+	    $(DOCKER_BUILD_DEBUG) \
 	    --build-arg IMAGE_VERSION=$(IMAGE_VERSION) \
 	    --build-arg BUILD_VERSION=$(BUILD_VERSION) \
 	    --build-arg BUILD_BUILDID=$(BUILD_BUILDID) \
@@ -507,7 +513,7 @@ generate-manifests: controller-gen
 generate-types: controller-gen
 	$(CONTROLLER_GEN) object:headerFile="./docs/license-header.go.txt" paths="./pkg/apis/..."
 
-# client generation rules 
+# client generation rules
 .PHONY: generate-clients
 generate-clients: $(GENERATE_GROUPS)
 	$(GENERATE_GROUPS) client \
diff --git a/cmd/plugins/balloons/Dockerfile b/cmd/plugins/balloons/Dockerfile
index 443140c62..ad5aba86a 100644
--- a/cmd/plugins/balloons/Dockerfile
+++ b/cmd/plugins/balloons/Dockerfile
@@ -5,8 +5,14 @@ FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-bullseye AS builder
 ARG IMAGE_VERSION
 ARG BUILD_VERSION
 ARG BUILD_BUILDID
+ARG DEBUG=0
+
 WORKDIR /go/builder
 
+RUN if [ "$DEBUG" = 1 ]; then \
+        GOBIN=/go/builder/build/bin go install -tags osusergo,netgo -ldflags "-extldflags=-static" github.com/go-delve/delve/cmd/dlv@latest; \
+    fi
+
 # Fetch go dependencies in a separate layer for caching
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
 COPY pkg/topology/ pkg/topology/
@@ -16,10 +22,21 @@ RUN go mod download
 COPY . .
 
 RUN make clean
-RUN make IMAGE_VERSION=${IMAGE_VERSION} BUILD_VERSION=${BUILD_VERSION} BUILD_BUILDID=${BUILD_BUILDID} PLUGINS=nri-resource-policy-balloons build-plugins-static
+RUN make IMAGE_VERSION=${IMAGE_VERSION} BUILD_VERSION=${BUILD_VERSION} BUILD_BUILDID=${BUILD_BUILDID} PLUGINS=nri-resource-policy-balloons DEBUG=$DEBUG V=$DEBUG build-plugins-static
+RUN if [ "$DEBUG" = 0 ]; then \
+        for d in /go/builder/build/bin/dlv /go/builder/pkg /go/builder/cmd /go/pkg /usr/local/go/src ; do \
+            mv $d $d-dont-copy 2>/dev/null; \
+            touch $d; \
+        done; \
+    fi
 
 FROM gcr.io/distroless/static
 
 COPY --from=builder /go/builder/build/bin/nri-resource-policy-balloons /bin/nri-resource-policy-balloons
+COPY --from=builder /go/builder/build/bin/dlv /bin/dlv
+COPY --from=builder /go/builder/pkg /go/builder/pkg
+COPY --from=builder /go/builder/cmd /go/builder/cmd
+COPY --from=builder /go/pkg /go/pkg
+COPY --from=builder /usr/local/go/src /usr/local/go/src
 
 ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/nri-resource-policy-balloons"]