diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 47983ea..cc426b6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ RELEASE_CFLAGS?=   -O3 -flto $(OPT_FLAGS) $(RELEASE_COMMON_FLAGS)
 RELEASE_CXXFLAGS?= -O3 -flto $(CXX_OPT_FLAGS) $(RELEASE_COMMON_FLAGS)
 RELEASE_LDFLAGS?=  -Wl,-O3 -Wl,-flto
 
-DEBUG_CFLAGS?= -O0 -g -DDEBUG
+DEBUG_CFLAGS?= -Og -g -DDEBUG
 DEBUG_CXXFLAGS?= $(DEBUG_CFLAGS)
 DEBUG_LDFLAGS?=
 
diff --git a/src/work.cpp b/src/work.cpp
index 8c40c24..caab49f 100644
--- a/src/work.cpp
+++ b/src/work.cpp
@@ -15,8 +15,16 @@
 template<typename T, typename Fn>
 std::tuple<T, T> minmax_t(const span<T>& array, Fn keep)
 {
-	T highest;
-	T lowest;
+	T highest
+#ifdef DEBUG 
+	{}
+#endif
+	;
+	T lowest
+#ifdef DEBUG
+	{}
+#endif
+	;
 	bool init=false;
 	D_dprintf("minmax_t: %p (%lu)", array.as_ptr(), array.size());
 	for(std::size_t i=0;i<array.size();i++)