diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index f0052df3..538abcbd 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 - never use IM ping to get a header, fixes BMP load
 - set @filename for non-vips formats in vips7 compat layer
 - make Xres/Yres double
+- completely disable debug by default in production builds
 
 20/8/11 started 7.27.0
 - version bump for new dev cycle
diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index a9ac086e..ac8bf3a7 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 blocking bugs
 =============
 
-- turning on all debug in object.c causes huge mem use?
-
-  seems to be when making a string for a set of flags?
-
 - none!
 
 
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 3d7ea791..9b47a9e4 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(G_LOG_DOMAIN, "VIPS", [Domain for glib logging messages.])
 
 # disable debugging by default for production releases
 m4_define([debug_default],
-  m4_if(m4_eval(vips_minor_version() % 2), [1], [yes], [minimum]))
+  m4_if(m4_eval(vips_minor_version() % 2), [1], [yes], [no]))
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(debug,
   AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-debug=@<:@no/minimum/yes@:>@],