diff --git a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-capsule-plugin.c b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-capsule-plugin.c
index 83ef7a1f3..fc5583e82 100644
--- a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-capsule-plugin.c
+++ b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-capsule-plugin.c
@@ -437,6 +437,7 @@ static void
 fu_uefi_capsule_plugin_load_config(FuPlugin *plugin, FuDevice *device)
 {
 	gboolean disable_shim;
+	gboolean enable_efi_debugging;
 	guint64 sz_reqd = 0;
 	g_autofree gchar *require_esp_free_space = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(GError) error_local = NULL;
@@ -454,6 +455,11 @@ fu_uefi_capsule_plugin_load_config(FuPlugin *plugin, FuDevice *device)
 	disable_shim = fu_plugin_get_config_value_boolean(plugin, "DisableShimForSecureBoot");
 	if (!disable_shim)
 		fu_device_add_private_flag(device, FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_USE_SHIM_FOR_SB);
+
+	/* enable the fwupd.efi debug log? */
+	enable_efi_debugging = fu_plugin_get_config_value_boolean(plugin, "EnableEfiDebugging");
+	if (enable_efi_debugging)
+		fu_device_add_private_flag(device, FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_ENABLE_EFI_DEBUGGING);
 }
 
 static gboolean
diff --git a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-device.c b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-device.c
index 6fe78427c..a122da046 100644
--- a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-device.c
+++ b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-device.c
@@ -650,12 +650,78 @@ fu_uefi_device_probe(FuDevice *device, GError **error)
 	return TRUE;
 }
 
+static void
+fu_uefi_device_capture_efi_debugging(FuDevice *device)
+{
+	gsize sz = 0;
+	g_autofree gchar *str = NULL;
+	g_autofree guint16 *buf_ucs2 = NULL;
+	g_autofree guint8 *buf = NULL;
+	g_autoptr(GError) error_local = NULL;
+
+	/* get the EFI variable contents */
+	if (!fu_efivar_get_data(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE,
+				"FWUPDATE_DEBUG_LOG",
+				&buf,
+				&sz,
+				NULL,
+				&error_local)) {
+		fu_device_set_update_error(device, error_local->message);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	/* convert from UCS-2 to UTF-8, carefully */
+	buf_ucs2 = g_new0(guint16, (sz / 2) + 1);
+	memcpy(buf_ucs2, buf, sz);
+	str = g_utf16_to_utf8(buf_ucs2, sz / 2, NULL, NULL, &error_local);
+	if (str == NULL) {
+		fu_device_set_update_error(device, error_local->message);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	/* success */
+	fu_device_set_update_error(device, str);
+}
+
+gboolean
+fu_uefi_device_perhaps_enable_debugging(FuUefiDevice *self, GError **error)
+{
+	if (fu_device_has_private_flag(FU_DEVICE(self), FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_ENABLE_EFI_DEBUGGING)) {
+		const guint8 data = 1;
+		if (!fu_efivar_set_data(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE,
+					"FWUPDATE_VERBOSE",
+					&data,
+					sizeof(data),
+					FU_EFIVAR_ATTR_NON_VOLATILE |
+					    FU_EFIVAR_ATTR_BOOTSERVICE_ACCESS |
+					    FU_EFIVAR_ATTR_RUNTIME_ACCESS,
+					error)) {
+			g_prefix_error(error, "failed to enable debugging: ");
+			return FALSE;
+		}
+		return TRUE;
+	}
+
+	/* unset this */
+	if (fu_efivar_exists(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_VERBOSE")) {
+		if (!fu_efivar_delete(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_VERBOSE", error))
+			return FALSE;
+	}
+
+	/* success */
+	return TRUE;
+}
+
 static gboolean
 fu_uefi_device_get_results(FuDevice *device, GError **error)
 {
 	FuUefiDevice *self = FU_UEFI_DEVICE(device);
 	FuUefiDevicePrivate *priv = GET_PRIVATE(self);
 
+	/* capture EFI binary debug output */
+	if (fu_device_has_private_flag(device, FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_ENABLE_EFI_DEBUGGING))
+		fu_uefi_device_capture_efi_debugging(device);
+
 	/* just set the update error */
 	fu_uefi_device_set_status(self, priv->last_attempt_status);
 	return TRUE;
@@ -764,6 +830,9 @@ fu_uefi_device_init(FuUefiDevice *self)
 	fu_device_register_private_flag(FU_DEVICE(self),
 					FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_NO_CAPSULE_HEADER_FIXUP,
 					"no-capsule-header-fixup");
+	fu_device_register_private_flag(FU_DEVICE(self),
+					FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_ENABLE_EFI_DEBUGGING,
+					"enable-debugging");
 }
 
 static void
diff --git a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-device.h b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-device.h
index 58aefc7c8..0d73c0cbe 100644
--- a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-device.h
+++ b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-device.h
@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@ typedef enum {
  * Do not prepend a plausible missing capsule header.
  */
 #define FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_NO_CAPSULE_HEADER_FIXUP (1 << 7)
+/**
+ * FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_ENABLE_EFI_DEBUGGING:
+ *
+ * Enable debugging the EFI binary.
+ */
+#define FU_UEFI_DEVICE_FLAG_ENABLE_EFI_DEBUGGING (1 << 8)
 
 FuUefiDeviceKind
 fu_uefi_device_kind_from_string(const gchar *kind);
@@ -130,3 +136,5 @@ void
 fu_uefi_device_set_status(FuUefiDevice *self, FuUefiDeviceStatus status);
 void
 fu_uefi_device_set_require_esp_free_space(FuUefiDevice *self, gsize require_esp_free_space);
+gboolean
+fu_uefi_device_perhaps_enable_debugging(FuUefiDevice *self, GError **error);
diff --git a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-grub-device.c b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-grub-device.c
index 2920cff6f..9a2ff0653 100644
--- a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-grub-device.c
+++ b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-grub-device.c
@@ -155,11 +155,11 @@ fu_uefi_grub_device_write_firmware(FuDevice *device,
 	if (g_getenv("FWUPD_UEFI_TEST") != NULL)
 		return TRUE;
 
-	/* delete the logs to save space; use fwupdate to debug the EFI binary */
-	if (fu_efivar_exists(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_VERBOSE")) {
-		if (!fu_efivar_delete(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_VERBOSE", error))
-			return FALSE;
-	}
+	/* enable debugging in the EFI binary */
+	if (!fu_uefi_device_perhaps_enable_debugging(self, error))
+		return FALSE;
+
+	/* delete the old log to save space */
 	if (fu_efivar_exists(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_DEBUG_LOG")) {
 		if (!fu_efivar_delete(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_DEBUG_LOG", error))
 			return FALSE;
diff --git a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-nvram-device.c b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-nvram-device.c
index 28413fb37..03c6f31ef 100644
--- a/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-nvram-device.c
+++ b/plugins/uefi-capsule/fu-uefi-nvram-device.c
@@ -89,11 +89,11 @@ fu_uefi_nvram_device_write_firmware(FuDevice *device,
 	if (!fu_bytes_set_contents(fn, fixed_fw, error))
 		return FALSE;
 
-	/* delete the logs to save space; use fwupdate to debug the EFI binary */
-	if (fu_efivar_exists(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_VERBOSE")) {
-		if (!fu_efivar_delete(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_VERBOSE", error))
-			return FALSE;
-	}
+	/* enable debugging in the EFI binary */
+	if (!fu_uefi_device_perhaps_enable_debugging(self, error))
+		return FALSE;
+
+	/* delete the old log to save space */
 	if (fu_efivar_exists(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_DEBUG_LOG")) {
 		if (!fu_efivar_delete(FU_EFIVAR_GUID_FWUPDATE, "FWUPDATE_DEBUG_LOG", error))
 			return FALSE;
diff --git a/plugins/uefi-capsule/uefi_capsule.conf b/plugins/uefi-capsule/uefi_capsule.conf
index 32edc4f04..d0056a750 100644
--- a/plugins/uefi-capsule/uefi_capsule.conf
+++ b/plugins/uefi-capsule/uefi_capsule.conf
@@ -12,3 +12,12 @@
 
 # allow ignoring the CapsuleOnDisk support advertised by the firmware
 #DisableCapsuleUpdateOnDisk=true
+
+# enable the low-level debugging of fwupdx64.efi to the FWUPDATE_DEBUG_LOG EFI variable
+#
+# Note: enabling this option is going to fill up the NVRAM store much more quickly and
+# should only be enabled when debugging an issue with the EFI binary
+#
+# This value also has no affect when using Capsule-on-Disk as the EFI helper binary is
+# not being used
+#EnableEfiDebugging=false