diff --git a/cmake/modules/HandleLLVMOptions.cmake b/cmake/modules/HandleLLVMOptions.cmake
index 67f86a64526..f4f96501eba 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/HandleLLVMOptions.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/HandleLLVMOptions.cmake
@@ -486,7 +486,8 @@ endif()
 # But MinSizeRel seems to add that automatically, so maybe disable these
 # flags instead if LLVM_NO_DEAD_STRIP is set.
 if(NOT CYGWIN AND NOT WIN32)
-  if(NOT ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Darwin")
+  if(NOT ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Darwin" AND
+     NOT uppercase_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "DEBUG")
     check_c_compiler_flag("-Werror -fno-function-sections" C_SUPPORTS_FNO_FUNCTION_SECTIONS)
     if (C_SUPPORTS_FNO_FUNCTION_SECTIONS)
       # Don't add -ffunction-section if it can be disabled with -fno-function-sections.