diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8710b424..e806f20f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 ## Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
 
 AC_PREREQ([2.68])
-AC_INIT([mu],[1.7.9],[https://github.com/djcb/mu/issues],[mu])
+AC_INIT([mu],[1.7.10],[https://github.com/djcb/mu/issues],[mu])
 AC_COPYRIGHT([Copyright (C) 2008-2021 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([mu/mu.cc])
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index e8521677..160c8a4a 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 # project setup
 #
 project('mu', ['c', 'cpp'],
-	version: '1.7.9',
+	version: '1.7.10',
 	meson_version: '>= 0.52.0', # debian 10
 	license: 'GPL-3.0-or-later',
 	default_options : [
@@ -45,6 +45,14 @@ extra_flags = [
   '-Wno-#warnings'
 ]
 
+
+if get_option('buildtype') == 'debug'
+  extra_flags += [
+    '-ggdb',
+    '-fvar-tracking',
+    '-fvar-tracking-assignments']
+endif
+
 # compilers
 cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
 cxx= meson.get_compiler('cpp')