diff --git a/src/util/u_debug.c b/src/util/u_debug.c
index a86b37a67e9..3a5d3a691a8 100644
--- a/src/util/u_debug.c
+++ b/src/util/u_debug.c
@@ -423,18 +423,17 @@ parse_debug_string(const char *debug,
 
    if (debug != NULL) {
       for (; control->string != NULL; control++) {
-         if (!strncmp(debug, "all", strlen("all"))) {
-            flag |= control->flag;
+         const char *s = debug;
+         unsigned n;
 
-         } else {
-            const char *s = debug;
-            unsigned n;
+         for (; n = strcspn(s, ", "), *s; s += MAX2(1, n)) {
+            if (!n)
+               continue;
 
-            for (; n = strcspn(s, ", "), *s; s += MAX2(1, n)) {
-               if (strlen(control->string) == n &&
-                   !strncmp(control->string, s, n))
-                  flag |= control->flag;
-            }
+            if (!strncmp("all", s, n) ||
+                (strlen(control->string) == n &&
+                !strncmp(control->string, s, n)))
+               flag |= control->flag;
          }
       }
    }