diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-stream/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 848ea8fb7e..70907f2ea9 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ akka {
       # Fully qualified config path which holds the dispatcher configuration
       # to be used by FlowMaterialiser when creating Actors for IO operations.
       file-io-dispatcher = ${akka.io.tcp.file-io-dispatcher}
+      
+      # Enable additional troubleshooting logging at DEBUG log level
+      debug-logging = off
     }
 
   }
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/FlowMaterializer.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/FlowMaterializer.scala
index dafe5a8427..6b6ca80ac5 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/FlowMaterializer.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/FlowMaterializer.scala
@@ -183,7 +183,8 @@ object MaterializerSettings {
       config.getInt("max-input-buffer-size"),
       config.getString("dispatcher"),
       StreamSubscriptionTimeoutSettings(config),
-      config.getString("file-io-dispatcher"))
+      config.getString("file-io-dispatcher"),
+      config.getBoolean("debug-logging"))
 
   /**
    * Java API
@@ -221,7 +222,8 @@ final case class MaterializerSettings(
   maxInputBufferSize: Int,
   dispatcher: String,
   subscriptionTimeoutSettings: StreamSubscriptionTimeoutSettings,
-  fileIODispatcher: String) { // FIXME Why does this exist?!
+  fileIODispatcher: String, // FIXME Why does this exist?!
+  debugLogging: Boolean) {
 
   require(initialInputBufferSize > 0, "initialInputBufferSize must be > 0")
 
@@ -235,6 +237,9 @@ final case class MaterializerSettings(
   def withDispatcher(dispatcher: String): MaterializerSettings =
     copy(dispatcher = dispatcher)
 
+  def withDebugLogging(enable: Boolean): MaterializerSettings =
+    copy(debugLogging = enable)
+
   private def isPowerOfTwo(n: Integer): Boolean = (n & (n - 1)) == 0 // FIXME this considers 0 a power of 2
 }
 
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/ActorProcessor.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/ActorProcessor.scala
index d6e4fa56d2..31f6739a6d 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/ActorProcessor.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/ActorProcessor.scala
@@ -251,7 +251,8 @@ private[akka] abstract class ActorProcessorImpl(val settings: MaterializerSettin
 
   protected def fail(e: Throwable): Unit = {
     // FIXME: escalate to supervisor
-    log.debug("fail {} due to: {}", self, e.getMessage)
+    if (settings.debugLogging)
+      log.debug("fail due to: {}", e.getMessage)
     primaryInputs.cancel()
     primaryOutputs.cancel(e)
     context.stop(self)
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanIn.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanIn.scala
index 7b02e0ecbd..1294ea2128 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanIn.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanIn.scala
@@ -214,7 +214,8 @@ private[akka] abstract class FanIn(val settings: MaterializerSettings, val input
 
   protected def fail(e: Throwable): Unit = {
     // FIXME: escalate to supervisor
-    log.debug("fail {} due to: {}", self, e.getMessage)
+    if (settings.debugLogging)
+      log.debug("fail due to: {}", e.getMessage)
     inputBunch.cancel()
     primaryOutputs.cancel(e)
     context.stop(self)
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanOut.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanOut.scala
index e7831d2020..7143f3f3a7 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanOut.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanOut.scala
@@ -245,7 +245,8 @@ private[akka] abstract class FanOut(val settings: MaterializerSettings, val outp
 
   protected def fail(e: Throwable): Unit = {
     // FIXME: escalate to supervisor
-    log.debug("fail {} due to: {}", self, e.getMessage)
+    if (settings.debugLogging)
+      log.debug("fail due to: {}", e.getMessage)
     primaryInputs.cancel()
     outputBunch.cancel(e)
     context.stop(self)
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanoutProcessor.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanoutProcessor.scala
index 0967d9cb0e..ccff0f8bd6 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanoutProcessor.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/FanoutProcessor.scala
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ private[akka] class FanoutProcessorImpl(
 
   override def fail(e: Throwable): Unit = {
     // FIXME: escalate to supervisor
-    log.debug("fail {} due to: {}", self, e.getMessage)
+    if (settings.debugLogging)
+      log.debug("fail due to: {}", e.getMessage)
     primaryInputs.cancel()
     primaryOutputs.cancel(e)
     // Stopping will happen after flush
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/fusing/ActorInterpreter.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/fusing/ActorInterpreter.scala
index d28dd1cf2d..30327ffd90 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/fusing/ActorInterpreter.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/fusing/ActorInterpreter.scala
@@ -14,11 +14,15 @@ import akka.stream.stage._
 import org.reactivestreams.{ Subscriber, Subscription }
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 import akka.actor.Props
+import akka.actor.ActorLogging
+import akka.event.LoggingAdapter
 
 /**
  * INTERNAL API
  */
-private[akka] class BatchingActorInputBoundary(val size: Int) extends BoundaryStage {
+private[akka] class BatchingActorInputBoundary(val size: Int)
+  extends BoundaryStage {
+
   require(size > 0, "buffer size cannot be zero")
   require((size & (size - 1)) == 0, "buffer size must be a power of two")
 
@@ -143,7 +147,8 @@ private[akka] class BatchingActorInputBoundary(val size: Int) extends BoundarySt
 /**
  * INTERNAL API
  */
-private[akka] class ActorOutputBoundary(val actor: ActorRef) extends BoundaryStage {
+private[akka] class ActorOutputBoundary(val actor: ActorRef, debugLogging: Boolean, log: LoggingAdapter)
+  extends BoundaryStage {
 
   private var exposedPublisher: ActorPublisher[Any] = _
 
@@ -172,6 +177,8 @@ private[akka] class ActorOutputBoundary(val actor: ActorRef) extends BoundarySta
   def fail(e: Throwable): Unit = {
     if (!downstreamCompleted) {
       downstreamCompleted = true
+      if (debugLogging)
+        log.debug("fail due to: {}", e.getMessage)
       if (subscriber ne null) subscriber.onError(e)
       if (exposedPublisher ne null) exposedPublisher.shutdown(Some(e))
     }
@@ -256,10 +263,10 @@ private[akka] object ActorInterpreter {
  * INTERNAL API
  */
 private[akka] class ActorInterpreter(val settings: MaterializerSettings, val ops: Seq[Stage[_, _]])
-  extends Actor {
+  extends Actor with ActorLogging {
 
   private val upstream = new BatchingActorInputBoundary(settings.initialInputBufferSize)
-  private val downstream = new ActorOutputBoundary(self)
+  private val downstream = new ActorOutputBoundary(self, settings.debugLogging, log)
   private val interpreter = new OneBoundedInterpreter(upstream +: ops :+ downstream)
   interpreter.init()
 
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/TcpConnectionStream.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/TcpConnectionStream.scala
index 27ef598909..2a131f232f 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/TcpConnectionStream.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/TcpConnectionStream.scala
@@ -185,7 +185,8 @@ private[akka] abstract class TcpStreamActor(val settings: MaterializerSettings)
   writePump.nextPhase(writePump.running)
 
   def fail(e: Throwable): Unit = {
-    log.debug("fail {} due to: {}", self, e.getMessage)
+    if (settings.debugLogging)
+      log.debug("fail due to: {}", e.getMessage)
     tcpInputs.cancel()
     tcpOutputs.cancel(e)
     primaryInputs.cancel()
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/TcpListenStreamActor.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/TcpListenStreamActor.scala
index d88420943e..86d49677e2 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/TcpListenStreamActor.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/TcpListenStreamActor.scala
@@ -161,7 +161,8 @@ private[akka] class TcpListenStreamActor(localAddressPromise: Promise[InetSocket
   }
 
   def fail(e: Throwable): Unit = {
-    log.debug("fail {} due to: {}", self, e.getMessage)
+    if (settings.debugLogging)
+      log.debug("fail due to: {}", e.getMessage)
     incomingConnections.cancel()
     primaryOutputs.cancel(e)
   }