diff --git a/apps/showcase/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/showcase/tag/nonui/debugtag/DebugTagAction.java b/apps/showcase/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/showcase/tag/nonui/debugtag/DebugTagAction.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3c268150
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/showcase/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/showcase/tag/nonui/debugtag/DebugTagAction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.struts2.showcase.tag.nonui.debugtag;
+
+import com.opensymphony.xwork2.ActionSupport;
+import org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.PrepareOperations;
+
+public class DebugTagAction extends ActionSupport {
+
+    public String execute() throws Exception {
+        PrepareOperations.overrideDevMode(true); // Just for Showcase, explicitly switch on for this action only
+        return SUCCESS;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/showcase/src/main/resources/struts-tags-non-ui.xml b/apps/showcase/src/main/resources/struts-tags-non-ui.xml
index 484341976..42d0506ae 100644
--- a/apps/showcase/src/main/resources/struts-tags-non-ui.xml
+++ b/apps/showcase/src/main/resources/struts-tags-non-ui.xml
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@
         <action name="date">
             <result>/WEB-INF/tags/non-ui/date.jsp</result>
         </action>
-        <action name="debugTagDemo">
+		<action name="debugTagDemo" class="org.apache.struts2.showcase.tag.nonui.debugtag.DebugTagAction">
             <result>/WEB-INF/tags/non-ui/debug.jsp</result>
         </action>
     </package>
diff --git a/apps/showcase/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/tags/non-ui/debug.jsp b/apps/showcase/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/tags/non-ui/debug.jsp
index 45131e87c..1629bf3ab 100644
--- a/apps/showcase/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/tags/non-ui/debug.jsp
+++ b/apps/showcase/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/tags/non-ui/debug.jsp
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 			<p>
 			    Just click on the Debug label to see the Struts ValueStack Debug information.
 		    <p/>
-		    <s:debug disabled="false" />
+		    <s:debug />
 		</div>
 	</div>
 </div>
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/components/Debug.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/components/Debug.java
index 87c32de87..e1c72fb28 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/components/Debug.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/components/Debug.java
@@ -30,11 +30,12 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
+import org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.PrepareOperations;
 import org.apache.struts2.views.annotations.StrutsTag;
 import org.apache.struts2.StrutsException;
 
 @StrutsTag(name="debug", tldTagClass="org.apache.struts2.views.jsp.ui.DebugTag",
-        description="Prints debugging information (Only if 'struts.devMode' enabled or disable tag is set 'false')")
+        description="Prints debugging information (Only if 'struts.devMode' is enabled)")
 public class Debug extends UIBean {
     public static final String TEMPLATE = "debug";
 
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ public class Debug extends UIBean {
     }
 
     protected boolean showDebug() {
-        return (devMode || "false".equalsIgnoreCase(disabled));
+        return (devMode || Boolean.TRUE == PrepareOperations.getDevModeOverride());
     }
 
     private static class DebugMapEntry implements Map.Entry {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/struts2/views/jsp/ui/DebugTagTest.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/struts2/views/jsp/ui/DebugTagTest.java
index 4fc1de30f..0a4e50d97 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/struts2/views/jsp/ui/DebugTagTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/struts2/views/jsp/ui/DebugTagTest.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import com.opensymphony.xwork2.test.StubConfigurationProvider;
 import com.opensymphony.xwork2.util.location.LocatableProperties;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.struts2.StrutsConstants;
+import org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.PrepareOperations;
 import org.apache.struts2.views.jsp.AbstractUITagTest;
 
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -63,44 +64,26 @@ public class DebugTagTest extends AbstractUITagTest {
         assertTrue("nothing to see here, devMode=false", StringUtils.isEmpty(writer.toString()));
     }
 
-    public void testTagAttributeDisableEmpty() throws Exception {
+    public void testTagAttributeOverrideDevModeTrue() throws Exception {
         setDevMode(false);
 
-        tag.doStartTag();
-        tag.doEndTag();
-        assertTrue("nothing to see here, devMode=false and Tag<disable> not set", StringUtils.isEmpty(writer.toString()));
-    }
-
-    public void testTagAttributeDisableFalse() throws Exception {
-        setDevMode(false);
-
-        tag.setDisabled("false");
+        PrepareOperations.overrideDevMode(true);
         tag.doStartTag();
         tag.doEndTag();
         String result = writer.toString();
-        assertTrue("devMode=false but Tag<disable> is set 'false'", StringUtils.isNotEmpty(result));
+        assertTrue(StringUtils.isNotEmpty(result));
         assertTrue("Property 'checkStackProperty' should be in Debug Tag output", StringUtils.contains(result, "<td>checkStackProperty</td>"));
     }
 
-    public void testTagAttributeDisableTrue() throws Exception {
+    public void testTagAttributeOverrideDevModeFalse() throws Exception {
         setDevMode(false);
 
-        tag.setDisabled("true");
+        PrepareOperations.overrideDevMode(false);
         tag.doStartTag();
         tag.doEndTag();
-        assertTrue("nothing to see here, devMode=false and Tag<disable> is set 'true", StringUtils.isEmpty(writer.toString()));
+        assertTrue("nothing to see here, devMode=false and overrideDevMode=false", StringUtils.isEmpty(writer.toString()));
     }
 
-    public void testTagAttributeDisableAny() throws Exception {
-        setDevMode(false);
-
-        tag.setDisabled("rubbish");
-        tag.doStartTag();
-        tag.doEndTag();
-        assertTrue("nothing to see here, devMode=false and Tag<disable> is set 'rubbish", StringUtils.isEmpty(writer.toString()));
-    }
-
-
     private void setDevMode(final boolean devMode) {
         setStrutsConstant(new HashMap<String, String>() {{
             put(StrutsConstants.STRUTS_DEVMODE, Boolean.toString(devMode));