diff --git a/apis/v1alpha2/nginxproxy_types.go b/apis/v1alpha2/nginxproxy_types.go
index 8f8a2671e8..bfa21aca59 100644
--- a/apis/v1alpha2/nginxproxy_types.go
+++ b/apis/v1alpha2/nginxproxy_types.go
@@ -435,6 +435,11 @@ type PodSpec struct {
 
 // ContainerSpec defines container fields for the NGINX container.
 type ContainerSpec struct {
+	// Debug enables debugging for NGINX by using the nginx-debug binary.
+	//
+	// +optional
+	Debug *bool `json:"debug,omitempty"`
+
 	// Image is the NGINX image to use.
 	//
 	// +optional
diff --git a/apis/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/apis/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index c6420fc2f2..54e5c760b2 100644
--- a/apis/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/apis/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ import (
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *ContainerSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *ContainerSpec) {
 	*out = *in
+	if in.Debug != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Debug, &out.Debug
+		*out = new(bool)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	if in.Image != nil {
 		in, out := &in.Image, &out.Image
 		*out = new(Image)
diff --git a/build/entrypoint.sh b/build/entrypoint.sh
index 1095831c57..4ccd6be3a2 100755
--- a/build/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/build/entrypoint.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@ rm -rf /var/run/nginx/*.sock
 
 # Launch nginx
 echo "starting nginx ..."
-/usr/sbin/nginx -g "daemon off;" &
+
+# if we want to use the nginx-debug binary, we will call this script with an argument "debug"
+if [ "${1:-false}" = "debug" ]; then
+    /usr/sbin/nginx-debug -g "daemon off;" &
+else
+    /usr/sbin/nginx -g "daemon off;" &
+fi
 
 nginx_pid=$!
 
@@ -31,7 +37,7 @@ done
 
 # start nginx-agent, pass args
 echo "starting nginx-agent ..."
-nginx-agent "$@" &
+nginx-agent &
 
 agent_pid=$!
 
diff --git a/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/templates/nginxproxy.yaml b/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/templates/nginxproxy.yaml
index 1dd6f44155..f77630fe95 100644
--- a/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/templates/nginxproxy.yaml
+++ b/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/templates/nginxproxy.yaml
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ spec:
         {{- end }}
         image:
           {{- toYaml .Values.nginx.image | nindent 10 }}
+        {{- if .Values.nginx.debug }}
+        debug: {{ .Values.nginx.debug }}
+        {{- end }}
     {{- end }}
     {{- if .Values.nginx.service }}
     service:
diff --git a/config/crd/bases/gateway.nginx.org_nginxproxies.yaml b/config/crd/bases/gateway.nginx.org_nginxproxies.yaml
index a86fcf723e..6593274424 100644
--- a/config/crd/bases/gateway.nginx.org_nginxproxies.yaml
+++ b/config/crd/bases/gateway.nginx.org_nginxproxies.yaml
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ spec:
                         description: Container defines container fields for the NGINX
                           container.
                         properties:
+                          debug:
+                            description: Debug enables debugging for NGINX by using
+                              the nginx-debug binary.
+                            type: boolean
                           image:
                             description: Image is the NGINX image to use.
                             properties:
diff --git a/deploy/crds.yaml b/deploy/crds.yaml
index cc4ad633b3..08d58ad387 100644
--- a/deploy/crds.yaml
+++ b/deploy/crds.yaml
@@ -664,6 +664,10 @@ spec:
                         description: Container defines container fields for the NGINX
                           container.
                         properties:
+                          debug:
+                            description: Debug enables debugging for NGINX by using
+                              the nginx-debug binary.
+                            type: boolean
                           image:
                             description: Image is the NGINX image to use.
                             properties:
diff --git a/internal/mode/static/provisioner/objects.go b/internal/mode/static/provisioner/objects.go
index 19a24cb832..6c3c6b5c01 100644
--- a/internal/mode/static/provisioner/objects.go
+++ b/internal/mode/static/provisioner/objects.go
@@ -447,6 +447,11 @@ func (p *NginxProvisioner) buildNginxPodTemplateSpec(
 			}
 			container.Lifecycle = containerSpec.Lifecycle
 			container.VolumeMounts = append(container.VolumeMounts, containerSpec.VolumeMounts...)
+
+			if containerSpec.Debug != nil && *containerSpec.Debug {
+				container.Command = append(container.Command, "/agent/entrypoint.sh")
+				container.Args = append(container.Args, "debug")
+			}
 			spec.Spec.Containers[0] = container
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/internal/mode/static/state/graph/nginxproxy_test.go b/internal/mode/static/state/graph/nginxproxy_test.go
index 2289bb7dab..bf074ab562 100644
--- a/internal/mode/static/state/graph/nginxproxy_test.go
+++ b/internal/mode/static/state/graph/nginxproxy_test.go
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ func TestBuildEffectiveNginxProxy(t *testing.T) {
 		logLevel ngfAPIv1alpha2.NginxErrorLogLevel,
 		setIP bool,
 		disableHTTP bool,
+		nginxDebug bool,
 	) *ngfAPIv1alpha2.NginxProxy {
 		return &ngfAPIv1alpha2.NginxProxy{
 			Spec: ngfAPIv1alpha2.NginxProxySpec{
@@ -79,6 +80,13 @@ func TestBuildEffectiveNginxProxy(t *testing.T) {
 					ErrorLevel: &logLevel,
 				},
 				DisableHTTP2: &disableHTTP,
+				Kubernetes: &ngfAPIv1alpha2.KubernetesSpec{
+					Deployment: &ngfAPIv1alpha2.DeploymentSpec{
+						Container: ngfAPIv1alpha2.ContainerSpec{
+							Debug: &nginxDebug,
+						},
+					},
+				},
 			},
 		}
 	}
@@ -100,6 +108,7 @@ func TestBuildEffectiveNginxProxy(t *testing.T) {
 			ngfAPIv1alpha2.NginxLogLevelAlert,
 			true,
 			false,
+			false,
 		)
 	}
 
@@ -120,6 +129,7 @@ func TestBuildEffectiveNginxProxy(t *testing.T) {
 			ngfAPIv1alpha2.NginxLogLevelError,
 			false,
 			true,
+			true,
 		)
 	}