diff --git a/src/vnsw/agent/contrail-vrouter-agent.conf b/src/vnsw/agent/contrail-vrouter-agent.conf
index 03a3b8b76b0..b6bb216e92a 100644
--- a/src/vnsw/agent/contrail-vrouter-agent.conf
+++ b/src/vnsw/agent/contrail-vrouter-agent.conf
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 # agent_mode=
 
 # Enable/disable debug logging. Possible values are 0 (disable) and 1 (enable)
-# debug=0
+debug=0
 
 # Aging time for flow-records in seconds
 # flow_cache_timeout=0
diff --git a/src/vnsw/agent/init/agent_param.cc b/src/vnsw/agent/init/agent_param.cc
index ea9a951bec6..db51703d5a7 100644
--- a/src/vnsw/agent/init/agent_param.cc
+++ b/src/vnsw/agent/init/agent_param.cc
@@ -427,13 +427,7 @@ void AgentParam::ParseDefaultSection() {
         log_local_ = false;
     }
 
-    if (optional<bool> debug_opt =
-        tree_.get_optional<bool>("DEFAULT.debug")) {
-        debug_ = true;
-    } else {
-        debug_ = false;
-    }
-
+    GetValueFromTree<bool>(debug_, "DEFAULT.debug");
     GetValueFromTree<bool>(use_syslog_, "DEFAULT.use_syslog");
     if (!GetValueFromTree<string>(syslog_facility_, "DEFAULT.syslog_facility")) {
         syslog_facility_ = "LOG_LOCAL0";
@@ -717,15 +711,13 @@ void AgentParam::ParseDefaultSectionArguments
     GetValueFromTree<long>(log_file_size_, "DEFAULT.log_file_size");
     GetOptValue<string>(var_map, log_level_, "DEFAULT.log_level");
     GetOptValue<string>(var_map, syslog_facility_, "DEFAULT.syslog_facility");
+    GetOptValue<bool>(var_map, debug_, "DEFAULT.debug");
     if (var_map.count("DEFAULT.use_syslog")) {
         use_syslog_ = true;
     }
     if (var_map.count("DEFAULT.log_local")) {
          log_local_ = true;
     }
-    if (var_map.count("DEFAULT.debug")) {
-        debug_ = true;
-    }
     if (var_map.count("DEFAULT.log_flow")) {
          log_flow_ = true;
     }
@@ -1277,7 +1269,7 @@ AgentParam::AgentParam(bool enable_flow_options,
         ("DEFAULT.collectors",
          opt::value<std::vector<std::string> >()->multitoken(),
          "Collector server list")
-        ("DEFAULT.debug", "Enable debug logging")
+        ("DEFAULT.debug", opt::value<bool>(), "Enable / Disable debug logging")
         ("DEFAULT.flow_cache_timeout",
          opt::value<uint16_t>()->default_value(Agent::kDefaultFlowCacheTimeout),
          "Flow aging time in seconds")
diff --git a/src/vnsw/agent/init/test/cfg-default1.ini b/src/vnsw/agent/init/test/cfg-default1.ini
index d4aae55047c..aa56b87fce4 100644
--- a/src/vnsw/agent/init/test/cfg-default1.ini
+++ b/src/vnsw/agent/init/test/cfg-default1.ini
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ server=127.0.0.1
 agent_mode=tsn
 
 # Enable/disable debug logging. Possible values are 0 (disable) and 1 (enable)
-debug=1
+debug=0
 
 # Aging time for flow-records in seconds
 flow_cache_timeout=60
diff --git a/src/vnsw/agent/init/test/test_agent_init.cc b/src/vnsw/agent/init/test/test_agent_init.cc
index a18f817e17b..5487ea91277 100644
--- a/src/vnsw/agent/init/test/test_agent_init.cc
+++ b/src/vnsw/agent/init/test/test_agent_init.cc
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ TEST_F(FlowTest, Agent_Conf_file_1) {
     EXPECT_EQ(param.agent_mode(), AgentParam::VROUTER_AGENT);
     EXPECT_STREQ(param.agent_base_dir().c_str(), "/var/lib/contrail");
     EXPECT_EQ(param.subnet_hosts_resolvable(), true);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(param.debug());
 }
 
 TEST_F(FlowTest, Agent_Conf_file_2) {
@@ -311,6 +312,7 @@ TEST_F(FlowTest, Default_Cmdline_arg1) {
     EXPECT_STREQ(param.log_level().c_str(), "SYS_ERR");
     EXPECT_TRUE(param.isXenMode());
     EXPECT_EQ(param.agent_mode(), AgentParam::TSN_AGENT);
+    EXPECT_FALSE(param.debug());
 }
 
 /* Some command line args have default values. If user has not passed these