diff --git a/armsrc/appmain.c b/armsrc/appmain.c
index fc07d66f8..ce6d79dbb 100644
--- a/armsrc/appmain.c
+++ b/armsrc/appmain.c
@@ -799,7 +799,8 @@ static void PacketReceived(PacketCommandNG *packet) {
         // emulator
         case CMD_SET_DBGMODE: {
             g_dbglevel = packet->data.asBytes[0];
-            print_debug_level();
+            if (packet->length == 1 || packet->data.asBytes[1] != 0)
+                print_debug_level();
             reply_ng(CMD_SET_DBGMODE, PM3_SUCCESS, NULL, 0);
             break;
         }
diff --git a/client/src/cmdhw.c b/client/src/cmdhw.c
index b355e66cb..184aa58e8 100644
--- a/client/src/cmdhw.c
+++ b/client/src/cmdhw.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "cmdhw.h"
 #include "cmddata.h"
 #include "commonutil.h"
+#include "preferences.h"
 #include "pm3_cmd.h"
 #include "pmflash.h"      // rdv40validation_t
 #include "cmdflashmem.h"  // get_signature..
@@ -476,14 +477,9 @@ static int CmdDbg(const char *Cmd) {
         return PM3_EINVARG;
     }
 
-    clearCommandBuffer();
-    SendCommandNG(CMD_GET_DBGMODE, NULL, 0);
-    PacketResponseNG resp;
-    if (WaitForResponseTimeout(CMD_GET_DBGMODE, &resp, 2000) == false) {
-        PrintAndLogEx(WARNING, "Failed to get current device debug level");
-        return PM3_ETIMEOUT;
-    }
-    uint8_t curr = resp.data.asBytes[0];
+    uint8_t curr = DBG_NONE;
+    if (getDeviceDebugLevel(&curr) != PM3_SUCCESS)
+        return PM3_EFAILED;
 
     const char *dbglvlstr;
     switch (curr) {
@@ -522,8 +518,8 @@ static int CmdDbg(const char *Cmd) {
         else if (lv4)
             dbg = 4;
 
-        clearCommandBuffer();
-        SendCommandNG(CMD_SET_DBGMODE, &dbg, sizeof(dbg));
+        if (setDeviceDebugLevel(dbg, true) != PM3_SUCCESS)
+            return PM3_EFAILED;
     }
     return PM3_SUCCESS;
 }
diff --git a/client/src/preferences.c b/client/src/preferences.c
index dd697da74..4effb1bef 100644
--- a/client/src/preferences.c
+++ b/client/src/preferences.c
@@ -762,6 +762,44 @@ static int setCmdDeviceDebug (const char *Cmd)
 }
 */
 
+int getDeviceDebugLevel (uint8_t *debug_level) {
+    if (!g_session.pm3_present)
+        return PM3_EFAILED;
+
+    clearCommandBuffer();
+    SendCommandNG(CMD_GET_DBGMODE, NULL, 0);
+    PacketResponseNG resp;
+    if (WaitForResponseTimeout(CMD_GET_DBGMODE, &resp, 2000) == false) {
+        PrintAndLogEx(WARNING, "Failed to get current device debug level");
+        return PM3_ETIMEOUT;
+    }
+
+    if (debug_level)
+        *debug_level = resp.data.asBytes[0];
+
+    return PM3_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+int setDeviceDebugLevel (uint8_t debug_level, bool verbose) {
+    if (!g_session.pm3_present)
+        return PM3_EFAILED;
+
+    if (verbose)
+        PrintAndLogEx (INFO,"setting device debug loglevel to %u", debug_level);
+
+    uint8_t cdata[] = {debug_level, verbose};
+    clearCommandBuffer();
+    SendCommandNG(CMD_SET_DBGMODE, cdata, sizeof(cdata));
+    PacketResponseNG resp;
+    if (WaitForResponseTimeout(CMD_SET_DBGMODE, &resp, 2000) == false) {
+        PrintAndLogEx (WARNING,"failed to set device debug loglevel");
+        return PM3_EFAILED;
+    }
+
+    return PM3_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+
 static int setCmdOutput(const char *Cmd) {
     CLIParserContext *ctx;
     CLIParserInit(&ctx, "prefs set output",
diff --git a/client/src/preferences.h b/client/src/preferences.h
index 56ba72fa3..74e3bc2a8 100644
--- a/client/src/preferences.h
+++ b/client/src/preferences.h
@@ -31,4 +31,7 @@ int preferences_save(void);
 void preferences_save_callback(json_t *root);
 void preferences_load_callback(json_t *root);
 
+int getDeviceDebugLevel (uint8_t *debug_level);
+int setDeviceDebugLevel (uint8_t debug_level, bool verbose);
+
 #endif