diff --git a/mysql-test/t/table_elim_debug.test b/mysql-test/t/table_elim_debug.test
index 9f793169e4f..6400f798195 100644
--- a/mysql-test/t/table_elim_debug.test
+++ b/mysql-test/t/table_elim_debug.test
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 #
 # Table elimination (MWL#17) tests that need debug build
 #
---source include/have_debug.inc
+# In MariaDB 5.3, one can switch table_elimination on/off without debug, too: 
+## --source include/have_debug.inc
 
 --disable_warnings
 drop table if exists t1, t2;
diff --git a/sql/opt_table_elimination.cc b/sql/opt_table_elimination.cc
index c8c61720068..56396181619 100644
--- a/sql/opt_table_elimination.cc
+++ b/sql/opt_table_elimination.cc
@@ -588,10 +588,8 @@ void eliminate_tables(JOIN *join)
   if (!join->outer_join)
     DBUG_VOID_RETURN;
 
-#ifndef DBUG_OFF
   if (!optimizer_flag(thd, OPTIMIZER_SWITCH_TABLE_ELIMINATION))
     DBUG_VOID_RETURN; /* purecov: inspected */
-#endif
 
   /* Find the tables that are referred to from WHERE/HAVING */
   used_tables= (join->conds?  join->conds->used_tables() : 0) |