diff --git a/.changes/before-script-envs.md b/.changes/before-script-envs.md
index 792f21f9d..0f474da88 100644
--- a/.changes/before-script-envs.md
+++ b/.changes/before-script-envs.md
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 "cli.rs": patch
 ---
 
-Define `PLATFORM`, `ARCH`, `FAMILY` and `PLATFORM_TYPE` environment variables for the `beforeDevCommand` and `beforeBuildCommand` scripts.
+Define `PLATFORM`, `ARCH`, `FAMILY`, `PLATFORM_TYPE` and `TAURI_DEBUG` environment variables for the `beforeDevCommand` and `beforeBuildCommand` scripts.
diff --git a/tooling/cli.rs/config_definition.rs b/tooling/cli.rs/config_definition.rs
index 50794091f..54ed08a6c 100644
--- a/tooling/cli.rs/config_definition.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli.rs/config_definition.rs
@@ -820,11 +820,11 @@ pub struct BuildConfig {
   pub dist_dir: AppUrl,
   /// A shell command to run before `tauri dev` kicks in.
   ///
-  /// The PLATFORM, ARCH, FAMILY and PLATFORM_TYPE environment variables are set if you perform conditional compilation.
+  /// The PLATFORM, ARCH, FAMILY, PLATFORM_TYPE and TAURI_DEBUG environment variables are set if you perform conditional compilation.
   pub before_dev_command: Option<String>,
   /// A shell command to run before `tauri build` kicks in.
   ///
-  /// The PLATFORM, ARCH, FAMILY and PLATFORM_TYPE environment variables are set if you perform conditional compilation.
+  /// The PLATFORM, ARCH, FAMILY, PLATFORM_TYPE and TAURI_DEBUG environment variables are set if you perform conditional compilation.
   pub before_build_command: Option<String>,
   /// Features passed to `cargo` commands.
   pub features: Option<Vec<String>>,
diff --git a/tooling/cli.rs/schema.json b/tooling/cli.rs/schema.json
index 607460c46..4210d79be 100644
--- a/tooling/cli.rs/schema.json
+++ b/tooling/cli.rs/schema.json
@@ -261,14 +261,14 @@
       "type": "object",
       "properties": {
         "beforeBuildCommand": {
-          "description": "A shell command to run before `tauri build` kicks in.\n\nThe PLATFORM, ARCH, FAMILY and PLATFORM_TYPE environment variables are set if you perform conditional compilation.",
+          "description": "A shell command to run before `tauri build` kicks in.\n\nThe PLATFORM, ARCH, FAMILY, PLATFORM_TYPE and TAURI_DEBUG environment variables are set if you perform conditional compilation.",
           "type": [
             "string",
             "null"
           ]
         },
         "beforeDevCommand": {
-          "description": "A shell command to run before `tauri dev` kicks in.\n\nThe PLATFORM, ARCH, FAMILY and PLATFORM_TYPE environment variables are set if you perform conditional compilation.",
+          "description": "A shell command to run before `tauri dev` kicks in.\n\nThe PLATFORM, ARCH, FAMILY, PLATFORM_TYPE and TAURI_DEBUG environment variables are set if you perform conditional compilation.",
           "type": [
             "string",
             "null"
diff --git a/tooling/cli.rs/src/build.rs b/tooling/cli.rs/src/build.rs
index 48e0d5660..0fe0d3a9c 100644
--- a/tooling/cli.rs/src/build.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli.rs/src/build.rs
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ impl Build {
             .arg("/C")
             .arg(before_build)
             .current_dir(app_dir())
-            .envs(command_env()),
+            .envs(command_env(self.debug)),
         )
         .with_context(|| format!("failed to run `{}` with `cmd /C`", before_build))?;
         #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ impl Build {
             .arg("-c")
             .arg(before_build)
             .current_dir(app_dir())
-            .envs(command_env()),
+            .envs(command_env(self.debug)),
         )
         .with_context(|| format!("failed to run `{}` with `sh -c`", before_build))?;
       }
diff --git a/tooling/cli.rs/src/dev.rs b/tooling/cli.rs/src/dev.rs
index 0ff88fca9..ef738cbee 100644
--- a/tooling/cli.rs/src/dev.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli.rs/src/dev.rs
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ impl Dev {
           .arg("/C")
           .arg(before_dev)
           .current_dir(app_dir())
-          .envs(command_env())
+          .envs(command_env(true)) // development build always includes debug information
           .spawn()
           .with_context(|| format!("failed to run `{}` with `cmd /C`", before_dev))?;
         #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ impl Dev {
           .arg("-c")
           .arg(before_dev)
           .current_dir(app_dir())
-          .envs(command_env())
+          .envs(command_env(true)) // development build always includes debug information
           .spawn()
           .with_context(|| format!("failed to run `{}` with `sh -c`", before_dev))?;
         BEFORE_DEV.set(Mutex::new(child)).unwrap();
diff --git a/tooling/cli.rs/src/helpers/mod.rs b/tooling/cli.rs/src/helpers/mod.rs
index 10ee5b6f0..63e998a05 100644
--- a/tooling/cli.rs/src/helpers/mod.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli.rs/src/helpers/mod.rs
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ pub fn execute_with_output(cmd: &mut Command) -> crate::Result<()> {
   }
 }
 
-pub fn command_env() -> HashMap<String, String> {
+pub fn command_env(debug: bool) -> HashMap<String, String> {
   let mut map = HashMap::new();
+
   map.insert("PLATFORM".into(), std::env::consts::OS.into());
   map.insert("ARCH".into(), std::env::consts::ARCH.into());
   map.insert("FAMILY".into(), std::env::consts::FAMILY.into());
@@ -55,6 +56,10 @@ pub fn command_env() -> HashMap<String, String> {
   #[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
   map.insert("PLATFORM_TYPE".into(), "Darwing".into());
 
+  if debug {
+    map.insert("TAURI_DEBUG".into(), "true".to_string());
+  }
+
   map
 }