diff --git a/glfw/cocoa_init.m b/glfw/cocoa_init.m
index feebbabae..15a4b919f 100644
--- a/glfw/cocoa_init.m
+++ b/glfw/cocoa_init.m
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@ static void changeToResourcesDirectory(void)
 static void createKeyTables(void)
 {
     int scancode;
-    _glfw.ns.debug_keyboard = getenv("GLFW_DEBUG_KEYBOARD") != NULL;
 
     memset(_glfw.ns.keycodes, -1, sizeof(_glfw.ns.keycodes));
     memset(_glfw.ns.scancodes, -1, sizeof(_glfw.ns.scancodes));
diff --git a/glfw/cocoa_platform.h b/glfw/cocoa_platform.h
index a95c2a658..692cc4603 100644
--- a/glfw/cocoa_platform.h
+++ b/glfw/cocoa_platform.h
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ typedef struct _GLFWlibraryNS
 
     char                keyName[64];
     char                text[256];
-    GLFWbool            debug_keyboard;
     short int           keycodes[256];
     short int           scancodes[GLFW_KEY_LAST + 1];
     char*               clipboardString;
diff --git a/glfw/cocoa_window.m b/glfw/cocoa_window.m
index 4f9d112ec..c521c1585 100644
--- a/glfw/cocoa_window.m
+++ b/glfw/cocoa_window.m
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ static int translateFlags(NSUInteger flags)
     return mods;
 }
 
-#define debug_key(...) if (_glfw.ns.debug_keyboard) NSLog(__VA_ARGS__)
+#define debug_key(...) if (_glfw.hints.init.debugKeyboard) NSLog(__VA_ARGS__)
 
 static inline const char*
 format_mods(int mods) {
diff --git a/glfw/glfw3.h b/glfw/glfw3.h
index a97c5ade2..edf0745cf 100644
--- a/glfw/glfw3.h
+++ b/glfw/glfw3.h
@@ -1057,6 +1057,7 @@ extern "C" {
 /*! @addtogroup init
  *  @{ */
 #define GLFW_JOYSTICK_HAT_BUTTONS   0x00050001
+#define GLFW_DEBUG_KEYBOARD         0x00050002
 
 #define GLFW_COCOA_CHDIR_RESOURCES  0x00051001
 #define GLFW_COCOA_MENUBAR          0x00051002
diff --git a/glfw/init.c b/glfw/init.c
index 9e670d423..7b2ef8533 100644
--- a/glfw/init.c
+++ b/glfw/init.c
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ static GLFWerrorfun _glfwErrorCallback;
 static _GLFWinitconfig _glfwInitHints =
 {
     GLFW_TRUE,      // hat buttons
+    GLFW_FALSE,     // debug keyboard
     {
         GLFW_TRUE,  // macOS menu bar
         GLFW_TRUE   // macOS bundle chdir
@@ -255,6 +256,9 @@ GLFWAPI void glfwInitHint(int hint, int value)
         case GLFW_JOYSTICK_HAT_BUTTONS:
             _glfwInitHints.hatButtons = value;
             return;
+        case GLFW_DEBUG_KEYBOARD:
+            _glfwInitHints.debugKeyboard = value;
+            return;
         case GLFW_COCOA_CHDIR_RESOURCES:
             _glfwInitHints.ns.chdir = value;
             return;
@@ -311,4 +315,3 @@ GLFWAPI GLFWerrorfun glfwSetErrorCallback(GLFWerrorfun cbfun)
     _GLFW_SWAP_POINTERS(_glfwErrorCallback, cbfun);
     return cbfun;
 }
-
diff --git a/glfw/internal.h b/glfw/internal.h
index f0a4be9eb..782c0f2cf 100644
--- a/glfw/internal.h
+++ b/glfw/internal.h
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ struct _GLFWerror
 struct _GLFWinitconfig
 {
     GLFWbool      hatButtons;
+    GLFWbool      debugKeyboard;
     struct {
         GLFWbool  menubar;
         GLFWbool  chdir;
diff --git a/glfw/xkb_glfw.c b/glfw/xkb_glfw.c
index 98ee95a84..2d19ca05b 100644
--- a/glfw/xkb_glfw.c
+++ b/glfw/xkb_glfw.c
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@
 #include "internal.h"
 #include "xkb_glfw.h"
 
-static GLFWbool debug_keyboard = GLFW_FALSE;
-#define debug(...) if (debug_keyboard) printf(__VA_ARGS__);
+#define debug(...) if (_glfw.hints.init.debugKeyboard) printf(__VA_ARGS__);
 
 #define map_key(key) { \
     switch(key) { \
@@ -206,7 +205,6 @@ glfw_xkb_release(_GLFWXKBData *xkb) {
 GLFWbool
 glfw_xkb_create_context(_GLFWXKBData *xkb) {
     xkb->context = xkb_context_new(0);
-    debug_keyboard = getenv("GLFW_DEBUG_KEYBOARD") != NULL;
     if (!xkb->context)
     {
         _glfwInputError(GLFW_PLATFORM_ERROR,
diff --git a/kitty/glfw-wrapper.h b/kitty/glfw-wrapper.h
index d7eeca7e5..205bebb02 100644
--- a/kitty/glfw-wrapper.h
+++ b/kitty/glfw-wrapper.h
@@ -818,6 +818,7 @@ typedef int (* GLFWapplicationshouldhandlereopenfun)(int);
 /*! @addtogroup init
  *  @{ */
 #define GLFW_JOYSTICK_HAT_BUTTONS   0x00050001
+#define GLFW_DEBUG_KEYBOARD         0x00050002
 
 #define GLFW_COCOA_CHDIR_RESOURCES  0x00051001
 #define GLFW_COCOA_MENUBAR          0x00051002
diff --git a/kitty/glfw.c b/kitty/glfw.c
index bf3365250..5ab6e951a 100644
--- a/kitty/glfw.c
+++ b/kitty/glfw.c
@@ -558,10 +558,12 @@ error_callback(int error, const char* description) {
 PyObject*
 glfw_init(PyObject UNUSED *self, PyObject *args) {
     const char* path;
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s", &path)) return NULL;
+    int debug_keyboard = 0;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s|p", &path, &debug_keyboard)) return NULL;
     const char* err = load_glfw(path);
     if (err) { PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, err); return NULL; }
     glfwSetErrorCallback(error_callback);
+    glfwInitHint(GLFW_DEBUG_KEYBOARD, debug_keyboard);
 #ifdef __APPLE__
     glfwInitHint(GLFW_COCOA_CHDIR_RESOURCES, 0);
     glfwInitHint(GLFW_COCOA_MENUBAR, 0);
diff --git a/kitty/main.py b/kitty/main.py
index 8eac25ce1..16530bcb7 100644
--- a/kitty/main.py
+++ b/kitty/main.py
@@ -71,12 +71,8 @@ def load_all_shaders(semi_transparent=0):
 
 def init_glfw(debug_keyboard=False):
     glfw_module = 'cocoa' if is_macos else ('wayland' if is_wayland else 'x11')
-    if debug_keyboard:
-        os.environ['GLFW_DEBUG_KEYBOARD'] = '1'
-    if not glfw_init(glfw_path(glfw_module)):
+    if not glfw_init(glfw_path(glfw_module), debug_keyboard):
         raise SystemExit('GLFW initialization failed')
-    if debug_keyboard:
-        os.environ.pop('GLFW_DEBUG_KEYBOARD')
     return glfw_module