diff --git a/dev-libs/libxslt/libxslt-1.1.43-r1.ebuild b/dev-libs/libxslt/libxslt-1.1.43-r1.ebuild
index a95f91e230878..115c58f76c051 100644
--- a/dev-libs/libxslt/libxslt-1.1.43-r1.ebuild
+++ b/dev-libs/libxslt/libxslt-1.1.43-r1.ebuild
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ fi
 
 LICENSE="MIT"
 SLOT="0"
-IUSE="crypt debug examples python static-libs"
+IUSE="crypt debug debugger examples python static-libs"
 REQUIRED_USE="python? ( ${PYTHON_REQUIRED_USE} )"
 
 BDEPEND=">=virtual/pkgconfig-1"
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ multilib_src_configure() {
 			--without-python \
 			$(use_with crypt crypto) \
 			$(use_with debug) \
+			$(use_with debugger) \
 			$(use_enable static-libs static) \
 			"$@"
 	}
diff --git a/dev-libs/libxslt/libxslt-9999.ebuild b/dev-libs/libxslt/libxslt-9999.ebuild
index 4ccb49bd239e1..e7e3c233dfb2a 100644
--- a/dev-libs/libxslt/libxslt-9999.ebuild
+++ b/dev-libs/libxslt/libxslt-9999.ebuild
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ fi
 
 LICENSE="MIT"
 SLOT="0"
-IUSE="crypt debug examples python static-libs"
+IUSE="crypt debug debugger examples python static-libs"
 REQUIRED_USE="python? ( ${PYTHON_REQUIRED_USE} )"
 
 BDEPEND=">=virtual/pkgconfig-1"
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ multilib_src_configure() {
 			--without-python \
 			$(use_with crypt crypto) \
 			$(use_with debug) \
+			$(use_with debugger) \
 			$(use_enable static-libs static) \
 			"$@"
 	}
diff --git a/dev-libs/libxslt/metadata.xml b/dev-libs/libxslt/metadata.xml
index e97f0e37509c2..2ce51255defa6 100644
--- a/dev-libs/libxslt/metadata.xml
+++ b/dev-libs/libxslt/metadata.xml
@@ -13,4 +13,7 @@
     <remote-id type="cpe">cpe:/a:xmlsoft:libxslt</remote-id>
     <remote-id type="gnome-gitlab">GNOME/libxslt</remote-id>
   </upstream>
+  <use>
+    <flag name="debugger">Build into the library callbacks and associated API for debugging XML processing.</flag>
+  </use>
 </pkgmetadata>