diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 99b8386b5..3581b83b4 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -172,5 +172,15 @@ request.forever = function (agentOptions, optionsArg) {
 
 module.exports = request
 request.Request = require('./request')
-request.debug = process.env.NODE_DEBUG && /\brequest\b/.test(process.env.NODE_DEBUG)
 request.initParams = initParams
+
+// Backwards compatibility for request.debug
+Object.defineProperty(request, 'debug', {
+  enumerable : true,
+  get : function() {
+    return request.Request.debug
+  },
+  set : function(debug) {
+    request.Request.debug = debug
+  }
+})
diff --git a/lib/debug.js b/lib/debug.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 25e3dedc7..000000000
--- a/lib/debug.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-'use strict'
-
-var util = require('util')
-  , request = require('../index')
-
-
-module.exports = function debug() {
-  if (request.debug) {
-    console.error('REQUEST %s', util.format.apply(util, arguments))
-  }
-}
diff --git a/request.js b/request.js
index 6254aa016..ea887f842 100644
--- a/request.js
+++ b/request.js
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ var http = require('http')
   , FormData = require('form-data')
   , cookies = require('./lib/cookies')
   , copy = require('./lib/copy')
-  , debug = require('./lib/debug')
   , net = require('net')
   , CombinedStream = require('combined-stream')
   , isstream = require('isstream')
@@ -240,6 +239,14 @@ function Request (options) {
 
 util.inherits(Request, stream.Stream)
 
+// Debugging
+Request.debug = process.env.NODE_DEBUG && /\brequest\b/.test(process.env.NODE_DEBUG)
+function debug() {
+  if (Request.debug) {
+    console.error('REQUEST %s', util.format.apply(util, arguments))
+  }
+}
+
 Request.prototype.setupTunnel = function () {
   // Set up the tunneling agent if necessary
   // Only send the proxy whitelisted header names.
diff --git a/tests/test-node-debug.js b/tests/test-node-debug.js
index 9d5a0f6fd..4d4e5ac0a 100644
--- a/tests/test-node-debug.js
+++ b/tests/test-node-debug.js
@@ -12,11 +12,12 @@ var s = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
 var stderr = []
   , prevStderrLen = 0
 
-process.stderr.write = function(string, encoding, fd) {
-  stderr.push(string)
-}
-
 tape('setup', function(t) {
+  process.stderr._oldWrite = process.stderr.write
+  process.stderr.write = function(string, encoding, fd) {
+    stderr.push(string)
+  }
+
   s.listen(6767, function() {
     t.end()
   })
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@ tape('setup', function(t) {
 
 tape('a simple request should not fail with debugging enabled', function(t) {
   request.debug = true
+  t.equal(request.Request.debug, true, 'request.debug sets request.Request.debug')
+  t.equal(request.debug, true, 'request.debug gets request.Request.debug')
   stderr = []
 
   request('http://localhost:6767', function(err, res, body) {
@@ -68,6 +71,8 @@ tape('there should be no further lookups on process.env', function(t) {
 
 tape('it should be possible to disable debugging at runtime', function(t) {
   request.debug = false
+  t.equal(request.Request.debug, false, 'request.debug sets request.Request.debug')
+  t.equal(request.debug, false, 'request.debug gets request.Request.debug')
   stderr = []
 
   request('http://localhost:6767', function(err, res, body) {
@@ -79,6 +84,9 @@ tape('it should be possible to disable debugging at runtime', function(t) {
 })
 
 tape('cleanup', function(t) {
+  process.stderr.write = process.stderr._oldWrite
+  delete process.stderr._oldWrite
+
   s.close(function() {
     t.end()
   })