diff --git a/etc/glance-api.conf b/etc/glance-api.conf
index 4de3c72d5d..1ed0aabb21 100644
--- a/etc/glance-api.conf
+++ b/etc/glance-api.conf
@@ -159,6 +159,11 @@ registry_client_protocol = http
 # Default: False
 #db_auto_create = False
 
+# Enable DEBUG log messages from sqlalchemy which prints every database
+# query and response.
+# Default: False
+#sqlalchemy_debug = True
+
 # ============ Notification System Options =====================
 
 # Notifications can be sent when images are create, updated or deleted.
diff --git a/etc/glance-registry.conf b/etc/glance-registry.conf
index e67f7a442e..6a2f577559 100644
--- a/etc/glance-registry.conf
+++ b/etc/glance-registry.conf
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ limit_param_default = 25
 # Default: False
 #db_auto_create = False
 
+# Enable DEBUG log messages from sqlalchemy which prints every database
+# query and response.
+# Default: False
+#sqlalchemy_debug = True
+
 # ================= Syslog Options ============================
 
 # Send logs to syslog (/dev/log) instead of to file specified
diff --git a/glance/db/sqlalchemy/api.py b/glance/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
index 216b7b1664..9e04b44423 100644
--- a/glance/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
+++ b/glance/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ db_opts = [
     cfg.BoolOpt('db_auto_create', default=False,
                 help=_('A boolean that determines if the database will be '
                        'automatically created.')),
+    cfg.BoolOpt('sqlalchemy_debug', default=False,
+                help=_('Enable debug logging in sqlalchemy which prints '
+                       'every query and result'))
 ]
 
 CONF = cfg.CONF
@@ -118,7 +121,7 @@ def setup_db_env():
     _RETRY_INTERVAL = CONF.sql_retry_interval
     _CONNECTION = CONF.sql_connection
     sa_logger = logging.getLogger('sqlalchemy.engine')
-    if CONF.debug:
+    if CONF.sqlalchemy_debug:
         sa_logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
 
@@ -188,7 +191,7 @@ def get_engine():
             raise
 
         sa_logger = logging.getLogger('sqlalchemy.engine')
-        if CONF.debug:
+        if CONF.sqlalchemy_debug:
             sa_logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
         if CONF.db_auto_create: