diff --git a/plugin/sql/sql-cli/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/sql/cli/Cli.java b/plugin/sql/sql-cli/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/sql/cli/Cli.java
index edf051cf928..d88eae26bec 100644
--- a/plugin/sql/sql-cli/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/sql/cli/Cli.java
+++ b/plugin/sql/sql-cli/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/sql/cli/Cli.java
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ public class Cli extends LoggingAwareCommand {
 
     @Override
     protected void execute(org.elasticsearch.cli.Terminal terminal, OptionSet options) throws Exception {
-        boolean debug = Boolean.parseBoolean(System.getProperty("cli.debug", "false")) || options.has("d") || options.has("debug");
+        boolean debug = options.has("d") || options.has("debug");
         boolean checkConnection = checkOption.value(options);
         List<String> args = connectionString.values(options);
         if (args.size() > 1) {
diff --git a/test/sql-cli-fixture/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/sql/cli/fixture/CliFixture.java b/test/sql-cli-fixture/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/sql/cli/fixture/CliFixture.java
index c2ed5c0808e..6367804333f 100644
--- a/test/sql-cli-fixture/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/sql/cli/fixture/CliFixture.java
+++ b/test/sql-cli-fixture/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/sql/cli/fixture/CliFixture.java
@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ public class CliFixture {
                     }
                     List<String> command = new ArrayList<>();
                     command.add(javaExecutable.toString());
-                    command.add("-Dcli.debug=true");
                     //                    command.add("-agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=y,address=8000");
                     // Force a specific terminal type so we have consistent responses for testing.
                     command.add("-Dorg.jline.terminal.type=xterm-256color");
@@ -100,6 +99,7 @@ public class CliFixture {
                     command.add("-Dorg.jline.terminal.dumb=true");
                     command.add("-jar");
                     command.add(cliJar.toString());
+                    command.add("-d");
                     command.addAll(Arrays.asList(line.split(" ")));
                     ProcessBuilder cliBuilder = new ProcessBuilder(command);
                     // Clear the environment to drop JAVA_TOOLS which prints strange things on startup