diff --git a/nodes/core/core/58-debug.js b/nodes/core/core/58-debug.js
index d0b93e95a..d96bdcacb 100644
--- a/nodes/core/core/58-debug.js
+++ b/nodes/core/core/58-debug.js
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
     var path = require("path");
     var safeJSONStringify = require("json-stringify-safe");
     var debuglength = RED.settings.debugMaxLength||1000;
-    var useColors = false;
-    // util.inspect.styles.boolean = "red";
+    var useColors = RED.settings.debugUseColors || false;
+    util.inspect.styles.boolean = "red";
 
     function DebugNode(n) {
         RED.nodes.createNode(this,n);
diff --git a/settings.js b/settings.js
index ad6980afb..07cb74c93 100644
--- a/settings.js
+++ b/settings.js
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ module.exports = {
     // The maximum length, in characters, of any message sent to the debug sidebar tab
     debugMaxLength: 1000,
 
+    // Colourise the console output of the debug node
+    //debugUseColors: true,
+
     // The file containing the flows. If not set, it defaults to flows_<hostname>.json
     //flowFile: 'flows.json',