diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/ConnectionConfiguration.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/ConnectionConfiguration.java
index 63b66779b..df0fb7747 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/ConnectionConfiguration.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/ConnectionConfiguration.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public class ConnectionConfiguration implements Cloneable {
      */
     private CallbackHandler callbackHandler;
 
-    private boolean debuggerEnabled = XMPPConnection.DEBUG_ENABLED;
+    private boolean debuggerEnabled = SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED;
 
     // Flag that indicates if a reconnection should be attempted when abruptly disconnected
     private boolean reconnectionAllowed = true;
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ public class ConnectionConfiguration implements Cloneable {
 
     /**
      * Returns true if the new connection about to be establish is going to be debugged. By
-     * default the value of {@link XMPPConnection#DEBUG_ENABLED} is used.
+     * default the value of {@link SmackConfiguration#DEBUG_ENABLED} is used.
      *
      * @return true if the new connection about to be establish is going to be debugged.
      */
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ public class ConnectionConfiguration implements Cloneable {
 
     /**
      * Sets if the new connection about to be establish is going to be debugged. By
-     * default the value of {@link XMPPConnection#DEBUG_ENABLED} is used.
+     * default the value of {@link SmackConfiguration#DEBUG_ENABLED} is used.
      *
      * @param debuggerEnabled if the new connection about to be establish is going to be debugged.
      */
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/SmackConfiguration.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/SmackConfiguration.java
index 262d8e048..beb14ca51 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/SmackConfiguration.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/SmackConfiguration.java
@@ -70,11 +70,27 @@ public final class SmackConfiguration {
     private final static List<XMPPInputOutputStream> compressionHandlers = new ArrayList<XMPPInputOutputStream>(2);
 
     /**
-     * Loads the configuration from the smack-config.xml file.<p>
-     *
+     * Value that indicates whether debugging is enabled. When enabled, a debug
+     * window will apear for each new connection that will contain the following
+     * information:<ul>
+     * <li> Client Traffic -- raw XML traffic generated by Smack and sent to the server.
+     * <li> Server Traffic -- raw XML traffic sent by the server to the client.
+     * <li> Interpreted Packets -- shows XML packets from the server as parsed by Smack.
+     * </ul>
+     * <p/>
+     * Debugging can be enabled by setting this field to true, or by setting the Java system
+     * property <tt>smack.debugEnabled</tt> to true. The system property can be set on the
+     * command line such as "java SomeApp -Dsmack.debugEnabled=true".
+     */
+    public static boolean DEBUG_ENABLED = false;
+
+    /**
+     * Loads the configuration from the smack-config.xml and system properties file.
+     * <p>
      * So far this means that:
      * 1) a set of classes will be loaded in order to execute their static init block
      * 2) retrieve and set the current Smack release
+     * 3) set DEBUG_ENABLED
      */
     static {
         String smackVersion;
@@ -137,6 +153,15 @@ public final class SmackConfiguration {
 
         // Add the Java7 compression handler first, since it's preferred
         compressionHandlers.add(new Java7ZlibInputOutputStream());
+
+        // Use try block since we may not have permission to get a system
+        // property (for example, when an applet).
+        try {
+            DEBUG_ENABLED = Boolean.getBoolean("smack.debugEnabled");
+        }
+        catch (Exception e) {
+            // Ignore.
+        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPConnection.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPConnection.java
index 9b611d80f..83b2e2c8a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPConnection.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPConnection.java
@@ -104,30 +104,7 @@ public abstract class XMPPConnection {
     private final static Set<ConnectionCreationListener> connectionEstablishedListeners =
             new CopyOnWriteArraySet<ConnectionCreationListener>();
 
-    /**
-     * Value that indicates whether debugging is enabled. When enabled, a debug
-     * window will apear for each new connection that will contain the following
-     * information:<ul>
-     * <li> Client Traffic -- raw XML traffic generated by Smack and sent to the server.
-     * <li> Server Traffic -- raw XML traffic sent by the server to the client.
-     * <li> Interpreted Packets -- shows XML packets from the server as parsed by Smack.
-     * </ul>
-     * <p/>
-     * Debugging can be enabled by setting this field to true, or by setting the Java system
-     * property <tt>smack.debugEnabled</tt> to true. The system property can be set on the
-     * command line such as "java SomeApp -Dsmack.debugEnabled=true".
-     */
-    public static boolean DEBUG_ENABLED = false;
-
     static {
-        // Use try block since we may not have permission to get a system
-        // property (for example, when an applet).
-        try {
-            DEBUG_ENABLED = Boolean.getBoolean("smack.debugEnabled");
-        }
-        catch (Exception e) {
-            // Ignore.
-        }
         // Ensure the SmackConfiguration class is loaded by calling a method in it.
         SmackConfiguration.getVersion();
     }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/DummyConnection.java b/core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/DummyConnection.java
index 6eef3cf67..30b546482 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/DummyConnection.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/DummyConnection.java
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ public class DummyConnection extends XMPPConnection {
 
     @Override
     void sendPacketInternal(Packet packet) {
-        if (DEBUG_ENABLED) {
+        if (SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
             System.out.println("[SEND]: " + packet.toXML());
         }
         queue.add(packet);
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ public class DummyConnection extends XMPPConnection {
             collector.processPacket(packet);
         }
 
-        if (DEBUG_ENABLED) {
+        if (SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
             System.out.println("[RECV]: " + packet.toXML());
         }
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/RosterTest.java b/core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/RosterTest.java
index f0b9b383a..27e00253e 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/RosterTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/RosterTest.java
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ public class RosterTest {
 
         public synchronized void entriesAdded(Collection<String> addresses) {
             addressesAdded.addAll(addresses);
-            if (XMPPConnection.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
+            if (SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
                 for (String address : addresses) {
                     System.out.println("Roster entry for " + address + " added.");
                 }
@@ -712,7 +712,7 @@ public class RosterTest {
 
         public synchronized void entriesDeleted(Collection<String> addresses) {
             addressesDeleted.addAll(addresses);
-            if (XMPPConnection.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
+            if (SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
                 for (String address : addresses) {
                     System.out.println("Roster entry for " + address + " deleted.");
                 }
@@ -721,7 +721,7 @@ public class RosterTest {
 
         public synchronized void entriesUpdated(Collection<String> addresses) {
             addressesUpdated.addAll(addresses);
-            if (XMPPConnection.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
+            if (SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
                 for (String address : addresses) {
                     System.out.println("Roster entry for " + address + " updated.");
                 }
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ public class RosterTest {
         }
 
         public void presenceChanged(Presence presence) {
-            if (XMPPConnection.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
+            if (SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED) {
                 System.out.println("Roster presence changed: " + presence.toXML());
             }
         }