diff --git a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/ConnectionConfiguration.java b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/ConnectionConfiguration.java
index 4f375827d..7e215d9af 100644
--- a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/ConnectionConfiguration.java
+++ b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/ConnectionConfiguration.java
@@ -45,6 +45,12 @@ import java.util.List;
  */
 public class ConnectionConfiguration implements Cloneable {
 
+    static {
+        // Ensure that Smack is initialized when ConnectionConfiguration is used, or otherwise e.g.
+        // SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED may not be initialized yet.
+        SmackConfiguration.getVersion();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Hostname of the XMPP server. Usually servers use the same service name as the name
      * of the server. However, there are some servers like google where host would be
diff --git a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/SmackInitialization.java b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/SmackInitialization.java
index 20d04737c..ff59f37e6 100644
--- a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/SmackInitialization.java
+++ b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/SmackInitialization.java
@@ -120,7 +120,11 @@ public final class SmackInitialization {
         // Use try block since we may not have permission to get a system
         // property (for example, when an applet).
         try {
-            SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED = Boolean.getBoolean("smack.debugEnabled");
+            // Only overwrite DEBUG_ENABLED if it is set via the 'smack.debugEnabled' property. To prevent DEBUG_ENABLED
+            // = true, which could be set e.g. via a static block from user code, from being overwritten by the property not set
+            if (Boolean.getBoolean("smack.debugEnabled")) {
+                SmackConfiguration.DEBUG_ENABLED = true;
+            }
         }
         catch (Exception e) {
             // Ignore.