diff --git a/src/bootstrap/lib.rs b/src/bootstrap/lib.rs
index d711b63ea2e..5e046f41673 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/lib.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/lib.rs
@@ -464,8 +464,6 @@ impl Build {
              .env("RUSTC", self.out.join("bootstrap/debug/rustc"))
              .env("RUSTC_REAL", self.compiler_path(compiler))
              .env("RUSTC_STAGE", stage.to_string())
-             .env("RUSTC_DEBUGINFO", self.config.rust_debuginfo.to_string())
-             .env("RUSTC_DEBUGINFO_LINES", self.config.rust_debuginfo_lines.to_string())
              .env("RUSTC_CODEGEN_UNITS",
                   self.config.rust_codegen_units.to_string())
              .env("RUSTC_DEBUG_ASSERTIONS",
@@ -477,6 +475,13 @@ impl Build {
              .env("RUSTDOC_REAL", self.rustdoc(compiler))
              .env("RUSTC_FLAGS", self.rustc_flags(target).join(" "));
 
+        // Tools don't get debuginfo right now, e.g. cargo and rls don't get
+        // compiled with debuginfo.
+        if mode != Mode::Tool {
+             cargo.env("RUSTC_DEBUGINFO", self.config.rust_debuginfo.to_string())
+                  .env("RUSTC_DEBUGINFO_LINES", self.config.rust_debuginfo_lines.to_string());
+        }
+
         // Enable usage of unstable features
         cargo.env("RUSTC_BOOTSTRAP", "1");
         self.add_rust_test_threads(&mut cargo);