diff --git a/core/hakmem_shared_pool.c b/core/hakmem_shared_pool.c
index ec8a720b..3441e00b 100644
--- a/core/hakmem_shared_pool.c
+++ b/core/hakmem_shared_pool.c
@@ -777,11 +777,15 @@ shared_pool_acquire_slab(int class_idx, SuperSlab** ss_out, int* slab_idx_out)
     shared_pool_init();
 
     // Debug logging / stage stats
+#if !HAKMEM_BUILD_RELEASE
     static int dbg_acquire = -1;
     if (__builtin_expect(dbg_acquire == -1, 0)) {
         const char* e = getenv("HAKMEM_SS_ACQUIRE_DEBUG");
         dbg_acquire = (e && *e && *e != '0') ? 1 : 0;
     }
+#else
+    static const int dbg_acquire = 0;
+#endif
     sp_stage_stats_init();
 
     // ========== Stage 0: Per-thread hot slot (L0) reuse ==========