diff --git a/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_device.c b/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_device.c
index 0afdff14cc8..fbc8d60bac6 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_device.c
+++ b/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_device.c
@@ -256,6 +256,14 @@ tu_CreateInstance(const VkInstanceCreateInfo *pCreateInfo,
    instance->debug_flags =
       parse_debug_string(getenv("TU_DEBUG"), tu_debug_options);
 
+#ifdef DEBUG
+   /* Enable startup debugging by default on debug drivers.  You almost always
+    * want to see your startup failures in that case, and it's hard to set
+    * this env var on android.
+    */
+   instance->debug_flags |= TU_DEBUG_STARTUP;
+#endif
+
    if (instance->debug_flags & TU_DEBUG_STARTUP)
       mesa_logi("Created an instance");
 
diff --git a/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_private.h b/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_private.h
index d057dbbb24a..1f82a8f2e66 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_private.h
+++ b/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_private.h
@@ -140,7 +140,8 @@ __vk_errorf(struct tu_instance *instance,
 #define vk_errorf(instance, error, format, ...)                              \
    __vk_errorf(instance, error, false, __FILE__, __LINE__, format, ##__VA_ARGS__);
 
-/* Prints startup errors if TU_DEBUG=startup is set.
+/* Prints startup errors if TU_DEBUG=startup is set or on a debug driver
+ * build.
  */
 #define vk_startup_errorf(instance, error, format, ...) \
    __vk_errorf(instance, error, instance->debug_flags & TU_DEBUG_STARTUP, \