diff --git a/qutebrowser/app.py b/qutebrowser/app.py
index 81079104a..8ca322078 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/app.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/app.py
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ class Application(QApplication):
     def exit(self, status):
         """Extend QApplication::exit to log the event."""
         log.destroy.debug("Now calling QApplication::exit.")
-        if self._args.debug_exit:
+        if 'debug-exit' in self._args.debug_flags:
             if hunter is None:
                 print("Not logging late shutdown because hunter could not be "
                       "imported!", file=sys.stderr)
diff --git a/qutebrowser/misc/crashsignal.py b/qutebrowser/misc/crashsignal.py
index aa7438732..d8d8bb385 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/misc/crashsignal.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/misc/crashsignal.py
@@ -207,10 +207,10 @@ class CrashHandler(QObject):
         is_ignored_exception = (exctype is bdb.BdbQuit or
                                 not issubclass(exctype, Exception))
 
-        if self._args.pdb_postmortem:
+        if 'pdb-postmortem' in self._args.debug_flags:
             pdb.post_mortem(tb)
 
-        if is_ignored_exception or self._args.pdb_postmortem:
+        if is_ignored_exception or 'pdb-postmortem' in self._args.debug_flags:
             # pdb exit, KeyboardInterrupt, ...
             status = 0 if is_ignored_exception else 2
             try:
diff --git a/qutebrowser/qutebrowser.py b/qutebrowser/qutebrowser.py
index 8321fb04b..3ce11b07b 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/qutebrowser.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/qutebrowser.py
@@ -103,10 +103,6 @@ def get_argparser():
                        help="Silently remove unknown config options.")
     debug.add_argument('--nowindow', action='store_true', help="Don't show "
                        "the main window.")
-    debug.add_argument('--debug-exit', help="Turn on debugging of late exit.",
-                       action='store_true')
-    debug.add_argument('--pdb-postmortem', action='store_true',
-                       help="Drop into pdb on exceptions.")
     debug.add_argument('--temp-basedir', action='store_true', help="Use a "
                        "temporary basedir.")
     debug.add_argument('--no-err-windows', action='store_true', help="Don't "
@@ -118,6 +114,9 @@ def get_argparser():
                        action='append')
     debug.add_argument('--qt-flag', help="Pass an argument to Qt as flag.",
                        nargs=1, action='append')
+    debug.add_argument('--debug-flag', type=debug_flag_error, default=[],
+                       help="Pass name of debugging feature to be turned on.",
+                       nargs=1, action='append', dest='debug_flags')
     parser.add_argument('command', nargs='*', help="Commands to execute on "
                         "startup.", metavar=':command')
     # URLs will actually be in command
@@ -145,6 +144,22 @@ def logfilter_error(logfilter: str):
                 logfilter, ', '.join(log.LOGGER_NAMES)))
 
 
+def debug_flag_error(flag):
+    """Validate flags passed to --debug-flag.
+
+    Available flags:
+        debug-exit: Turn on debugging of late exit.
+        pdb-postmortem: Drop into pdb on exceptions.
+    """
+    valid_flags = ['debug-exit', 'pdb-postmortem']
+
+    if flag in valid_flags:
+        return flag
+    else:
+        raise argparse.ArgumentTypeError("Invalid flag - valid flags include: " +
+        str(valid_flags))
+
+
 def main():
     parser = get_argparser()
     if sys.platform == 'darwin' and getattr(sys, 'frozen', False):