diff --git a/cmd/swarm-smoke/main.go b/cmd/swarm-smoke/main.go
index d1411b41bf..415eebe122 100644
--- a/cmd/swarm-smoke/main.go
+++ b/cmd/swarm-smoke/main.go
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ var (
 	timeout    int
 	single     bool
 	onlyUpload bool
+	debug      bool
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -114,6 +115,11 @@ func main() {
 			Usage:       "whether to only upload content to a single node without fetching",
 			Destination: &onlyUpload,
 		},
+		cli.BoolFlag{
+			Name:        "debug",
+			Usage:       "whether to call debug APIs as part of the smoke test",
+			Destination: &debug,
+		},
 	}
 
 	app.Flags = append(app.Flags, []cli.Flag{
diff --git a/cmd/swarm-smoke/upload_and_sync.go b/cmd/swarm-smoke/upload_and_sync.go
index cbd94a3f6f..62ef313f0b 100644
--- a/cmd/swarm-smoke/upload_and_sync.go
+++ b/cmd/swarm-smoke/upload_and_sync.go
@@ -65,10 +65,12 @@ func uploadAndSyncCmd(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 		err = fmt.Errorf("timeout after %v sec", timeout)
 	}
 
-	// trigger debug functionality on randomBytes
-	e := trackChunks(randomBytes[:], true)
-	if e != nil {
-		log.Error(e.Error())
+	if debug {
+		// trigger debug functionality on randomBytes
+		e := trackChunks(randomBytes[:], true)
+		if e != nil {
+			log.Error(e.Error())
+		}
 	}
 
 	return err
@@ -291,9 +293,11 @@ func uploadAndSync(c *cli.Context, randomBytes []byte) error {
 
 		log.Debug("chunks before fetch attempt", "hash", hash)
 
-		err = trackChunks(randomBytes, false)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Error(err.Error())
+		if debug {
+			err = trackChunks(randomBytes, false)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Error(err.Error())
+			}
 		}
 	}