diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d5794f63a..4e9a04289 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@ endif
 
 # "--import" can't be added to config.nims, for some reason
 # "--define:release" implies "--stacktrace:off" and it cannot be added to config.nims either
+ifeq ($(USE_LIBBACKTRACE), 0)
+NIM_PARAMS := $(NIM_PARAMS) -d:debug -d:disable_libbacktrace
+else
 NIM_PARAMS := $(NIM_PARAMS) -d:release --import:libbacktrace
+endif
 
 #- the Windows build fails on Azure Pipelines if we have Unicode symbols copy/pasted here,
 #  so we encode them in ASCII
@@ -75,7 +79,10 @@ build-system-checks:
 		}; \
 		exit 0
 
-deps: | deps-common beacon_chain.nims p2pd libbacktrace
+deps: | deps-common beacon_chain.nims p2pd
+ifneq ($(USE_LIBBACKTRACE), 0)
+deps: | libbacktrace
+endif
 
 #- deletes and recreates "beacon_chain.nims" which on Windows is a copy instead of a proper symlink
 update: | update-common
@@ -130,7 +137,9 @@ testnet1: | build deps
 
 clean: | clean-common
 	rm -rf build/{$(TOOLS_CSV),all_tests,*_node,*ssz*,beacon_node_testnet*,state_sim,transition*}
+ifneq ($(USE_LIBBACKTRACE), 0)
 	+ $(MAKE) -C vendor/nim-libbacktrace clean $(HANDLE_OUTPUT)
+endif
 
 libnfuzz.so: | build deps-common beacon_chain.nims
 	echo -e $(BUILD_MSG) "build/$@" && \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c04eb818c..aeba9ec51 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -343,6 +343,12 @@ make NIMFLAGS="-d:release"
 make -j$(nproc) NIMFLAGS="-d:release" USE_MULTITAIL=yes eth2_network_simulation
 ```
 
+- don't use the [lightweight stack tracing implementation from nim-libbacktrace](https://github.com/status-im/nim-beacon-chain/pull/745):
+
+```bash
+make USE_LIBBACKTRACE=0 # expect the resulting binaries to be 2-3 times slower
+```
+
 ## License
 
 Licensed and distributed under either of
diff --git a/beacon_chain.nimble b/beacon_chain.nimble
index 1596109c2..248c663ef 100644
--- a/beacon_chain.nimble
+++ b/beacon_chain.nimble
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ proc buildBinary(name: string, srcDir = "./", params = "", cmdParams = "", lang
   var extra_params = params
   for i in 2..<paramCount():
     extra_params &= " " & paramStr(i)
-  exec "nim " & lang & " --out:./build/" & name & " -r -d:release --import:libbacktrace " & extra_params & " " & srcDir & name & ".nim" & " " & cmdParams
+  exec "nim " & lang & " --out:./build/" & name & " -r " & extra_params & " " & srcDir & name & ".nim" & " " & cmdParams
 
 ### tasks
 task test, "Run all tests":
diff --git a/config.nims b/config.nims
index 3bc2ea6f8..b59c164c5 100644
--- a/config.nims
+++ b/config.nims
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ else:
 if not defined(macosx):
   # add debugging symbols and original files and line numbers
   --debugger:native
-  if not (defined(windows) and defined(i386)):
+  if not (defined(windows) and defined(i386)) and not defined(disable_libbacktrace):
     # light-weight stack traces using libbacktrace and libunwind
     --define:nimStackTraceOverride
     # "--import:libbacktrace" is added to NIM_PARAMS inside the Makefile,