diff --git a/.github/workflows/automated-dev-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/automated-dev-tests.yml
index a04fc80a2c..fd63edb92c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/automated-dev-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/automated-dev-tests.yml
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ jobs:
             -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=RelWithDebInfo \
             -DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=ON \
             -DCTEST_PLOT_ERRORS:BOOL=ON \
+            -DVARIABLE_TRACKING=OFF \
             ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}
       - name: Build OpenFAST
         # if: contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'Action - Test All') || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'Action - Test All') 
@@ -275,6 +276,7 @@ jobs:
             -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=RelWithDebInfo \
             -DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=ON \
             -DCTEST_PLOT_ERRORS:BOOL=ON \
+            -DVARIABLE_TRACKING=OFF \
             ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}
       - name: Build FAST.Farm
         # if: contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'Action - Test All') || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'Action - Test All') 
@@ -447,6 +449,7 @@ jobs:
             -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS:BOOL=ON \
             -DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=ON \
             -DCTEST_PLOT_ERRORS:BOOL=ON \
+            -DVARIABLE_TRACKING=OFF \
             ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}
 
       - name: Build OpenFAST C-Interfaces
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 36f0a0ecc3..9d1d3dd61a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
     "Choose the build type: Debug Release" FORCE)
 endif (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
 
+option(VARIABLE_TRACKING "Enables variable tracking for better runtime debugging output. May increase compile time. Valid only for GNU." on)
 option(GENERATE_TYPES "Use the openfast-regsitry to autogenerate types modules" off)
 option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Enable building shared libraries" off)
 option(DOUBLE_PRECISION "Treat REAL as double precision" on)
@@ -45,6 +46,12 @@ if(APPLE)
   option(CMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH "Use RPATH runtime linking" on)
 endif()
 
+# Warn if atypical configuration for variable tracking and build type
+string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} _build_type)
+if(NOT ${VARIABLE_TRACKING} AND (${_build_type} STREQUAL "DEBUG" OR ${_build_type} STREQUAL "RELWITHDEBINFO") )
+  message(WARNING "Variable tracking is disabled and build type includes debug symbols. This may reduce the ability to debug.")
+endif()
+
 # Precompiler/preprocessor flag configuration
 # Do this before configuring modules so that the flags are included
 option(BUILD_TESTING "Build the testing tree." OFF)
diff --git a/glue-codes/fast-farm/CMakeLists.txt b/glue-codes/fast-farm/CMakeLists.txt
index 40507fc30c..f404db7fab 100644
--- a/glue-codes/fast-farm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/glue-codes/fast-farm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -44,12 +44,13 @@ set_property(TARGET FAST.Farm PROPERTY LINKER_LANGUAGE Fortran)
 
 string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER_ID} _compiler_id)
 string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} _build_type)
-if (${_compiler_id} STREQUAL "GNU" AND ${_build_type} STREQUAL "RELEASE")
+if (${_compiler_id} STREQUAL "GNU" AND NOT ${VARIABLE_TRACKING})
   # With variable tracking enabled, the compile step frequently aborts on large modules and
-  # restarts with this option off. Disabling in Release mode avoids this problem when compiling with
-  # full optimizations, but leaves it enabled for RelWithDebInfo which adds both -O2 and -g flags.
+  # restarts with this option off. Disabling avoids this problem when compiling with
+  # full optimizations. However, variable tracking should be enabled when actively debugging
+  # for better runtime debugging output.
   # https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Debugging-Options.html
-  set_source_files_properties(src/FAST_Farm_Types.f90 src/FASTWrapper_Types.f90 PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-fno-var-tracking -fno-var-tracking-assignments")
+  set_source_files_properties(src/FAST_Farm_Types.f90 src/FASTWrapper_Types.f90 src/FASTWrapper.f90 PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-fno-var-tracking -fno-var-tracking-assignments")
 endif()
 if (${_compiler_id} MATCHES "^INTEL" AND ${_build_type} STREQUAL "RELEASE" AND NOT WIN32)
   # Compilation hangs on FAST_Farm_Types.f90 with -O3 on linux (on some hardware)
diff --git a/glue-codes/openfast/CMakeLists.txt b/glue-codes/openfast/CMakeLists.txt
index b6de649e29..5fe7c78227 100644
--- a/glue-codes/openfast/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/glue-codes/openfast/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ add_executable(openfast_cpp src/FAST_Prog.cpp src/FastLibAPI.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(openfast_cpp openfastlib)
 
 string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER_ID} _compiler_id)
-string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} _build_type)
-if (${_compiler_id} STREQUAL "GNU" AND ${_build_type} STREQUAL "RELEASE")
+if (${_compiler_id} STREQUAL "GNU" AND NOT ${VARIABLE_TRACKING})
   # With variable tracking enabled, the compile step frequently aborts on large modules and
-  # restarts with this option off. Disabling in Release mode avoids this problem when compiling with
-  # full optimizations, but leaves it enabled for RelWithDebInfo which adds both -O2 and -g flags.
+  # restarts with this option off. Disabling avoids this problem when compiling with
+  # full optimizations. However, variable tracking should be enabled when actively debugging
+  # for better runtime debugging output.
   # https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Debugging-Options.html
   set_source_files_properties(src/FAST_Prog.f90 PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-fno-var-tracking -fno-var-tracking-assignments")
 endif()
diff --git a/modules/openfast-library/CMakeLists.txt b/modules/openfast-library/CMakeLists.txt
index 1a54ec8ab4..f6496a8cb1 100644
--- a/modules/openfast-library/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/modules/openfast-library/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -58,10 +58,11 @@ target_link_libraries(openfastlib openfast_postlib openfast_prelib scdataexlib f
 
 string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER_ID} _compiler_id)
 string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} _build_type)
-if (${_compiler_id} STREQUAL "GNU" AND ${_build_type} STREQUAL "RELEASE")
+if (${_compiler_id} STREQUAL "GNU" AND NOT ${VARIABLE_TRACKING})
   # With variable tracking enabled, the compile step frequently aborts on large modules and
-  # restarts with this option off. Disabling in Release mode avoids this problem when compiling with
-  # full optimizations, but leaves it enabled for RelWithDebInfo which adds both -O2 and -g flags.
+  # restarts with this option off. Disabling avoids this problem when compiling with
+  # full optimizations. However, variable tracking should be enabled when actively debugging
+  # for better runtime debugging output.
   # https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Debugging-Options.html
   set_source_files_properties(
     src/FAST_Subs.f90 src/FAST_Types.f90 src/FAST_Library.f90