diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index f3ebd34b85..59b50f0433 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -275,6 +275,11 @@ AG_GST_SET_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DATETIME_WITH_NANO([$PACKAGE_VERSION_NANO],
   ["${srcdir}/gst-plugins-bad.doap"],
   [$PACKAGE_VERSION_MAJOR.$PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR.$PACKAGE_VERSION_MICRO])
 
+# set by AG_GST_PARSE_SUBSYSTEM_DISABLES above
+dnl make sure it doesn't complain about unused variables if debugging is disabled
+NO_WARNINGS=""
+AG_GST_CHECK_GST_DEBUG_DISABLED([NO_WARNINGS="-Wno-unused"], [NO_WARNINGS=""])
+
 dnl define an ERROR_CFLAGS Makefile variable
 dnl -Waggregate-return - libexif returns aggregates
 dnl -Wundef - Windows headers check _MSC_VER unconditionally
@@ -282,13 +287,13 @@ AG_GST_SET_ERROR_CFLAGS($FATAL_WARNINGS, [
     -Wmissing-declarations -Wmissing-prototypes -Wredundant-decls
     -Wwrite-strings -Wformat-security -Wold-style-definition
     -Winit-self -Wmissing-include-dirs -Waddress -Wno-multichar
-    -Wnested-externs])
+    -Wnested-externs $NO_WARNINGS])
 
 dnl define an ERROR_CXXFLAGS Makefile variable
 AG_GST_SET_ERROR_CXXFLAGS($FATAL_WARNINGS, [
     -Wmissing-declarations -Wredundant-decls
     -Wwrite-strings -Wformat-nonliteral -Wformat-security
-    -Winit-self -Wmissing-include-dirs -Waddress -Wno-multichar ])
+    -Winit-self -Wmissing-include-dirs -Waddress -Wno-multichar $NO_WARNINGS])
 
 dnl define correct level for debugging messages
 AG_GST_SET_LEVEL_DEFAULT($GST_GIT)