diff --git a/gst/gst.c b/gst/gst.c
index 4634758ed6..11363814d3 100644
--- a/gst/gst.c
+++ b/gst/gst.c
@@ -577,7 +577,9 @@ init_pre (GOptionContext * context, GOptionGroup * group, gpointer data,
   /* we need threading to be enabled right here */
   g_assert (g_thread_get_initialized ());
 
-  _gst_debug_init ();
+#ifndef GST_DISABLE_GST_DEBUG
+  _priv_gst_debug_init ();
+#endif
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_NLS
   setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
diff --git a/gst/gst_private.h b/gst/gst_private.h
index 3380c88518..6c7ad7265e 100644
--- a/gst/gst_private.h
+++ b/gst/gst_private.h
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ struct _GstPluginPrivate {
   GstStructure *cache_data;
 };
 
+/* FIXME: could rename all priv_gst_* functions to __gst_* now */
 gboolean priv_gst_plugin_loading_have_whitelist (void);
 
 guint32  priv_gst_plugin_loading_get_whitelist_hash (void);
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ void  _priv_gst_plugin_initialize (void);
 void  _priv_gst_query_initialize (void);
 void  _priv_gst_tag_initialize (void);
 void  _priv_gst_value_initialize (void);
+void  _priv_gst_debug_init (void);
 
 /* Private registry functions */
 gboolean _priv_gst_registry_remove_cache_plugins (GstRegistry *registry);
diff --git a/gst/gstinfo.c b/gst/gstinfo.c
index 9acf482548..79cccbe278 100644
--- a/gst/gstinfo.c
+++ b/gst/gstinfo.c
@@ -303,14 +303,9 @@ _priv_gst_in_valgrind (void)
   return (in_valgrind == GST_VG_INSIDE);
 }
 
-/**
- * _gst_debug_init:
- *
- * Initializes the debugging system.
- * Normally you don't want to call this, because gst_init() does it for you.
- */
+/* Initialize the debugging system */
 void
-_gst_debug_init (void)
+_priv_gst_debug_init (void)
 {
   const gchar *env;
 
diff --git a/gst/gstinfo.h b/gst/gstinfo.h
index 32bf32eeb6..181df55f5e 100644
--- a/gst/gstinfo.h
+++ b/gst/gstinfo.h
@@ -256,11 +256,6 @@ typedef void (*GstLogFunction)  (GstDebugCategory * category,
                                  GstDebugMessage  * message,
                                  gpointer           data);
 
-
-/* FIXME 0.11: move this into private headers */
-void            _gst_debug_init (void);
-
-
 #ifdef GST_USING_PRINTF_EXTENSION
 
 /* not using G_GNUC_PRINTF, since gcc will choke on GST_PTR_FORMAT being %P */
@@ -1262,8 +1257,6 @@ GST_TRACE (const char *format, ...)
 
 #define _gst_debug_min GST_LEVEL_NONE
 
-#define _gst_debug_init()				G_STMT_START{ }G_STMT_END
-
 #define gst_debug_set_default_threshold(level)		G_STMT_START{ }G_STMT_END
 #define gst_debug_get_default_threshold()		(GST_LEVEL_NONE)