diff --git a/java/dex.go b/java/dex.go
index e0e642c63..faf51a36a 100644
--- a/java/dex.go
+++ b/java/dex.go
@@ -220,14 +220,28 @@ func (d *dexer) dexCommonFlags(ctx android.ModuleContext,
 		deps = append(deps, f)
 	}
 
+	var requestReleaseMode bool
+	requestReleaseMode, flags = android.RemoveFromList("--release", flags)
+
 	if ctx.Config().Getenv("NO_OPTIMIZE_DX") != "" {
 		flags = append(flags, "--debug")
+		requestReleaseMode = false
 	}
 
 	if ctx.Config().Getenv("GENERATE_DEX_DEBUG") != "" {
 		flags = append(flags,
 			"--debug",
 			"--verbose")
+		requestReleaseMode = false
+	}
+
+	// Don't strip out debug information for eng builds, unless the target
+	// explicitly provided the `--release` build flag. This allows certain
+	// test targets to remain optimized as part of eng test_suites builds.
+	if requestReleaseMode {
+		flags = append(flags, "--release")
+	} else if ctx.Config().Eng() {
+		flags = append(flags, "--debug")
 	}
 
 	// Supplying the platform build flag disables various features like API modeling and desugaring.
@@ -384,11 +398,6 @@ func (d *dexer) r8Flags(ctx android.ModuleContext, dexParams *compileDexParams)
 	// TODO(ccross): if this is an instrumentation test of an obfuscated app, use the
 	// dictionary of the app and move the app from libraryjars to injars.
 
-	// Don't strip out debug information for eng builds.
-	if ctx.Config().Eng() {
-		r8Flags = append(r8Flags, "--debug")
-	}
-
 	// TODO(b/180878971): missing classes should be added to the relevant builds.
 	// TODO(b/229727645): do not use true as default for Android platform builds.
 	if proptools.BoolDefault(opt.Ignore_warnings, true) {
diff --git a/java/dex_test.go b/java/dex_test.go
index 4862d06c9..8bc28e678 100644
--- a/java/dex_test.go
+++ b/java/dex_test.go
@@ -713,3 +713,97 @@ android_app {
 	}
 }`)
 }
+
+func TestDebugReleaseFlags(t *testing.T) {
+	bp := `
+		android_app {
+			name: "app",
+			srcs: ["foo.java"],
+			platform_apis: true,
+			dxflags: ["%s"]
+		}
+	`
+
+	testcases := []struct {
+		name          string
+		envVar        string
+		isEng         bool
+		dxFlags       string
+		expectedFlags string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:          "app_no_optimize_dx",
+			envVar:        "NO_OPTIMIZE_DX",
+			expectedFlags: "--debug",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "app_release_no_optimize_dx",
+			envVar:  "NO_OPTIMIZE_DX",
+			dxFlags: "--release",
+			// Global env vars override explicit dxflags.
+			expectedFlags: "--debug",
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "app_generate_dex_debug",
+			envVar:        "GENERATE_DEX_DEBUG",
+			expectedFlags: "--debug",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "app_release_generate_dex_debug",
+			envVar:  "GENERATE_DEX_DEBUG",
+			dxFlags: "--release",
+			// Global env vars override explicit dxflags.
+			expectedFlags: "--debug",
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "app_eng",
+			isEng:         true,
+			expectedFlags: "--debug",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "app_release_eng",
+			isEng:   true,
+			dxFlags: "--release",
+			// Eng mode does *not* override explicit dxflags.
+			expectedFlags: "--release",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			fixturePreparer := PrepareForTestWithJavaDefaultModules
+			fixturePreparer = android.GroupFixturePreparers(
+				fixturePreparer,
+				android.FixtureModifyProductVariables(
+					func(variables android.FixtureProductVariables) {
+						variables.Eng = proptools.BoolPtr(tc.isEng)
+					},
+				),
+			)
+			if tc.envVar != "" {
+				fixturePreparer = android.GroupFixturePreparers(
+					fixturePreparer,
+					android.FixtureMergeEnv(map[string]string{
+						tc.envVar: "true",
+					}),
+				)
+			}
+			result := fixturePreparer.RunTestWithBp(t, fmt.Sprintf(bp, tc.dxFlags))
+
+			appR8 := result.ModuleForTests("app", "android_common").Rule("r8")
+			android.AssertStringDoesContain(t, "expected flag in R8 flags",
+				appR8.Args["r8Flags"], tc.expectedFlags)
+
+			var unexpectedFlags string
+			if tc.expectedFlags == "--debug" {
+				unexpectedFlags = "--release"
+			} else if tc.expectedFlags == "--release" {
+				unexpectedFlags = "--debug"
+			}
+			if unexpectedFlags != "" {
+				android.AssertStringDoesNotContain(t, "unexpected flag in R8 flags",
+					appR8.Args["r8Flags"], unexpectedFlags)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}