diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index 2f36b32197..927aaf164e 100644
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -2436,3 +2436,10 @@ David  2 Apr 2010
 
     sched/
         credit.cpp
+
+David  2 Apr 2010
+    - backend: make "print queries" a runtime instead of compile-time
+        decision (bool g_print_queries)
+
+    db/
+        db_base.cpp,h
diff --git a/db/db_base.cpp b/db/db_base.cpp
index 83cd8b577f..dd4cee1487 100644
--- a/db/db_base.cpp
+++ b/db/db_base.cpp
@@ -30,10 +30,7 @@
 #include "fcgi_stdio.h"
 #endif
 
-// uncomment the following to print all queries.
-// Useful for low-level debugging
-
-//#define SHOW_QUERIES
+bool g_print_queries = false;
 
 DB_CONN::DB_CONN() {
     mysql = 0;
@@ -115,9 +112,9 @@ int DB_CONN::set_isolation_level(ISOLATION_LEVEL level) {
 
 int DB_CONN::do_query(const char* p) {
     int retval;
-#ifdef SHOW_QUERIES
-    fprintf(stderr, "query: %s\n", p);
-#endif
+    if (g_print_queries) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "query: %s\n", p);
+    }
     retval = mysql_query(mysql, p);
     if (retval) {
         fprintf(stderr, "Database error: %s\nquery=%s\n", error_string(), p);
diff --git a/db/db_base.h b/db/db_base.h
index c8fa8e8437..f10e72745b 100644
--- a/db/db_base.h
+++ b/db/db_base.h
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <mysql.h>
 
+extern bool g_print_queries;
+
 // if SQL columns are not 'not null', you must use these safe_atoi, safe_atof
 // instead of atoi, atof, since the strings returned by MySQL may be NULL.
 //