diff --git a/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat b/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat
index c05b63d64..d9a467801 100755
--- a/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat
+++ b/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat
@@ -121,6 +121,17 @@ shift
 if [%0] EQU [] goto args_end
 set g=%~0
 
+rem make sure the sbt_args_debug gets set first incase any argument parsing uses :dlog
+if "%~0" == "-d" set _debug_arg=true
+if "%~0" == "--debug" set _debug_arg=true
+
+if defined _debug_arg (
+  set _debug_arg=
+  set sbt_args_debug=1
+  set SBT_ARGS=-debug !SBT_ARGS!
+  goto args_loop
+)
+
 if "%~0" == "-h" goto usage
 if "%~0" == "-help" goto usage
 if "%~0" == "--help" goto usage
@@ -255,16 +266,6 @@ if defined _sbt_ivy_arg (
  )
 )
 
-if "%~0" == "-d" set _debug_arg=true
-if "%~0" == "--debug" set _debug_arg=true
-
-if defined _debug_arg (
-  set _debug_arg=
-  set sbt_args_debug=1
-  set SBT_ARGS=-debug !SBT_ARGS!
-  goto args_loop
-)
-
 if "%~0" == "-debug-inc" set _debug_inc_arg=true
 if "%~0" == "--debug-inc" set _debug_inc_arg=true