diff --git a/pkg/gui/gui.go b/pkg/gui/gui.go
index 1f76e281c..2ded4a5c5 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/gui.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/gui.go
@@ -623,7 +623,10 @@ func (gui *Gui) Run(startArgs appTypes.StartArgs) error {
 	deadlock.Opts.LogBuf = utils.NewOnceWriter(os.Stderr, func() {
 		gui.g.Close()
 	})
-	deadlock.Opts.Disable = !gui.Debug
+	// disable deadlock reporting if we're not running in debug mode, or if
+	// we're debugging an integration test. In this latter case, stopping at
+	// breakpoints and stepping through code can easily take more than 30s.
+	deadlock.Opts.Disable = !gui.Debug || os.Getenv(components.WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER_ENV_VAR) == ""
 
 	if err := gui.Config.ReloadUserConfig(); err != nil {
 		return nil
diff --git a/pkg/gui/test_mode.go b/pkg/gui/test_mode.go
index e24e922a9..151cb7246 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/test_mode.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/test_mode.go
@@ -45,10 +45,12 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleTestMode() {
 			log.Fatal("gocui should have already exited")
 		}()
 
-		go utils.Safe(func() {
-			time.Sleep(time.Second * 40)
-			log.Fatal("40 seconds is up, lazygit recording took too long to complete")
-		})
+		if os.Getenv(components.WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER_ENV_VAR) == "" {
+			go utils.Safe(func() {
+				time.Sleep(time.Second * 40)
+				log.Fatal("40 seconds is up, lazygit recording took too long to complete")
+			})
+		}
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/integration/clients/injector/main.go b/pkg/integration/clients/injector/main.go
index 63c3e2a07..223ff4ecb 100644
--- a/pkg/integration/clients/injector/main.go
+++ b/pkg/integration/clients/injector/main.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	integrationTest := getIntegrationTest()
 
-	if os.Getenv("WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER") != "" {
+	if os.Getenv(components.WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER_ENV_VAR) != "" {
 		println("Waiting for debugger to attach...")
 		for !isDebuggerAttached() {
 			time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 100)
diff --git a/pkg/integration/components/runner.go b/pkg/integration/components/runner.go
index 821319dc1..d84ee4a22 100644
--- a/pkg/integration/components/runner.go
+++ b/pkg/integration/components/runner.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 const (
 	TEST_NAME_ENV_VAR         = "TEST_NAME"
 	SANDBOX_ENV_VAR           = "SANDBOX"
+	WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER_ENV_VAR = "WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER"
 	GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL_ENV_VAR = "GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL"
 )
 
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ func RunTests(
 
 	testDir := filepath.Join(projectRootDir, "test", "_results")
 
-	if err := buildLazygit(raceDetector); err != nil {
+	if err := buildLazygit(waitForDebugger, raceDetector); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -138,12 +139,17 @@ func prepareTestDir(
 	return createFixture(test, paths, rootDir)
 }
 
-func buildLazygit(raceDetector bool) error {
+func buildLazygit(debug bool, raceDetector bool) error {
 	// // TODO: remove this line!
 	// // skipping this because I'm not making changes to the app code atm.
 	// return nil
 
 	args := []string{"go", "build"}
+	if debug {
+		// Disable compiler optimizations (-N) and inlining (-l) because this
+		// makes debugging work better
+		args = append(args, "-gcflags=all=-N -l")
+	}
 	if raceDetector {
 		args = append(args, "-race")
 	}
@@ -210,7 +216,7 @@ func getLazygitCommand(test *IntegrationTest, paths Paths, rootDir string, sandb
 		cmdObj.AddEnvVars(fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", SANDBOX_ENV_VAR, "true"))
 	}
 	if waitForDebugger {
-		cmdObj.AddEnvVars("WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER=true")
+		cmdObj.AddEnvVars(fmt.Sprintf("%s=true", WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER_ENV_VAR))
 	}
 	// Set a race detector log path only to avoid spamming the terminal with the
 	// logs. We are not showing this anywhere yet.