diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_asm.c b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_asm.c
index c416346a0e0..6a9690f699c 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_asm.c
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_asm.c
@@ -2632,7 +2632,8 @@ void *r600_create_vertex_fetch_shader(struct pipe_context *ctx,
 	uint32_t *bytecode;
 	int i, j, r, fs_size;
 	struct r600_fetch_shader *shader;
-	unsigned no_sb = rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NO_SB;
+	unsigned no_sb = rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NO_SB ||
+                         (rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR);
 	unsigned sb_disasm = !no_sb || (rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_SB_DISASM);
 
 	assert(count < 32);
diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_pipe.c b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_pipe.c
index 09b89ab1787..fa5fea3cb28 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_pipe.c
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_pipe.c
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ static const struct debug_named_value r600_debug_options[] = {
 	{ "sbnofallback", DBG_SB_NO_FALLBACK, "Abort on errors instead of fallback" },
 	{ "sbdisasm", DBG_SB_DISASM, "Use sb disassembler for shader dumps" },
 	{ "sbsafemath", DBG_SB_SAFEMATH, "Disable unsafe math optimizations" },
+        { "nirsb", DBG_NIR_SB, "Enable NIR with SB optimizer"},
 
 	DEBUG_NAMED_VALUE_END /* must be last */
 };
@@ -245,7 +246,7 @@ fail:
 }
 
 static bool is_nir_enabled(struct r600_common_screen *screen) {
-   return (screen->debug_flags & DBG_NIR &&
+   return ((screen->debug_flags & DBG_NIR_PREFERRED) &&
        screen->family >= CHIP_CEDAR &&
        screen->family < CHIP_CAYMAN);
 }
diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_pipe.h b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_pipe.h
index a4821002297..3cb171a0d53 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_pipe.h
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_pipe.h
@@ -268,6 +268,9 @@ struct r600_gs_rings_state {
 #define DBG_SB_NO_FALLBACK	(1 << 26)
 #define DBG_SB_DISASM	(1 << 27)
 #define DBG_SB_SAFEMATH	(1 << 28)
+#define DBG_NIR_SB	(1 << 28)
+
+#define DBG_NIR_PREFERRED (DBG_NIR_SB | DBG_NIR)
 
 struct r600_screen {
 	struct r600_common_screen	b;
diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_shader.c b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_shader.c
index 2391561ecbc..31570a387d0 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_shader.c
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/r600_shader.c
@@ -179,14 +179,14 @@ int r600_pipe_shader_create(struct pipe_context *ctx,
 		pipe_shader_type_from_mesa(sel->nir->info.stage);
 	
 	bool dump = r600_can_dump_shader(&rctx->screen->b, processor);
-	unsigned use_sb = !(rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NO_SB) /*&&
-		!(rscreen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR)*/;
+	unsigned use_sb = !(rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & (DBG_NO_SB | DBG_NIR)) ||
+                          (rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR_SB);
 	unsigned sb_disasm;
 	unsigned export_shader;
 	
 	shader->shader.bc.isa = rctx->isa;
 	
-	if (!(rscreen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR)) {
+	if (!(rscreen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR_PREFERRED)) {
 		assert(sel->ir_type == PIPE_SHADER_IR_TGSI);
 		r = r600_shader_from_tgsi(rctx, shader, key);
 		if (r) {
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ int r600_pipe_shader_create(struct pipe_context *ctx,
 				tgsi_dump(sel->tokens, 0);
 			}
 			
-			if (rscreen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR) {
+			if (rscreen->b.debug_flags & (DBG_NIR_PREFERRED)) {
 				fprintf(stderr, "--NIR --------------------------------------------------------\n");
 				nir_print_shader(sel->nir, stderr);
 			}
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ int r600_pipe_shader_create(struct pipe_context *ctx,
            char fname[1024];
            snprintf(fname, 1024, "shader_from_%s_%d.cpp",
                     (sel->ir_type == PIPE_SHADER_IR_TGSI ?
-                        (rscreen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR ? "tgsi-nir" : "tgsi")
+                        (rscreen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR_PREFERRED ? "tgsi-nir" : "tgsi")
                       : "nir"), nshader);
            f = fopen(fname, "w");
            print_shader_info(f, nshader++, &shader->shader);
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ int r600_pipe_shader_create(struct pipe_context *ctx,
               tgsi_dump_to_file(sel->tokens, 0, f);
            }
 
-           if (rscreen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR){
+           if (rscreen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR_PREFERRED){
               fprintf(f, "/****NIR **********************************\n");
               nir_print_shader(sel->nir, f);
            }
diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/sfn/sfn_nir.cpp b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/sfn/sfn_nir.cpp
index 082de010512..8dcd6c0b22e 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/r600/sfn/sfn_nir.cpp
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/r600/sfn/sfn_nir.cpp
@@ -995,7 +995,7 @@ int r600_shader_from_nir(struct r600_context *rctx,
    NIR_PASS_V(sh, nir_convert_from_ssa, true);
    NIR_PASS_V(sh, nir_opt_dce);
 
-   if ((rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR) &&
+   if ((rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_NIR_PREFERRED) &&
        (rctx->screen->b.debug_flags & DBG_ALL_SHADERS)) {
       fprintf(stderr, "-- NIR --------------------------------------------------------\n");
       struct nir_function *func = (struct nir_function *)exec_list_get_head(&sh->functions);