diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index 1ade176c87b27885b961f1d97b18be91858e2b72..fba0d7c723d6e69e88d48cb9eb6c89d9786c913c 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ runserver:
 run: compile
 	mvn exec:java@run
 
-run-debug: compile
-	mvn exec:java@run-debug
+run-debug:
+	java -Dcaosdb.debug=true -jar target/caosdb-server-0.1-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar
 
 run-single:
 	java -jar target/caosdb-server-0.1-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar