diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 4b0275b..63aa89c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ RUN GPG_KEYS=B0F4253373F8F6F510D42178520A9993A1C052F8 \
   && addgroup -S nginx \
   && adduser -D -S -h /var/cache/nginx -s /sbin/nologin -G nginx nginx \
   && apk add --no-cache --virtual .build-deps \
+    autoconf \
     gcc \
     libc-dev \
     make \
@@ -149,6 +150,8 @@ RUN echo @testing http://nl.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing >> /etc/apk/repo
     openssl-dev \
     ca-certificates \
     dialog \
+    autoconf \
+    make \
     gcc \
     musl-dev \
     linux-headers \
@@ -168,6 +171,7 @@ RUN echo @testing http://nl.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing >> /etc/apk/repo
       --with-jpeg-dir=/usr/include/ && \
     #curl iconv session
     docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql pdo_sqlite mysqli mcrypt gd exif intl xsl json soap dom zip opcache && \
+    pecl install xdebug && \
     docker-php-source delete && \
     mkdir -p /etc/nginx && \
     mkdir -p /var/www/app && \
@@ -181,7 +185,7 @@ RUN echo @testing http://nl.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing >> /etc/apk/repo
     pip install -U pip && \
     pip install -U certbot && \
     mkdir -p /etc/letsencrypt/webrootauth && \
-    apk del gcc musl-dev linux-headers libffi-dev augeas-dev python-dev
+    apk del gcc musl-dev linux-headers libffi-dev augeas-dev python-dev make autoconf
 #    ln -s /usr/bin/php7 /usr/bin/php
 
 ADD conf/supervisord.conf /etc/supervisord.conf
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a086df1..b5cbdc6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ For more detailed examples and explanations please refer to the documentation.
  - [Setup](https://github.com/ngineered/nginx-php-fpm/blob/master/docs/lets_encrypt.md#setup)
  - [Renewal](https://github.com/ngineered/nginx-php-fpm/blob/master/docs/lets_encrypt.md#renewal)
 - [PHP Modules](https://github.com/ngineered/nginx-php-fpm/blob/master/docs/php_modules.md)
+- [Xdebug](https://github.com/ngineered/nginx-php-fpm/blob/master/docs/xdebug.md)
 - [Logging and Errors](https://github.com/ngineered/nginx-php-fpm/blob/master/docs/logs.md)
 
 ## Guides
diff --git a/docs/xdebug.md b/docs/xdebug.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b6eecf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/xdebug.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+## Install PHP Modules
+Xdebug comes pre-installed.   To enable xdebug you need to add a couple environment variables:
+
+- `ENABLE_XDEBUG=1` This will add the xdebug.ini to your php extensions
+- `XDEBUG_CONFIG=remote_host=you.local.ip.here` Sets an xdebug remote host environment var.   This is usually your actual local computers IP.
+- `PHP_IDE_CONFIG=serverName=NameUsedInPhpStormServerConfig` This is an example of how to use this in PhpStorm.   You configure a server in php storm with a name, set that in this var.
diff --git a/scripts/start.sh b/scripts/start.sh
index d0f6811..19f4bc3 100644
--- a/scripts/start.sh
+++ b/scripts/start.sh
@@ -131,6 +131,38 @@ if [ ! -z "$PHP_UPLOAD_MAX_FILESIZE" ]; then
  sed -i "s/upload_max_filesize = 100M/upload_max_filesize= ${PHP_UPLOAD_MAX_FILESIZE}M/g" /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-vars.ini
 fi
 
+# Enable xdebug
+XdebugFile='/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini'
+if [[ "$ENABLE_XDEBUG" == "1" ]] ; then
+  if [ -f $XdebugFile ]; then
+  	echo "Xdebug enabled"
+  else
+  	echo "Enabling xdebug"
+  	echo "If you get this error, you can safely ignore it: /usr/local/bin/docker-php-ext-enable: line 83: nm: not found"
+  	# see https://github.com/docker-library/php/pull/420
+    docker-php-ext-enable xdebug
+    # see if file exists
+    if [ -f $XdebugFile ]; then
+        # See if file contains xdebug text.
+        if grep -q xdebug.remote_enable "$XdebugFile"; then
+            echo "Xdebug already enabled... skipping"
+        else
+            echo "zend_extension=$(find /usr/local/lib/php/extensions/ -name xdebug.so)" > $XdebugFile # Note, single arrow to overwrite file.
+            echo "xdebug.remote_enable=1 "  >> $XdebugFile
+            echo "xdebug.remote_log=/tmp/xdebug.log"  >> $XdebugFile
+            echo "xdebug.remote_autostart=false "  >> $XdebugFile # I use the xdebug chrome extension instead of using autostart
+            # NOTE: xdebug.remote_host is not needed here if you set an environment variable in docker-compose like so `- XDEBUG_CONFIG=remote_host=192.168.111.27`.
+            #       you also need to set an env var `- PHP_IDE_CONFIG=serverName=docker`
+        fi
+    fi
+  fi
+else
+    if [ -f $XdebugFile ]; then
+        echo "Disabling Xdebug"
+      rm $XdebugFile
+    fi
+fi
+
 if [ ! -z "$PUID" ]; then
   if [ -z "$PGID" ]; then
     PGID=${PUID}