diff --git a/lib/std/debug.zig b/lib/std/debug.zig
index e22f2f7345..b10f98ee7b 100644
--- a/lib/std/debug.zig
+++ b/lib/std/debug.zig
@@ -567,13 +567,11 @@ pub const StackUnwindOptions = struct {
 ///
 /// See `writeCurrentStackTrace` to immediately print the trace instead of capturing it.
 pub fn captureCurrentStackTrace(options: StackUnwindOptions, addr_buf: []usize) std.builtin.StackTrace {
-    var it = StackIterator.init(options.context) catch {
-        return .{ .index = 0, .instruction_addresses = &.{} };
-    };
+    const empty_trace: std.builtin.StackTrace = .{ .index = 0, .instruction_addresses = &.{} };
+    if (!std.options.allow_stack_tracing) return empty_trace;
+    var it = StackIterator.init(options.context) catch return empty_trace;
     defer it.deinit();
-    if (!it.stratOk(options.allow_unsafe_unwind)) {
-        return .{ .index = 0, .instruction_addresses = &.{} };
-    }
+    if (!it.stratOk(options.allow_unsafe_unwind)) return empty_trace;
     var frame_idx: usize = 0;
     var wait_for = options.first_address;
     while (true) switch (it.next()) {
@@ -599,6 +597,12 @@ pub fn captureCurrentStackTrace(options: StackUnwindOptions, addr_buf: []usize)
 ///
 /// See `captureCurrentStackTrace` to capture the trace addresses into a buffer instead of printing.
 pub fn writeCurrentStackTrace(options: StackUnwindOptions, writer: *Writer, tty_config: tty.Config) Writer.Error!void {
+    if (!std.options.allow_stack_tracing) {
+        tty_config.setColor(writer, .dim) catch {};
+        try writer.print("Cannot print stack trace: stack tracing is disabled\n", .{});
+        tty_config.setColor(writer, .reset) catch {};
+        return;
+    }
     const di_gpa = getDebugInfoAllocator();
     const di = getSelfDebugInfo() catch |err| switch (err) {
         error.UnsupportedTarget => {
@@ -688,6 +692,12 @@ pub fn dumpCurrentStackTrace(options: StackUnwindOptions) void {
 
 /// Write a previously captured stack trace to `writer`, annotated with source locations.
 pub fn writeStackTrace(st: *const std.builtin.StackTrace, writer: *Writer, tty_config: tty.Config) Writer.Error!void {
+    if (!std.options.allow_stack_tracing) {
+        tty_config.setColor(writer, .dim) catch {};
+        try writer.print("Cannot print stack trace: stack tracing is disabled\n", .{});
+        tty_config.setColor(writer, .reset) catch {};
+        return;
+    }
     // Fetch `st.index` straight away. Aside from avoiding redundant loads, this prevents issues if
     // `st` is `@errorReturnTrace()` and errors are encountered while writing the stack trace.
     const n_frames = st.index;
diff --git a/lib/std/std.zig b/lib/std/std.zig
index 4a7f9bd866..4e68d1d611 100644
--- a/lib/std/std.zig
+++ b/lib/std/std.zig
@@ -171,6 +171,22 @@ pub const Options = struct {
     http_enable_ssl_key_log_file: bool = @import("builtin").mode == .Debug,
 
     side_channels_mitigations: crypto.SideChannelsMitigations = crypto.default_side_channels_mitigations,
+
+    /// Whether to allow capturing and writing stack traces. This affects the following functions:
+    /// * `debug.captureCurrentStackTrace`
+    /// * `debug.writeCurrentStackTrace`
+    /// * `debug.dumpCurrentStackTrace`
+    /// * `debug.writeStackTrace`
+    /// * `debug.dumpStackTrace`
+    ///
+    /// Stack traces can generally be collected and printed when debug info is stripped, but are
+    /// often less useful since they usually cannot be mapped to source locations and/or have bad
+    /// source locations. The stack tracing logic can also be quite large, which may be undesirable,
+    /// particularly in ReleaseSmall.
+    ///
+    /// If this is `false`, then captured stack traces will always be empty, and attempts to write
+    /// stack traces will just print an error to the relevant `Io.Writer` and return.
+    allow_stack_tracing: bool = !@import("builtin").strip_debug_info,
 };
 
 // This forces the start.zig file to be imported, and the comptime logic inside that
diff --git a/test/cases/disable_stack_tracing.zig b/test/cases/disable_stack_tracing.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..044eaf7012
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cases/disable_stack_tracing.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+pub const std_options: std.Options = .{
+    .allow_stack_tracing = false,
+};
+
+pub fn main() !void {
+    var st_buf: [8]usize = undefined;
+    var buf: [1024]u8 = undefined;
+    var stdout = std.fs.File.stdout().writer(&buf);
+
+    const captured_st = try foo(&stdout.interface, &st_buf);
+    try std.debug.writeStackTrace(&captured_st, &stdout.interface, .no_color);
+    try stdout.interface.print("stack trace index: {d}\n", .{captured_st.index});
+
+    try stdout.interface.flush();
+}
+fn foo(w: *std.Io.Writer, st_buf: []usize) !std.builtin.StackTrace {
+    try std.debug.writeCurrentStackTrace(.{}, w, .no_color);
+    return std.debug.captureCurrentStackTrace(.{}, st_buf);
+}
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+// run
+//
+// Cannot print stack trace: stack tracing is disabled
+// Cannot print stack trace: stack tracing is disabled
+// stack trace index: 0
+//