diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration.yml b/.github/workflows/integration.yml
index 9a8b67a55..7c8635817 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration.yml
@@ -187,7 +187,11 @@ jobs:
           echo $'\u2705 Test passed' | tee -a $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
 
   test-debug:
-    name: 'Integration test: debug option'
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        environment: ['', 'debug-integration-test']
+    environment: ${{ matrix.environment }}
+    name: "Integration test: debug option (runner.debug mode ${{ matrix.environment && 'enabled' || 'disabled' }})"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
@@ -204,6 +208,7 @@ jobs:
           script: |
             const log = github.log
             return {
+              runnerDebugMode: core.isDebug(),
               debug: log.debug === console.debug,
               info: log.info === console.info
             }
@@ -215,6 +220,7 @@ jobs:
           script: |
             const log = github.log
             return {
+              runnerDebugMode: core.isDebug(),
               debug: log.debug === console.debug,
               info: log.info === console.info
             }
@@ -226,26 +232,39 @@ jobs:
           script: |
             const log = github.log
             return {
+              runnerDebugMode: core.isDebug(),
               debug: log.debug === console.debug,
               info: log.info === console.info
             }
-      - run: |
-          echo "- Validating debug default"
-          expected='{debug:false,info:false}'
-          if [[ "${{steps.debug-default.outputs.result}}" != "$expected" ]]; then
-            echo $'::error::\u274C' "Expected '$expected', got ${{steps.debug-default.outputs.result}}"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          echo "- Validating debug set to true"
-          expected='{debug:true,info:true}'
-          if [[ "${{steps.debug-true.outputs.result}}" != "$expected" ]]; then
-            echo $'::error::\u274C' "Expected '$expected', got ${{steps.debug-true.outputs.result}}"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          echo "- Validating debug set to false"
-          expected='{debug:false,info:false}'
-          if [[ "${{steps.debug-false.outputs.result}}" != "$expected" ]]; then
-            echo $'::error::\u274C' "Expected '$expected', got ${{steps.debug-false.outputs.result}}"
-            exit 1
-          fi
+      - id: evaluate-tests
+        name: Evaluate test outputs
+        env:
+          RDMODE: ${{ runner.debug == '1' }}
+        run: |
+          # tests table, pipe separated: label | output | expected
+          # leading and trailing spaces on any field are trimmed
+          tests=$(cat << 'TESTS'
+            Validating debug default |\
+              ${{ steps.debug-default.outputs.result }} |\
+              {"runnerDebugMode":${{ env.RDMODE }},"debug":${{ env.RDMODE }},"info":${{ env.RDMODE }}}
+            Validating debug set to true |\
+              ${{ steps.debug-true.outputs.result }} |\
+              {"runnerDebugMode":${{ env.RDMODE }},"debug":true,"info":true}
+            Validating debug set to false |\
+              ${{ steps.debug-false.outputs.result }} |\
+              {"runnerDebugMode":${{ env.RDMODE }},"debug":false,"info":false}
+          TESTS
+          )
+
+          strim() { shopt -s extglob; lt="${1##+( )}"; echo "${lt%%+( )}"; }
+          while IFS='|' read label output expected; do
+            label="$(strim "$label")"; output="$(strim "$output")"; expected="$(strim "$expected")"
+            echo -n "- $label:"
+            if [[ "$output" != "$expected" ]]; then
+              echo $'\n::error::\u274C' "Expected '$expected', got '$output'"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            echo $' \u2705'
+          done <<< "$tests"
+
           echo $'\u2705 Test passed' | tee -a $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index 58a010c42..858c88f55 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ inputs:
     default: ${{ github.token }}
     required: false
   debug:
-    description: Whether to tell the GitHub client to log details of its requests
-    default: false
+    description: Whether to tell the GitHub client to log details of its requests. true or false. Default is to run in debug mode when the GitHub Actions step debug logging is turned on.
+    default: ${{ runner.debug == '1' }}
   user-agent:
     description: An optional user-agent string
     default: actions/github-script