diff --git a/src/remote/abstractResponseHandler.cpp b/src/remote/abstractResponseHandler.cpp
index 6dad2ef..71790e4 100644
--- a/src/remote/abstractResponseHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/remote/abstractResponseHandler.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ size_t ResponseHandler::num_instances;
 
 ResponseHandler::ResponseHandler(Context* context, const std::string& description)
     :_description(description)
-    ,_debugLevel(context->getConfiguration()->getPropertyAsInteger(PVACCESS_DEBUG, 0))
+    ,_debugLevel(context->getConfiguration()->getPropertyAsInteger(PVACCESS_DEBUG, 0)) // actually $EPICS_PVA_DEBUG
 {
     REFTRACE_INCREMENT(num_instances);
 }
diff --git a/src/server/serverContext.cpp b/src/server/serverContext.cpp
index 25c3b8e..dde73e3 100644
--- a/src/server/serverContext.cpp
+++ b/src/server/serverContext.cpp
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ void ServerContextImpl::loadConfiguration()
     Configuration::const_shared_pointer config = configuration;
 
     // TODO for now just a simple switch
-    int32 debugLevel = config->getPropertyAsInteger(PVACCESS_DEBUG, 0);
+    int32 debugLevel = config->getPropertyAsInteger(PVACCESS_DEBUG, 0); // actually $EPICS_PVA_DEBUG
     if (debugLevel > 0)
         SET_LOG_LEVEL(logLevelDebug);