diff --git a/src/engine/function.cpp b/src/engine/function.cpp
index 5219254a9..8e5422ec0 100644
--- a/src/engine/function.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/function.cpp
@@ -3994,7 +3994,7 @@ LIST * function_execute_write_file(
         char const * out = object_str( list_front( filename.inner ) );
         OBJECT * tmp_filename = nullptr;
         FILE * out_file = nullptr;
-        bool out_debug = DEBUG_EXEC;
+        bool out_debug = DEBUG_EXEC != 0;
 
         /* For stdout/stderr we will create a temp file and generate a
         * command that outputs the content as needed.