diff --git a/run b/run
index cbd2030..f20fd89 100755
--- a/run
+++ b/run
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Ctrl +C kills the QEMU simulator instead of being passed to the guest.
         )
         self.add_argument(
             '--debug-vm-args', default='',
-            help='Pass arguments to GDB.'
+            help='Pass arguments to GDB. Implies --debug-vm.'
         )
         self.add_argument(
             '--dtb',
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ Run QEMU with VNC instead of the default SDL. Connect to it with:
         extra_qemu_args = []
         if self.env['tmux_args'] is not None:
             self.env['tmux'] = True
-        if self.env['debug_vm']:
+        if self.env['debug_vm'] or self.env['debug_vm_args']:
             debug_vm = ['gdb', LF, '-q', LF] + self.sh.shlex_split(self.env['debug_vm_args']) + ['--args', LF]
         else:
             debug_vm = []