diff --git a/lib/logstash/patches/cabin.rb b/lib/logstash/patches/cabin.rb
index e47cbb5ba..63b5f6e15 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/patches/cabin.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/patches/cabin.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-if ENV["PROFILE_BAD_LOG_CALLS"] || $DEBUGLIST.include?("log")
+if ENV["PROFILE_BAD_LOG_CALLS"] || ($DEBUGLIST || []).include?("log")
   # Set PROFILE_BAD_LOG_CALLS=1 in your environment if you want
   # to track down logger calls that cause performance problems
   #
diff --git a/lib/logstash/patches/profile_require_calls.rb b/lib/logstash/patches/profile_require_calls.rb
index 683c0a106..0eb2f2fcc 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/patches/profile_require_calls.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/patches/profile_require_calls.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # encoding: utf-8
-if $DEBUGLIST.include?("require")
+if ($DEBUGLIST || []).include?("require")
   ROOT = File.dirname(__FILE__)
   module Kernel
     alias_method :require_debug, :require