diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4aa4eb4e18b..3e1e5d9c9bd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
     "preserve": "npm run base-href",
     "serve": "ts-node -r tsconfig-paths/register --project ./tsconfig.ts-node.json scripts/serve.ts",
     "serve:ssr": "node dist/server/main",
+    "serve:ssr:debug": "SSR_DEBUG=true npm run build:ssr && node dist/server/main",
     "analyze": "webpack-bundle-analyzer dist/browser/stats.json",
     "build": "ng build --configuration development",
     "build:stats": "ng build --stats-json",
diff --git a/webpack/webpack.prod.ts b/webpack/webpack.prod.ts
index e35bc0c9078..543f2b47ea4 100644
--- a/webpack/webpack.prod.ts
+++ b/webpack/webpack.prod.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import { EnvironmentPlugin } from 'webpack';
 import { projectRoot } from './helpers';
 import { commonExports } from './webpack.common';
 
+const SSR_DEBUG = process.env.SSR_DEBUG === 'true';
+
 module.exports = Object.assign({}, commonExports, {
   plugins: [
     ...commonExports.plugins,
@@ -14,6 +16,9 @@ module.exports = Object.assign({}, commonExports, {
     }),
   ],
   mode: 'production',
+  optimization: {
+    minimize: !SSR_DEBUG,
+  },
   recordsOutputPath: projectRoot('webpack.records.json'),
   entry: projectRoot('./server.ts'),
   target: 'node',