diff --git a/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/Cargo.toml b/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/Cargo.toml
index de5d1b582dca2..3089a93ce3d6d 100644
--- a/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/Cargo.toml
+++ b/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/Cargo.toml
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@ move-compiler.workspace = true
 default = []
 fuzzing = ["move-vm-types/fuzzing"]
 failpoints = ["fail/failpoints"]
-# Enable tracing and debugging also for release builds. By default, it is only enabled for debug builds.
-debugging = []
 testing = []
 lazy_natives = []
 tracing = [
diff --git a/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/lib.rs b/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/lib.rs
index c69f0d150582d..c982a51ce1209 100644
--- a/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/lib.rs
+++ b/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/lib.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ mod tracing;
 mod tracing2;
 
 // Only include debugging functionality in debug builds
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 mod debug;
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/loader.rs b/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/loader.rs
index ee1b88f60d829..bf262033f1a3b 100644
--- a/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/loader.rs
+++ b/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/loader.rs
@@ -2203,7 +2203,7 @@ impl Function {
         )
     }
 
-    #[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+    #[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
     pub(crate) fn pretty_short_string(&self) -> String {
         let id = &self.module;
         format!(
diff --git a/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/tracing.rs b/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/tracing.rs
index a4c984c62a537..d2a9662f12b6f 100644
--- a/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/tracing.rs
+++ b/external-crates/move/crates/move-vm-runtime/src/tracing.rs
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 // Copyright (c) The Move Contributors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 use crate::debug::DebugContext;
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 use ::{
     move_binary_format::file_format::Bytecode,
     move_vm_types::values::Locals,
@@ -20,31 +20,31 @@ use ::{
     },
 };
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 use crate::{
     interpreter::Interpreter,
     loader::{Function, Loader},
 };
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 const MOVE_VM_TRACING_ENV_VAR_NAME: &str = "MOVE_VM_TRACE";
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 const MOVE_VM_STEPPING_ENV_VAR_NAME: &str = "MOVE_VM_STEP";
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 static FILE_PATH: Lazy<String> = Lazy::new(|| {
     env::var(MOVE_VM_TRACING_ENV_VAR_NAME).unwrap_or_else(|_| "move_vm_trace.trace".to_string())
 });
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 static TRACING_ENABLED: Lazy<bool> = Lazy::new(|| env::var(MOVE_VM_TRACING_ENV_VAR_NAME).is_ok());
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 static DEBUGGING_ENABLED: Lazy<bool> =
     Lazy::new(|| env::var(MOVE_VM_STEPPING_ENV_VAR_NAME).is_ok());
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 static LOGGING_FILE: Lazy<Mutex<File>> = Lazy::new(|| {
     Mutex::new(
         OpenOptions::new()
@@ -55,11 +55,11 @@ static LOGGING_FILE: Lazy<Mutex<File>> = Lazy::new(|| {
     )
 });
 
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 static DEBUG_CONTEXT: Lazy<Mutex<DebugContext>> = Lazy::new(|| Mutex::new(DebugContext::new()));
 
 // Only include in debug builds
-#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
 pub(crate) fn trace(
     function_desc: &Function,
     locals: &Locals,
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ pub(crate) fn trace(
 macro_rules! trace {
     ($function_desc:expr, $locals:expr, $pc:expr, $instr:tt, $resolver:expr, $interp:expr) => {
         // Only include this code in debug releases
-        #[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "debugging"))]
+        #[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "tracing"))]
         $crate::tracing::trace(
             &$function_desc,
             $locals,