diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3a375ab6b..46fe5fd74 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -609,16 +609,18 @@ To run tests, you need to generate a self-signed SSL certificate in the `test` d
     $ openssl req -new -key test/keys/ssl.key -x509 -days 999 -out test/keys/ssl.cert
 
 Then you should be able to run `npm test` once you have the dependencies in place.
+To run the tests with debug logs, set the environment variable `NODE_DEBUG` to `needle` (for example, by running `NODE_DEBUG=needle npm test`).
 
 > Note: Tests currently only work on linux-based environments that have `/proc/self/fd`. They *do not* work on MacOS environments.
 > You can use Docker to run tests by creating a container and mounting the needle project directory on `/app`
 
-```bash
-# Located in your local cloned project :
-docker run -it -w /app --name Needle \
---mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)",target=/app \
-node:fermium bash
-```
+    docker create --name Needle -v $(pwd) -w /app -v $(pwd)/node_modules -i node:argon
+
+Or alternatively:
+
+    docker run -it -w /app --name Needle \
+    --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)",target=/app \
+    node:fermium bash
 
 Credits
 -------
diff --git a/lib/needle.js b/lib/needle.js
index df5f1264f..004366c52 100644
--- a/lib/needle.js
+++ b/lib/needle.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ var fs          = require('fs'),
     https       = require('https'),
     url         = require('url'),
     stream      = require('stream'),
-    debug       = require('debug')('needle'),
+    debug       = require('util').debuglog('needle'),
     stringify   = require('./querystring').build,
     multipart   = require('./multipart'),
     auth        = require('./auth'),
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ var defaults = {
   follow_keep_method      : false,
   follow_if_same_host     : false,
   follow_if_same_protocol : false,
-  follow_if_same_location : false
+  follow_if_same_location : false,
+  use_proxy_from_env_var  : true
 }
 
 var aliased = {
@@ -255,12 +256,14 @@ Needle.prototype.setup = function(uri, options) {
     }
   }
 
-  var env_proxy = utils.get_env_var(['HTTP_PROXY', 'HTTPS_PROXY'], true);
-  if (!config.proxy && env_proxy) config.proxy = env_proxy;
+  if (config.use_proxy_from_env_var) {
+    var env_proxy = utils.get_env_var(['HTTP_PROXY', 'HTTPS_PROXY'], true);
+    if (!config.proxy && env_proxy) config.proxy = env_proxy;
+  }
 
   // if proxy is present, set auth header from either url or proxy_user option.
   if (config.proxy) {
-    if (utils.should_proxy_to(uri)) {
+    if (!config.use_proxy_from_env_var || utils.should_proxy_to(uri)) {
       if (config.proxy.indexOf('http') === -1)
         config.proxy = 'http://' + config.proxy;
 
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index d19d745c6..807df82fe 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -48,14 +48,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha1-2Klr13/Wjfd5OnMDajug1UBdR3s=",
       "dev": true
     },
-    "debug": {
-      "version": "3.2.6",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/debug/-/debug-3.2.6.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-mel+jf7nrtEl5Pn1Qx46zARXKDpBbvzezse7p7LqINmdoIk8PYP5SySaxEmYv6TZ0JyEKA1hsCId6DIhgITtWQ==",
-      "requires": {
-        "ms": "^2.1.1"
-      }
-    },
     "diff": {
       "version": "3.5.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/diff/-/diff-3.5.0.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3303c264a..0e2b5da8d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
     "url": "https://github.com/tomas/needle.git"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "debug": "^3.2.6",
     "iconv-lite": "^0.6.3",
     "sax": "^1.2.4"
   },
diff --git a/test/proxy_spec.js b/test/proxy_spec.js
index b85d6185a..46b0b5ec3 100644
--- a/test/proxy_spec.js
+++ b/test/proxy_spec.js
@@ -228,4 +228,41 @@ describe('proxy option', function() {
 
   })
 
+  describe('when environment variable is set', function() {
+
+    describe('and default is unchanged', function() {
+
+      before(function() {
+        process.env.HTTP_PROXY = 'foobar';
+      })
+
+      after(function() {
+        delete process.env.HTTP_PROXY;
+      })
+
+      it('tries to proxy', function(done) {
+        send_request({}, proxied('foobar', 80, done))
+      })
+
+    })
+
+    describe('and functionality is disabled', function() {
+
+      before(function() {
+        process.env.HTTP_PROXY = 'foobar';
+      })
+
+      after(function() {
+        delete process.env.HTTP_PROXY;
+      })
+
+      it('ignores proxy', function(done) {
+        send_request({
+          use_proxy_from_env_var: false
+        }, not_proxied(done))
+      })
+
+    })
+  })
+
 })