diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/octopus/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/octopus/package.py
index 01167d8a21..cb7e63c956 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/octopus/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/octopus/package.py
@@ -219,16 +219,33 @@ def configure_args(self):
             # In case of GCC version 10, we will have errors because of
             # argument mismatching. Need to provide a flag to turn this into a
             # warning and build sucessfully
+            # We can disable variable tracking at assignments introduced in GCC10
+            # for debug variant to decrease compile time.
 
-            fcflags = "FCFLAGS=-O2 -ffree-line-length-none"
-            fflags = "FFLAGS=O2 -ffree-line-length-none"
-            if spec.satisfies("%gcc@10:"):
-                gcc10_extra = "-fallow-argument-mismatch -fallow-invalid-boz"
-                args.append(fcflags + " " + gcc10_extra)
-                args.append(fflags + " " + gcc10_extra)
-            else:
-                args.append(fcflags)
-                args.append(fflags)
+            # Set optimization level for all flags
+            opt_level = "-O2"
+            fcflags = f"FCFLAGS={opt_level} -ffree-line-length-none"
+            cxxflags = f"CXXFLAGS={opt_level}"
+            cflags = f"CFLAGS={opt_level}"
+
+            # Add extra flags for gcc 10 or higher
+            gcc10_extra = (
+                "-fallow-argument-mismatch -fallow-invalid-boz"
+                if spec.satisfies("%gcc@10:")
+                else ""
+            )
+            # Add debug flag if needed
+            if spec.satisfies("+debug"):
+                fcflags += " -g"
+                cxxflags += " -g"
+                cflags += " -g"
+                gcc10_extra += (
+                    "-fno-var-tracking-assignments" if spec.satisfies("%gcc@10:") else ""
+                )
+
+            args.append(f"{fcflags} {gcc10_extra}")
+            args.append(f"{cxxflags} {gcc10_extra}")
+            args.append(f"{cflags} {gcc10_extra}")
 
         return args