diff --git a/Directory.Build.props b/Directory.Build.props
index dc11cc1b9f1308..6a688d500c4cc2 100644
--- a/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/Directory.Build.props
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Default to portable build if not explicitly set -->
     <PortableBuild Condition="'$(PortableBuild)' == ''">true</PortableBuild>
+    <!-- Default to discarding symbols if not explicitly set -->
+    <KeepNativeSymbols Condition="'$(KeepNativeSymbols)' == ''">false</KeepNativeSymbols>
     <!-- Used for launchSettings.json and runtime config files. -->
     <AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder>
     <!-- Determine what architecture we are building on. -->
diff --git a/eng/build.sh b/eng/build.sh
index f271bb0ca76278..1179f8efd27a12 100755
--- a/eng/build.sh
+++ b/eng/build.sh
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ usage()
   echo "  --gcc                      Optional argument to build using gcc in PATH (default)."
   echo "  --gccx.y                   Optional argument to build using gcc version x.y."
   echo "  --portablebuild            Optional argument: set to false to force a non-portable build."
+  echo "  --keepnativesymbols        Optional argument: set to true to keep native symbols/debuginfo in generated binaries."
   echo ""
 
   echo "Command line arguments starting with '/p:' are passed through to MSBuild."
@@ -402,6 +403,18 @@ while [[ $# > 0 ]]; do
       shift 2
       ;;
 
+     -keepnativesymbols)
+      if [ -z ${2+x} ]; then
+        echo "No value for keepNativeSymbols is supplied. See help (--help) for supported values." 1>&2
+        exit 1
+      fi
+      passedKeepNativeSymbols="$(echo "$2" | awk '{print tolower($0)}')"
+      if [ "$passedKeepNativeSymbols" = true ]; then
+        arguments="$arguments /p:KeepNativeSymbols=true"
+      fi
+      shift 2
+      ;;
+
       *)
       extraargs="$extraargs $1"
       shift 1
diff --git a/eng/native/build-commons.sh b/eng/native/build-commons.sh
index 877ef003bbe1e3..2e94d68fe692f2 100755
--- a/eng/native/build-commons.sh
+++ b/eng/native/build-commons.sh
@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ usage()
     echo "-portablebuild: pass -portablebuild=false to force a non-portable build."
     echo "-skipconfigure: skip build configuration."
     echo "-skipgenerateversion: disable version generation even if MSBuild is supported."
+    echo "-keepnativesymbols: keep native/unmanaged debug symbols."
     echo "-verbose: optional argument to enable verbose build output."
     echo ""
     echo "Additional Options:"
@@ -354,6 +355,10 @@ while :; do
                 __CompilerMinorVersion="${parts[1]}"
             ;;
 
+        keepnativesymbols|-keepnativesymbols)
+            __CMakeArgs="$__CMakeArgs -DCLR_CMAKE_KEEP_NATIVE_SYMBOLS=true"
+            ;;
+
         msbuildonunsupportedplatform|-msbuildonunsupportedplatform)
             __msbuildonunsupportedplatform=1
             ;;
diff --git a/eng/native/functions.cmake b/eng/native/functions.cmake
index 525c289d988101..27396aa5bb5ff0 100644
--- a/eng/native/functions.cmake
+++ b/eng/native/functions.cmake
@@ -336,8 +336,10 @@ function(strip_symbols targetName outputFilename)
 endfunction()
 
 function(install_with_stripped_symbols targetName kind destination)
-    strip_symbols(${targetName} symbol_file)
-    install_symbols(${symbol_file} ${destination})
+    if(NOT CLR_CMAKE_KEEP_NATIVE_SYMBOLS)
+      strip_symbols(${targetName} symbol_file)
+      install_symbols(${symbol_file} ${destination})
+    endif()
     if ("${kind}" STREQUAL "TARGETS")
       set(install_source ${targetName})
     elseif("${kind}" STREQUAL "PROGRAMS")
@@ -374,13 +376,17 @@ function(install_clr)
   foreach(targetName ${INSTALL_CLR_TARGETS})
     list(FIND CLR_CROSS_COMPONENTS_LIST ${targetName} INDEX)
     if (NOT DEFINED CLR_CROSS_COMPONENTS_LIST OR NOT ${INDEX} EQUAL -1)
-        strip_symbols(${targetName} symbol_file)
+        if (NOT CLR_CMAKE_KEEP_NATIVE_SYMBOLS)
+          strip_symbols(${targetName} symbol_file)
+        endif()
 
         foreach(destination ${destinations})
           # We don't need to install the export libraries for our DLLs
           # since they won't be directly linked against.
           install(PROGRAMS $<TARGET_FILE:${targetName}> DESTINATION ${destination})
-          install_symbols(${symbol_file} ${destination})
+          if (NOT CLR_CMAKE_KEEP_NATIVE_SYMBOLS)
+            install_symbols(${symbol_file} ${destination})
+          endif()
 
           if(CLR_CMAKE_PGO_INSTRUMENT)
               if(WIN32)
diff --git a/src/coreclr/runtime.proj b/src/coreclr/runtime.proj
index 79b99c1649eb05..0422ba17afdf6b 100644
--- a/src/coreclr/runtime.proj
+++ b/src/coreclr/runtime.proj
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
       <_CoreClrBuildArg Condition="'$(ContinuousIntegrationBuild)' == 'true'" Include="-ci" />
       <_CoreClrBuildArg Condition="'$(CrossBuild)' == 'true'" Include="-cross" />
       <_CoreClrBuildArg Condition="'$(PortableBuild)' != 'true'" Include="-portablebuild=false" />
+      <_CoreClrBuildArg Condition="'$(KeepNativeSymbols)' != 'false'" Include="-keepnativesymbols" />
       <_CoreClrBuildArg Condition="!$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform(Windows))" Include="-os $(TargetOS)" />
 
       <_CoreClrBuildArg Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform(Windows)) and
diff --git a/src/installer/corehost/corehost.proj b/src/installer/corehost/corehost.proj
index 69927e8304b1d8..38c104ca005c9e 100644
--- a/src/installer/corehost/corehost.proj
+++ b/src/installer/corehost/corehost.proj
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
       <BuildArgs>$(Configuration) $(TargetArchitecture) -apphostver "$(AppHostVersion)" -hostver "$(HostVersion)" -fxrver "$(HostResolverVersion)" -policyver "$(HostPolicyVersion)" -commithash "$(LatestCommit)" -os $(TargetOS)</BuildArgs>
       <BuildArgs>$(BuildArgs) -cmakeargs "-DVERSION_FILE_PATH=$(NativeVersionFile)"</BuildArgs>
       <BuildArgs Condition="'$(PortableBuild)' != 'true'">$(BuildArgs) -portablebuild=false</BuildArgs>
+      <BuildArgs Condition="'$(KeepNativeSymbols)' != 'false'">$(BuildArgs) -keepnativesymbols</BuildArgs>
       <BuildArgs Condition="'$(CrossBuild)' == 'true'">$(BuildArgs) -cross</BuildArgs>
       <BuildArgs Condition="'$(Compiler)' != ''">$(BuildArgs) $(Compiler)</BuildArgs>
       <BuildArgs Condition="'$(CMakeArgs)' != ''">$(BuildArgs) $(CMakeArgs)</BuildArgs>
diff --git a/src/libraries/Native/build-native.proj b/src/libraries/Native/build-native.proj
index beaf3098745007..6f3d4aa0892b47 100644
--- a/src/libraries/Native/build-native.proj
+++ b/src/libraries/Native/build-native.proj
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
       <_ProcessorCountArg> -numproc $(MSBuildNodeCount)</_ProcessorCountArg>
       <_PortableBuildArg Condition="'$(PortableBuild)' != 'true'"> -portablebuild=false</_PortableBuildArg>
       <_CrossBuildArg Condition="'$(CrossBuild)' == 'true'"> -cross</_CrossBuildArg>
+      <_KeepNativeSymbolsBuildArg Condition="'$(KeepNativeSymbols)' != 'false'"> -keepnativesymbols</_KeepNativeSymbolsBuildArg>
       <_CMakeArgs Condition="'$(CMakeArgs)' != ''"> $(CMakeArgs)</_CMakeArgs>
 
       <!--
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@
         used to force a specific compiler toolset.
       -->
       <_BuildNativeCompilerArg Condition="'$(BuildNativeCompiler)' != ''"> $(BuildNativeCompiler)</_BuildNativeCompilerArg>
-      <_BuildNativeUnixArgs>$(_BuildNativeArgs)$(_ProcessCountArg)$(_PortableBuildArg)$(_CrossBuildArg)$(_BuildNativeCompilerArg)$(_CMakeArgs) $(Compiler)</_BuildNativeUnixArgs>
+      <_BuildNativeUnixArgs>$(_BuildNativeArgs)$(_ProcessCountArg)$(_PortableBuildArg)$(_CrossBuildArg)$(_BuildNativeCompilerArg)$(_KeepNativeSymbolsBuildArg)$(_CMakeArgs) $(Compiler)</_BuildNativeUnixArgs>
     </PropertyGroup>
 
     <Message Text="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)build-native.sh $(_BuildNativeUnixArgs)" Importance="High"/>