diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/common.hpp b/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/common.hpp
index abad847ca8199..a5cab5065fc80 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/common.hpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/common.hpp
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 void* ggml_sycl_host_malloc(size_t size);
 void ggml_sycl_host_free(void* ptr);
 
-static int g_ggml_sycl_debug = 0;
+extern int g_ggml_sycl_debug;
 #define GGML_SYCL_DEBUG(...)        \
   do {                              \
     if (g_ggml_sycl_debug)          \
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/ggml-sycl.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/ggml-sycl.cpp
index 3d24d21654832..d4c97ad17b8a0 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/ggml-sycl.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/ggml-sycl.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 #include "ggml-sycl/gemm.hpp"
 
 static bool g_sycl_loaded = false;
+int g_ggml_sycl_debug = 0;
 
 static ggml_sycl_device_info ggml_sycl_init() {
     ggml_sycl_device_info info = {};
@@ -157,8 +158,8 @@ static void ggml_check_sycl() try {
     static bool initialized = false;
 
     if (!initialized) {
-        GGML_SYCL_DEBUG("[SYCL] call ggml_check_sycl\n");
         g_ggml_sycl_debug = get_sycl_env("GGML_SYCL_DEBUG", 0);
+        GGML_SYCL_DEBUG("[SYCL] call ggml_check_sycl\n");
         GGML_LOG_INFO("GGML_SYCL_DEBUG: %d\n", g_ggml_sycl_debug);
 #if defined(GGML_SYCL_FORCE_MMQ)
         GGML_LOG_INFO("GGML_SYCL_FORCE_MMQ:   yes\n");
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/softmax.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/softmax.cpp
index 563e0655f5527..eb20bd251e172 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/softmax.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/softmax.cpp
@@ -249,13 +249,16 @@ void ggml_sycl_op_soft_max(ggml_backend_sycl_context & ctx, ggml_tensor * dst) {
 
     if (dst->src[1] && dst->src[1]->type == GGML_TYPE_F16) {
         const sycl::half * src1_dd = static_cast<sycl::half *>(dst->src[1]->data);
+        GGML_SYCL_DEBUG("%s: F16 mask\n", __func__);
         soft_max_f32_sycl<sycl::half>(src0_dd, src1_dd, dst_dd, ne00, nrows_x, nrows_y, scale, max_bias,
                           main_stream, ctx.device);
     } else if (dst->src[1] && dst->src[1]->type == GGML_TYPE_F32) {
         const float * src1_dd = static_cast<const float *>(dst->src[1]->data);
+        GGML_SYCL_DEBUG("%s: F32 mask\n", __func__);
         soft_max_f32_sycl<float>(src0_dd, src1_dd, dst_dd, ne00, nrows_x, nrows_y, scale, max_bias, main_stream, ctx.device);
     } else {
         /* mask unavailable */
+        GGML_SYCL_DEBUG("%s: No mask\n", __func__);
         soft_max_f32_sycl<float>(src0_dd, nullptr, dst_dd, ne00, nrows_x, nrows_y, scale, max_bias, main_stream, ctx.device);
     }
 }