diff --git a/piker/_daemon.py b/piker/_daemon.py
index bdf7a7fb..1d98eee4 100644
--- a/piker/_daemon.py
+++ b/piker/_daemon.py
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ async def maybe_open_pikerd(
     # presume pikerd role
     async with open_pikerd(
         loglevel=loglevel,
+        debug_mode=kwargs.get('debug_mode', False),
     ) as _:
         # in the case where we're starting up the
         # tractor-piker runtime stack in **this** process