diff --git a/backup.sh b/backup.sh
index 39d671a..5ded6e6 100755
--- a/backup.sh
+++ b/backup.sh
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ while read dataset dataset_options; do
     snapshot_dataset="yes"
     send_dataset="yes"
     for option in $dataset_options; do
+        debug "Processing option $option."
         case $option in 
             "nosnap"*    ) snapshot_dataset=""                    ;;
             "nosend"*    ) send_dataset=""                        ;;
@@ -57,6 +58,13 @@ while read dataset dataset_options; do
     fi
 done < datasets.txt
 
+debug()
+{
+    if [ $BG_DEBUG_MODE = "TRUE" ]; do
+        echo $@
+    fi
+}
+
 list_datasets()
 {
     for dataset in $SEND_DATASETS; do
@@ -171,10 +179,8 @@ send_latest()
         for dataset in $SEND_DATASETS; do
             dataset=`echo $dataset|cut -d':' -f1`
             remote_dataset=`echo $dataset|cut -d':' -f2`
-            if [ $BG_DEBUG_MODE = "TRUE" ]; then
-                echo dataset: $dataset
-                echo remote dataset: $remote_dataset
-            fi
+            debug "dataset: $dataset"
+            debug "remote dataset: $remote_dataset"
             origin_snapshot=`get_latest_snapshot $dataset`
             if [ $BG_TEST_MODE = "TRUE" ]; then
                 echo zfs send $ZFS_SEND_OPTS $dataset@$origin_snapshot  \| \