diff --git a/api/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/loginsvc/rest/provider/kerberos/KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider.scala b/api/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/loginsvc/rest/provider/kerberos/KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider.scala
index 97b7156..f25bd6e 100644
--- a/api/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/loginsvc/rest/provider/kerberos/KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider.scala
+++ b/api/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/loginsvc/rest/provider/kerberos/KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider.scala
@@ -59,12 +59,12 @@ class KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider(activeDirectoryLDAPConfig: ActiveDire
       provider
     }
 
-  private def sunJaasKerberosTicketValidator: SunJaasKerberosTicketValidator =
+  private[kerberos] def sunJaasKerberosTicketValidator: SunJaasKerberosTicketValidator =
     {
       val ticketValidator: SunJaasKerberosTicketValidator = new SunJaasKerberosTicketValidator()
       ticketValidator.setServicePrincipal(kerberos.spn)
       ticketValidator.setKeyTabLocation(new FileSystemResource(kerberos.keytabFileLocation))
-      ticketValidator.setDebug(true)
+      ticketValidator.setDebug(kerberosDebug)
       ticketValidator.afterPropertiesSet()
       ticketValidator
     }
diff --git a/api/src/test/scala/za/co/absa/loginsvc/rest/provider/kerberos/KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProviderTest.scala b/api/src/test/scala/za/co/absa/loginsvc/rest/provider/kerberos/KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProviderTest.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d97fe56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/test/scala/za/co/absa/loginsvc/rest/provider/kerberos/KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProviderTest.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2023 ABSA Group Limited
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package za.co.absa.loginsvc.rest.provider.kerberos
+
+import org.scalatest.flatspec.AnyFlatSpec
+import org.scalatest.matchers.should.Matchers
+import org.scalatest.BeforeAndAfterEach
+import org.springframework.security.kerberos.authentication.sun.SunJaasKerberosTicketValidator
+import za.co.absa.loginsvc.rest.config.auth.{ActiveDirectoryLDAPConfig, KerberosConfig, LdapUserCredentialsConfig, ServiceAccountConfig}
+
+
+class KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProviderTest extends AnyFlatSpec with Matchers with BeforeAndAfterEach {
+
+  private val serviceAccount = ServiceAccountConfig(
+    "CN=%s,OU=Users,DC=example,DC=com",
+    Option(LdapUserCredentialsConfig("svc_user", "svc_pass")),
+    None,
+    None
+  )
+
+  private def createLdapConfig(kerberosConfig: KerberosConfig): ActiveDirectoryLDAPConfig = {
+    ActiveDirectoryLDAPConfig(
+      domain = "example.com",
+      url = "ldaps://localhost:636",
+      searchFilter = "(sAMAccountName={0})",
+      order = 1,
+      serviceAccount = serviceAccount,
+      enableKerberos = Some(kerberosConfig),
+      ldapRetry = None,
+      attributes = None
+    )
+  }
+
+  private def clearKerberosProperties(): Unit = {
+    System.clearProperty("javax.net.debug")
+    System.clearProperty("sun.security.krb5.debug")
+    System.clearProperty("sun.security.krb5.rcache")
+    System.clearProperty("java.security.krb5.conf")
+  }
+
+  override def beforeEach(): Unit = {
+    clearKerberosProperties()
+  }
+
+  override def afterEach(): Unit = {
+    clearKerberosProperties()
+  }
+
+  // initialization tests
+  "KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider" should
+    "set debug system properties to false when debug is None" +
+      " and set java.security.krb5.conf when krbFileLocation is non-empty" +
+      " and always set sun.security.krb5.rcache to none" in {
+    val kerberosConfig = KerberosConfig("/etc/krb5.conf", "test.keytab", "HTTP/host@REALM", debug = None)
+    val ldapConfig = createLdapConfig(kerberosConfig)
+
+    new KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider(ldapConfig)
+
+    System.getProperty("javax.net.debug") shouldBe "false"
+    System.getProperty("sun.security.krb5.debug") shouldBe "false"
+    System.getProperty("java.security.krb5.conf") shouldBe "/etc/krb5.conf"
+    System.getProperty("sun.security.krb5.rcache") shouldBe "none"
+  }
+
+  it should "set debug system properties to false when debug is explicitly false" +
+    " and set java.security.krb5.conf when krbFileLocation is non-empty" +
+    " and always set sun.security.krb5.rcache to none" in {
+    val kerberosConfig = KerberosConfig("/etc/krb5.conf", "test.keytab", "HTTP/host@REALM", debug = Some(false))
+    val ldapConfig = createLdapConfig(kerberosConfig)
+
+    new KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider(ldapConfig)
+
+    System.getProperty("javax.net.debug") shouldBe "false"
+    System.getProperty("sun.security.krb5.debug") shouldBe "false"
+
+    System.getProperty("java.security.krb5.conf") shouldBe "/etc/krb5.conf"
+    System.getProperty("sun.security.krb5.rcache") shouldBe "none"
+  }
+
+  it should "set debug system properties to true when debug is explicitly true" +
+    " and set java.security.krb5.conf when krbFileLocation is non-empty" +
+    " and always set sun.security.krb5.rcache to none" in {
+    val kerberosConfig = KerberosConfig("/etc/krb5.conf", "test.keytab", "HTTP/host@REALM", debug = Some(true))
+    val ldapConfig = createLdapConfig(kerberosConfig)
+
+    new KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider(ldapConfig)
+
+    System.getProperty("javax.net.debug") shouldBe "true"
+    System.getProperty("sun.security.krb5.debug") shouldBe "true"
+
+    System.getProperty("java.security.krb5.conf") shouldBe "/etc/krb5.conf"
+    System.getProperty("sun.security.krb5.rcache") shouldBe "none"
+  }
+
+
+  it should "not set java.security.krb5.conf when krbFileLocation is empty" in {
+    val kerberosConfig = KerberosConfig("", "test.keytab", "HTTP/host@REALM", debug = None)
+    val ldapConfig = createLdapConfig(kerberosConfig)
+
+    new KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider(ldapConfig)
+
+    System.getProperty("java.security.krb5.conf") shouldBe null
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Uses reflection to access the private `debug` field of the SunJaasKerberosTicketValidator instance
+   */
+  private def getTicketValidatorDebug(validator: SunJaasKerberosTicketValidator): Boolean = {
+    val debugField = classOf[SunJaasKerberosTicketValidator].getDeclaredField("debug")
+    debugField.setAccessible(true)
+    debugField.getBoolean(validator)
+  }
+
+  it should "have ticketValidator debug set to false even when ldapConfig.kerberos.debug is None (default)" in {
+    val kerberosConfig = KerberosConfig("krb5.conf", "test.keytab", "HTTP/host@REALM", debug = None)
+    val ldapConfig = createLdapConfig(kerberosConfig)
+    val provider = new KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider(ldapConfig)
+
+    val validator = provider.sunJaasKerberosTicketValidator
+    getTicketValidatorDebug(validator) shouldBe false
+  }
+
+  it should "have ticketValidator debug set to false even when ldapConfig.kerberos.debug is explicitly false" in {
+    val kerberosConfig = KerberosConfig("krb5.conf", "test.keytab", "HTTP/host@REALM", debug = Some(false))
+    val ldapConfig = createLdapConfig(kerberosConfig)
+    val provider = new KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider(ldapConfig)
+
+    val validator = provider.sunJaasKerberosTicketValidator
+    getTicketValidatorDebug(validator) shouldBe false
+  }
+
+  it should "have ticketValidator debug set to true when ldapConfig.kerberos.debug is explicitly true" in {
+    val kerberosConfig = KerberosConfig("krb5.conf", "test.keytab", "HTTP/host@REALM", debug = Some(true))
+    val ldapConfig = createLdapConfig(kerberosConfig)
+    val provider = new KerberosSPNEGOAuthenticationProvider(ldapConfig)
+
+    val validator = provider.sunJaasKerberosTicketValidator
+    getTicketValidatorDebug(validator) shouldBe true
+  }
+}
+