diff --git a/kpatch-build/create-diff-object.c b/kpatch-build/create-diff-object.c
index 9db01f5..99c528a 100644
--- a/kpatch-build/create-diff-object.c
+++ b/kpatch-build/create-diff-object.c
@@ -1266,6 +1266,33 @@ void kpatch_regenerate_special_section(struct special_section *special,
 	sec->base->data->d_size = dest_offset;
 }
 
+void kpatch_include_debug_sections(struct kpatch_elf *kelf)
+{
+	struct section *sec;
+	struct rela *rela, *saferela;
+
+	/* include all .debug_* sections */
+	list_for_each_entry(sec, &kelf->sections, list) {
+		if (!strncmp(sec->name, ".debug_", 7)) {
+			sec->include = 1;
+			if (sec->rela)
+				sec->rela->include = 1;
+			sec->secsym->include = 1;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Go through the .rela.debug_ sections and strip entries
+	 * referencing unchanged symbols
+	 */
+	list_for_each_entry(sec, &kelf->sections, list) {
+		if (strncmp(sec->name, ".rela.debug_", 12))
+			continue;
+		list_for_each_entry_safe(rela, saferela, &sec->relas, list)
+			if (!rela->sym->sec->include)
+				list_del(&rela->list);
+	}
+}
 
 void kpatch_process_special_sections(struct kpatch_elf *kelf)
 {
@@ -2098,6 +2125,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	kpatch_include_standard_elements(kelf_patched);
 	num_changed = kpatch_include_changed_functions(kelf_patched);
+	kpatch_include_debug_sections(kelf_patched);
 	kpatch_dump_kelf(kelf_patched);
 	kpatch_verify_patchability(kelf_patched);
 
diff --git a/kpatch-build/kpatch-build b/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
index 7cea259..ba0cc60 100755
--- a/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
+++ b/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ ARCHVERSION="$(uname -r)"
 CPUS="$(grep -c ^processor /proc/cpuinfo)"
 CACHEDIR="$HOME/.kpatch"
 TEMPDIR=
-STRIPCMD="strip -d --keep-file-symbols"
 APPLIEDPATCHFILE="applied-patch"
 DEBUG=0
 
@@ -356,7 +355,6 @@ cp "$OBJDIR/.config" "$OBJDIR2" || die
 mkdir "$TEMPDIR/patched"
 for i in $(cat $TEMPDIR/changed_objs); do
 	KCFLAGS="-ffunction-sections -fdata-sections" make "$i" "O=$OBJDIR2" >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1 || die
-	$STRIPCMD "$OBJDIR2/$i" >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1 || die
 	mkdir -p "$TEMPDIR/patched/$(dirname $i)"
 	cp -f "$OBJDIR2/$i" "$TEMPDIR/patched/$i" || die
 done
@@ -366,7 +364,6 @@ mkdir "$TEMPDIR/orig"
 for i in $(cat $TEMPDIR/changed_objs); do
 	rm -f "$i"
 	KCFLAGS="-ffunction-sections -fdata-sections" make "$i" "O=$OBJDIR2" >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1 || die
-	$STRIPCMD -d "$OBJDIR2/$i" >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1 || die
 	mkdir -p "$TEMPDIR/orig/$(dirname $i)"
 	cp -f "$OBJDIR2/$i" "$TEMPDIR/orig/$i" || die
 done
@@ -404,7 +401,6 @@ cd "$TEMPDIR/output"
 ld -r -o ../patch/output.o $FILES >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1 || die
 cd "$TEMPDIR/patch"
 KPATCH_BUILD="$SRCDIR" KPATCH_NAME="$PATCHNAME" KBUILD_EXTRA_SYMBOLS="$SYMVERSFILE" make "O=$OBJDIR" >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1 || die
-$STRIPCMD "kpatch-$PATCHNAME.ko" >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1 || die
 
 cp -f "$TEMPDIR/patch/kpatch-$PATCHNAME.ko" "$BASE" || die