diff --git a/packages/autocomplete-core/src/__tests__/checkOptions.test.ts b/packages/autocomplete-core/src/__tests__/checkOptions.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ebad1a1a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/autocomplete-core/src/__tests__/checkOptions.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { createAutocomplete } from '../createAutocomplete';
+
+describe('Validate options', () => {
+  test('debug option warns about development usage', () => {
+    expect(() => {
+      createAutocomplete({ debug: true });
+    }).toWarnDev(
+      '[Autocomplete] The `debug` option is meant for development debugging and should not be used in production.'
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/autocomplete-core/src/checkOptions.ts b/packages/autocomplete-core/src/checkOptions.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a647f93ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/autocomplete-core/src/checkOptions.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { warn } from '@algolia/autocomplete-shared';
+
+import { AutocompleteOptions } from './types';
+
+export function checkOptions<TItem>(option: AutocompleteOptions<TItem>) {
+  warn(
+    !option.debug,
+    'The `debug` option is meant for development debugging and should not be used in production.'
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/autocomplete-core/src/createAutocomplete.ts b/packages/autocomplete-core/src/createAutocomplete.ts
index 99a3c1b83..46d61cd32 100644
--- a/packages/autocomplete-core/src/createAutocomplete.ts
+++ b/packages/autocomplete-core/src/createAutocomplete.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { checkOptions } from './checkOptions';
 import { createStore } from './createStore';
 import { getAutocompleteSetters } from './getAutocompleteSetters';
 import { getDefaultProps } from './getDefaultProps';
@@ -14,6 +15,8 @@ export function createAutocomplete<
 >(
   options: AutocompleteOptions<TItem>
 ): AutocompleteApi<TItem, TEvent, TMouseEvent, TKeyboardEvent> {
+  checkOptions(options);
+
   const props = getDefaultProps(options);
   const store = createStore(stateReducer, props);