diff --git a/gyp/common_conditions.gypi b/gyp/common_conditions.gypi
index 9af0c19b7f..85f3e20376 100644
--- a/gyp/common_conditions.gypi
+++ b/gyp/common_conditions.gypi
@@ -674,12 +674,6 @@
       },
     }],
 
-    [ 'skia_build_server', {
-      'defines': [
-        'GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT=1',
-      ],
-    }],
-
   ], # end 'conditions'
   # The Xcode SYMROOT must be at the root. See build/common.gypi in chromium for more details
   'xcode_settings': {
diff --git a/include/gpu/GrConfig.h b/include/gpu/GrConfig.h
index 202887ee5d..4b6fe48cdb 100644
--- a/include/gpu/GrConfig.h
+++ b/include/gpu/GrConfig.h
@@ -185,15 +185,6 @@ typedef unsigned __int64 uint64_t;
     #endif
 #endif
 
-/**
- * Enable batch debugging output as json.  The enabler of this flag is responsible for making sure
- * GrAuditTrail is reset occasionally.
- * TODO make this runtime configurable
- */
-#if !defined(GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT)
-    #define GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT 0
-#endif
-
 /**
  * Set to 1 to enable pixel local storage path rendering on supported devices.
  */
diff --git a/include/private/GrAuditTrail.h b/include/private/GrAuditTrail.h
index 21236566b9..52a7c9031d 100644
--- a/include/private/GrAuditTrail.h
+++ b/include/private/GrAuditTrail.h
@@ -16,22 +16,29 @@
 /*
  * GrAuditTrail collects a list of draw ops, detailed information about those ops, and can dump them
  * to json.
+ *
+ * Capturing this information is expensive and consumes a lot of memory, therefore it is important
+ * to enable auditing only when required and disable it promptly. The AutoEnable class helps to 
+ * ensure that the audit trail is disabled in a timely fashion. Once the information has been dealt
+ * with, be sure to call reset(), or the log will simply keep growing.
  */
 class GrAuditTrail {
 public:
-    GrAuditTrail() : fUniqueID(0) {}
+    GrAuditTrail() 
+    : fEnabled(false)
+    , fUniqueID(0) {}
 
     class AutoFrame {
     public:
         AutoFrame(GrAuditTrail* auditTrail, const char* name)
             : fAuditTrail(auditTrail) {
-            if (GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT) {
+            if (fAuditTrail->fEnabled) {
                 fAuditTrail->pushFrame(name);
             }
         }
 
         ~AutoFrame() {
-            if (GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT) {
+            if (fAuditTrail->fEnabled) {
                 fAuditTrail->popFrame();
             }
         }
@@ -40,8 +47,25 @@ public:
         GrAuditTrail* fAuditTrail;
     };
 
+    class AutoEnable {
+    public:
+        AutoEnable(GrAuditTrail* auditTrail)
+            : fAuditTrail(auditTrail) {
+            SkASSERT(!fAuditTrail->isEnabled());
+            fAuditTrail->setEnabled(true);
+        }
+
+        ~AutoEnable() {
+            SkASSERT(fAuditTrail->isEnabled());
+            fAuditTrail->setEnabled(false);
+        }
+
+    private:
+        GrAuditTrail* fAuditTrail;
+    };
+
     void pushFrame(const char* name) {
-        SkASSERT(GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT);
+        SkASSERT(fEnabled);
         Frame* frame = new Frame;
         if (fStack.empty()) {
             fFrames.emplace_back(frame);
@@ -55,12 +79,12 @@ public:
     }
 
     void popFrame() {
-        SkASSERT(GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT);
+        SkASSERT(fEnabled);
         fStack.pop_back();
     }
 
     void addBatch(const char* name, const SkRect& bounds) {
-        SkASSERT(GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT && !fStack.empty());
+        SkASSERT(fEnabled && !fStack.empty());
         Batch* batch = new Batch;
         fStack.back()->fChildren.emplace_back(batch);
         batch->fName = name;
@@ -69,7 +93,10 @@ public:
 
     SkString toJson(bool prettyPrint = false) const;
 
-    void reset() { SkASSERT(GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT && fStack.empty()); fFrames.reset(); }
+    bool isEnabled() { return fEnabled; }
+    void setEnabled(bool enabled) { fEnabled = enabled; }
+
+    void reset() { SkASSERT(fEnabled && fStack.empty()); fFrames.reset(); }
 
 private:
     // TODO if performance becomes an issue, we can move to using SkVarAlloc
@@ -95,23 +122,24 @@ private:
     static void JsonifyTArray(SkString* json, const char* name, const FrameArray& array,
                               bool addComma);
 
+    bool fEnabled;
     FrameArray fFrames;
     SkTArray<Frame*> fStack;
     uint64_t fUniqueID;
 };
 
-#define GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_INVOKE_GUARD(invoke, ...) \
-    if (GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT) {             \
-        invoke(__VA_ARGS__);                     \
+#define GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_INVOKE_GUARD(audit_trail, invoke, ...) \
+    if (audit_trail->isEnabled()) {                           \
+        audit_trail->invoke(__VA_ARGS__);                     \
     }
 
 #define GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_AUTO_FRAME(audit_trail, framename) \
     GrAuditTrail::AutoFrame SK_MACRO_APPEND_LINE(auto_frame)(audit_trail, framename);
 
 #define GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_RESET(audit_trail) \
-    GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_INVOKE_GUARD(audit_trail->reset);
+    GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_INVOKE_GUARD(audit_trail, reset);
 
 #define GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_ADDBATCH(audit_trail, batchname, bounds) \
-    GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_INVOKE_GUARD(audit_trail->addBatch, batchname, bounds);
+    GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_INVOKE_GUARD(audit_trail, addBatch, batchname, bounds);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/gpu/SkGpuDevice.cpp b/src/gpu/SkGpuDevice.cpp
index df5c7a73a1..0b44a4281a 100644
--- a/src/gpu/SkGpuDevice.cpp
+++ b/src/gpu/SkGpuDevice.cpp
@@ -1761,13 +1761,6 @@ bool SkGpuDevice::onShouldDisableLCD(const SkPaint& paint) const {
 void SkGpuDevice::flush() {
     ASSERT_SINGLE_OWNER
 
-    // Clear batch debugging output
-    // TODO not exactly sure where this should live
-    if (GR_BATCH_DEBUGGING_OUTPUT) {
-        SkDebugf("%s\n", fContext->getAuditTrail()->toJson().c_str());
-        // TODO This currently crashes because not all ops are accounted for
-        GR_AUDIT_TRAIL_RESET(fContext->getAuditTrail());
-    }
     fRenderTarget->prepareForExternalIO();
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/debugger/SkDrawCommand.cpp b/tools/debugger/SkDrawCommand.cpp
index b46e4925a3..5ca725088a 100644
--- a/tools/debugger/SkDrawCommand.cpp
+++ b/tools/debugger/SkDrawCommand.cpp
@@ -236,8 +236,9 @@ Json::Value SkDrawCommand::drawToAndCollectJSON(SkCanvas* canvas,
     if (rt) {
         GrContext* ctx = rt->getContext();
         if(ctx) {
-            this->execute(canvas);
             GrAuditTrail* at = ctx->getAuditTrail();
+            GrAuditTrail::AutoEnable enable(at);
+            this->execute(canvas);
 
             // TODO if this is inefficient we could add a method to GrAuditTrail which takes
             // a Json::Value and is only compiled in this file