diff --git a/engine/runtime-instrument-repl-debugger/src/main/java/org/enso/interpreter/instrument/ReplDebuggerInstrument.java b/engine/runtime-instrument-repl-debugger/src/main/java/org/enso/interpreter/instrument/ReplDebuggerInstrument.java
index db975549ed9a..25cb501ccf7e 100644
--- a/engine/runtime-instrument-repl-debugger/src/main/java/org/enso/interpreter/instrument/ReplDebuggerInstrument.java
+++ b/engine/runtime-instrument-repl-debugger/src/main/java/org/enso/interpreter/instrument/ReplDebuggerInstrument.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
+import org.enso.interpreter.node.expression.builtin.debug.DebugBreakpointNode;
 import org.enso.interpreter.node.expression.builtin.text.util.ToJavaStringNode;
 import org.enso.interpreter.node.expression.debug.CaptureResultScopeNode;
 import org.enso.interpreter.node.expression.debug.EvalNode;
@@ -38,8 +39,6 @@
 /** The Instrument implementation for the interactive debugger REPL. */
 @TruffleInstrument.Registration(id = DebugServerInfo.INSTRUMENT_NAME)
 public class ReplDebuggerInstrument extends TruffleInstrument {
-  private Env env;
-
   /**
    * Called by Truffle when this instrument is installed.
    *
@@ -49,7 +48,6 @@ public class ReplDebuggerInstrument extends TruffleInstrument {
   protected void onCreate(Env env) {
     SourceSectionFilter filter =
         SourceSectionFilter.newBuilder().tagIs(DebuggerTags.AlwaysHalt.class).build();
-    this.env = env;
 
     DebuggerMessageHandler handler = new DebuggerMessageHandler();
     try {
@@ -60,8 +58,10 @@ protected void onCreate(Env env) {
         instrumenter.attachExecutionEventFactory(
             filter,
             ctx ->
-                new ReplExecutionEventNodeImpl(
-                    ctx, handler, env.getLogger(ReplExecutionEventNodeImpl.class)));
+                ctx.getInstrumentedNode() instanceof DebugBreakpointNode
+                    ? new ReplExecutionEventNodeImpl(
+                        ctx, handler, env.getLogger(ReplExecutionEventNodeImpl.class))
+                    : null);
       } else {
         env.getLogger(ReplDebuggerInstrument.class)
             .warning("ReplDebuggerInstrument was initialized, " + "but no client connected");
diff --git a/test/Tests/src/Semantic/Js_Interop_Spec.enso b/test/Tests/src/Semantic/Js_Interop_Spec.enso
index 1a200129519e..2d80904ca8ed 100644
--- a/test/Tests/src/Semantic/Js_Interop_Spec.enso
+++ b/test/Tests/src/Semantic/Js_Interop_Spec.enso
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ import Standard.Test
 foreign js my_method a b = """
     return a + b;
 
+foreign js debug = """
+    debugger;
+
 type My_Type
     type My_Type a b
 
@@ -179,4 +182,7 @@ spec = Test.group "Polyglot JS" <|
         error = Error.throw 42
         here.my_method error 0 . should_fail_with Integer
 
+    Test.specify "allow use of JavaScript debugger statement" <|
+        here.debug
+
 main = Test.Suite.run_main here.spec