diff --git a/include/osg/Notify b/include/osg/Notify
index 46fca135d..194c268a0 100644
--- a/include/osg/Notify
+++ b/include/osg/Notify
@@ -75,6 +75,15 @@ extern OSG_EXPORT std::ostream& notify(const NotifySeverity severity);
 
 inline std::ostream& notify(void) { return notify(osg::INFO); }
 
+#define NOTIFY(level) if (level>isNotifyEnabled(level)) osg::notify(level)
+
+#if _DEBUG
+    #define DEBUG_NOTIFY(level) if (level>isNotifyEnabled(level)) osg::notify(level)
+#else
+    // when using an optimized build use if (false) to tell the compiler to ignore the rest of the notify.
+    #define DEBUG_NOTIFY(level) if (false) osg::notify(level)
+#endif
+
 /** Handler processing output of notification stream. It acts as a sink to 
   * notification messages. It is called when notification stream needs to be 
   * synchronized (i.e. after osg::notify() << std::endl).