diff --git a/base/boot.jl b/base/boot.jl
index 16820aa070369..4a59bf6279d63 100644
--- a/base/boot.jl
+++ b/base/boot.jl
@@ -488,6 +488,8 @@ eval(Core, quote
     MethodMatch(@nospecialize(spec_types), sparams::SimpleVector, method::Method, fully_covers::Bool) = $(Expr(:new, :MethodMatch, :spec_types, :sparams, :method, :fully_covers))
 end)
 
+const NullDebugInfo = DebugInfo(:none)
+
 struct LineInfoNode # legacy support for aiding Serializer.deserialize of old IR
     mod::Module
     method
diff --git a/src/jltypes.c b/src/jltypes.c
index 2ea432a7a5cc3..b6bba6d9dd7ce 100644
--- a/src/jltypes.c
+++ b/src/jltypes.c
@@ -3535,6 +3535,8 @@ static jl_value_t *core(const char *name)
     return jl_get_global(jl_core_module, jl_symbol(name));
 }
 
+jl_debuginfo_t *jl_nulldebuginfo;
+
 // fetch references to things defined in boot.jl
 void post_boot_hooks(void)
 {
@@ -3590,6 +3592,7 @@ void post_boot_hooks(void)
 
     jl_weakref_type = (jl_datatype_t*)core("WeakRef");
     jl_vecelement_typename = ((jl_datatype_t*)jl_unwrap_unionall(core("VecElement")))->name;
+    jl_nulldebuginfo = (jl_debuginfo_t*)core("NullDebugInfo");
 
     jl_init_box_caches();
 
diff --git a/src/julia_internal.h b/src/julia_internal.h
index 15090ee319a6e..900591fa206a7 100644
--- a/src/julia_internal.h
+++ b/src/julia_internal.h
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@ extern JL_DLLIMPORT jl_methtable_t *jl_nonfunction_mt JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern jl_methtable_t *jl_kwcall_mt JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern JL_DLLEXPORT jl_method_t *jl_opaque_closure_method JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 extern JL_DLLEXPORT _Atomic(size_t) jl_world_counter;
+extern jl_debuginfo_t *jl_nulldebuginfo JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 
 typedef void (*tracer_cb)(jl_value_t *tracee);
 extern tracer_cb jl_newmeth_tracer;
diff --git a/src/staticdata.c b/src/staticdata.c
index a41d6b76586eb..980a1e69e77d8 100644
--- a/src/staticdata.c
+++ b/src/staticdata.c
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ extern "C" {
 // TODO: put WeakRefs on the weak_refs list during deserialization
 // TODO: handle finalizers
 
-#define NUM_TAGS    189
+#define NUM_TAGS    190
 
 // An array of references that need to be restored from the sysimg
 // This is a manually constructed dual of the gvars array, which would be produced by codegen for Julia code, for C.
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ jl_value_t **const*const get_tags(void) {
         INSERT_TAG(jl_kwcall_mt);
         INSERT_TAG(jl_kwcall_func);
         INSERT_TAG(jl_opaque_closure_method);
+        INSERT_TAG(jl_nulldebuginfo);
 
         // some Core.Builtin Functions that we want to be able to reference:
         INSERT_TAG(jl_builtin_throw);
@@ -2352,7 +2353,19 @@ static void jl_prune_type_cache_linear(jl_svec_t *cache)
         jl_svecset(cache, ins++, jl_nothing);
 }
 
-static jl_value_t *strip_codeinfo_meta(jl_method_t *m, jl_value_t *ci_, jl_code_instance_t *codeinst, int orig)
+static void strip_slotnames(jl_array_t *slotnames)
+{
+    // replace slot names with `?`, except unused_sym since the compiler looks at it
+    jl_sym_t *questionsym = jl_symbol("?");
+    int i, l = jl_array_len(slotnames);
+    for (i = 0; i < l; i++) {
+        jl_value_t *s = jl_array_ptr_ref(slotnames, i);
+        if (s != (jl_value_t*)jl_unused_sym)
+            jl_array_ptr_set(slotnames, i, questionsym);
+    }
+}
+
+static jl_value_t *strip_codeinfo_meta(jl_method_t *m, jl_value_t *ci_, jl_code_instance_t *codeinst)
 {
     jl_code_info_t *ci = NULL;
     JL_GC_PUSH1(&ci);
@@ -2364,18 +2377,9 @@ static jl_value_t *strip_codeinfo_meta(jl_method_t *m, jl_value_t *ci_, jl_code_
     else {
         ci = (jl_code_info_t*)ci_;
     }
-    // replace slot names with `?`, except unused_sym since the compiler looks at it
-    jl_sym_t *questionsym = jl_symbol("?");
-    int i, l = jl_array_len(ci->slotnames);
-    for (i = 0; i < l; i++) {
-        jl_value_t *s = jl_array_ptr_ref(ci->slotnames, i);
-        if (s != (jl_value_t*)jl_unused_sym)
-            jl_array_ptr_set(ci->slotnames, i, questionsym);
-    }
-    if (orig) {
-        m->slot_syms = jl_compress_argnames(ci->slotnames);
-        jl_gc_wb(m, m->slot_syms);
-    }
+    strip_slotnames(ci->slotnames);
+    ci->debuginfo = jl_nulldebuginfo;
+    jl_gc_wb(ci, ci->debuginfo);
     jl_value_t *ret = (jl_value_t*)ci;
     if (compressed)
         ret = (jl_value_t*)jl_compress_ir(m, ci);
@@ -2394,12 +2398,14 @@ static void strip_specializations_(jl_method_instance_t *mi)
                 record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&codeinst->inferred, jl_nothing);
             }
             else if (jl_options.strip_metadata) {
-                jl_value_t *stripped = strip_codeinfo_meta(mi->def.method, inferred, codeinst, 0);
+                jl_value_t *stripped = strip_codeinfo_meta(mi->def.method, inferred, codeinst);
                 if (jl_atomic_cmpswap_relaxed(&codeinst->inferred, &inferred, stripped)) {
                     jl_gc_wb(codeinst, stripped);
                 }
             }
         }
+        if (jl_options.strip_metadata)
+            record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&codeinst->debuginfo, (jl_value_t*)jl_nulldebuginfo);
         codeinst = jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&codeinst->next);
     }
     if (jl_options.strip_ir) {
@@ -2414,31 +2420,45 @@ static int strip_all_codeinfos__(jl_typemap_entry_t *def, void *_env)
     if (m->source) {
         int stripped_ir = 0;
         if (jl_options.strip_ir) {
-            if (jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&m->unspecialized)) {
-                jl_code_instance_t *unspec = jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&m->unspecialized)->cache);
-                if (unspec && jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&unspec->invoke)) {
-                    // we have a generic compiled version, so can remove the IR
-                    record_field_change(&m->source, jl_nothing);
-                    stripped_ir = 1;
+            int should_strip_ir = 0;
+            if (!should_strip_ir) {
+                if (jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&m->unspecialized)) {
+                    jl_code_instance_t *unspec = jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&m->unspecialized)->cache);
+                    if (unspec && jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&unspec->invoke)) {
+                        // we have a generic compiled version, so can remove the IR
+                        should_strip_ir = 1;
+                    }
                 }
             }
-            if (!stripped_ir) {
+            if (!should_strip_ir) {
                 int mod_setting = jl_get_module_compile(m->module);
-                // if the method is declared not to be compiled, keep IR for interpreter
                 if (!(mod_setting == JL_OPTIONS_COMPILE_OFF || mod_setting == JL_OPTIONS_COMPILE_MIN)) {
-                    record_field_change(&m->source, jl_nothing);
-                    stripped_ir = 1;
+                    // if the method is declared not to be compiled, keep IR for interpreter
+                    should_strip_ir = 1;
                 }
             }
+            if (should_strip_ir) {
+                record_field_change(&m->source, jl_nothing);
+                stripped_ir = 1;
+            }
         }
-        if (jl_options.strip_metadata && !stripped_ir) {
-            m->source = strip_codeinfo_meta(m, m->source, NULL, 1);
-            jl_gc_wb(m, m->source);
+        if (jl_options.strip_metadata) {
+            if (!stripped_ir) {
+                m->source = strip_codeinfo_meta(m, m->source, NULL);
+                jl_gc_wb(m, m->source);
+            }
+            jl_array_t *slotnames = jl_uncompress_argnames(m->slot_syms);
+            JL_GC_PUSH1(&slotnames);
+            strip_slotnames(slotnames);
+            m->slot_syms = jl_compress_argnames(slotnames);
+            jl_gc_wb(m, m->slot_syms);
+            JL_GC_POP();
         }
     }
     if (jl_options.strip_metadata) {
         record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&m->file, (jl_value_t*)jl_empty_sym);
         m->line = 0;
+        record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&m->debuginfo, (jl_value_t*)jl_nulldebuginfo);
     }
     jl_value_t *specializations = jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&m->specializations);
     if (!jl_is_svec(specializations)) {
diff --git a/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl b/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
index 3f38708e8bb1e..c9cb1edea4b6b 100644
--- a/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
@@ -1288,7 +1288,7 @@ function deserialize(s::AbstractSerializer, ::Type{CodeInfo})
     return ci
 end
 
-const NullDebugInfo = DebugInfo(:none)
+import Core: NullDebugInfo
 
 if Int === Int64
 const OtherInt = Int32