diff --git a/vtkm/internal/Configure.h.in b/vtkm/internal/Configure.h.in
index 58c73adf8..c2ae0069d 100644
--- a/vtkm/internal/Configure.h.in
+++ b/vtkm/internal/Configure.h.in
@@ -189,7 +189,8 @@
 #define VTKM_VECTORIZATION_PRE_LOOP \
   _Pragma("clang loop vectorize(enable) interleave(enable)")
 #define VTKM_VECTORIZATION_IN_LOOP
-#elif defined(VTKM_ICC)
+#elif defined(VTKM_ICC) && defined(NDEBUG)
+//icc can't do vectorization in debug builds
 //icc needs pre and in loop
 #define VTKM_VECTORIZATION_PRE_LOOP \
   _Pragma("simd")