diff --git a/lib/Kconfig.debug b/lib/Kconfig.debug
index b06848a104e6940e128e63a5d3c8c7fb39ffaf8b..5655bd95919abc2810f5ac158fa290a261e81f9b 100644
--- a/lib/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/lib/Kconfig.debug
@@ -1450,6 +1450,7 @@ config RCU_CPU_STALL_TIMEOUT
 config RCU_TRACE
 	bool "Enable tracing for RCU"
 	depends on DEBUG_KERNEL
+	default y if TREE_RCU
 	select TRACE_CLOCK
 	help
 	  This option provides tracing in RCU which presents stats