diff --git a/node.c b/node.c
index 1741a13..2ffc713 100644
--- a/node.c
+++ b/node.c
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ r_force_number(NODE *n)
 	if ((n->flags & NUMCUR) != 0)
 		return n;
 
+	fprintf(stderr,
+		"debug: r_force_number(%s) started with flags 0x%x (%s)\n",
+	        n->stptr, n->flags, flags2str(n->flags));
+
 	/* all the conditionals are an attempt to avoid the expensive strtod */
 
 	/* Note: only set NUMCUR if we actually convert some digits */
@@ -154,6 +158,10 @@ finish:
 		n->numbr = 0;
 	}
 
+	fprintf(stderr,
+		"debug: r_force_number(%s) finished with flags 0x%x (%s)\n",
+	        n->stptr, n->flags, flags2str(n->flags));
+
 	return n;
 }