diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7f05d90..8ad998c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## 0.16.2
+
+* Don't use MONO_ENV_OPTIONS to pass debug options by default, it causes issues when starting subprocesses: [Issue #68](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-mono-debug/issues/68)
+
 ## 0.16.1
 
 * Support debugging VB source files (.vb)
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index a25898d..9728a15 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
 	"name": "mono-debug",
-	"version": "0.16.1",
+	"version": "0.16.2",
 	"lockfileVersion": 1,
 	"requires": true,
 	"dependencies": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c827bac..3a56001 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
 	"name": "mono-debug",
 	"displayName": "Mono Debug",
-	"version": "0.16.1",
+	"version": "0.16.2",
 	"publisher": "ms-vscode",
 	"description": "Visual Studio Code debugger extension for Mono",
 	"icon": "images/mono-debug-icon.png",
@@ -179,6 +179,11 @@
 								},
 								"default": []
 							},
+							"passDebugOptionsViaEnvironmentVariable": {
+								"type": "boolean",
+								"description": "%mono.launch.passDebugOptionsViaEnvironmentVariable.description%",
+								"default": false
+							},
 							"env": {
 								"type": "object",
 								"description": "%mono.launch.env.description%",
diff --git a/package.nls.json b/package.nls.json
index bc86268..c03cc84 100644
--- a/package.nls.json
+++ b/package.nls.json
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 	"mono.launch.cwd.description": "Absolute path to the working directory of the program being debugged.",
 	"mono.launch.runtimeExecutable.description": "Absolute path to the runtime executable to be used. Default is the runtime executable on the PATH.",
 	"mono.launch.runtimeArgs.description": "Optional arguments passed to the runtime executable.",
+	"mono.launch.passDebugOptionsViaEnvironmentVariable.description": "Use the MONO_ENV_OPTIONS environment variable to pass the Mono debugger options when launching a program. This is useful if you're embedding Mono in a custom executable.",
 	"mono.launch.env.description": "Environment variables passed to the program.",
 	"mono.launch.externalConsole.deprecationMessage": "Attribute 'externalConsole' is deprecated, use 'console' instead.",
 	"mono.launch.console.description": "Where to launch the debug target.",
diff --git a/src/csharp/MonoDebugSession.cs b/src/csharp/MonoDebugSession.cs
index c15b313..57f451c 100644
--- a/src/csharp/MonoDebugSession.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/MonoDebugSession.cs
@@ -259,10 +259,18 @@ namespace VSCodeDebug
 			bool debug = !getBool(args, "noDebug", false);
 			
 			if (debug) {
-				if (!env.ContainsKey("MONO_ENV_OPTIONS"))
-					env["MONO_ENV_OPTIONS"] = $" --debug --debugger-agent=transport=dt_socket,server=y,address={host}:{port}";
-				else
-					env["MONO_ENV_OPTIONS"] = $" --debug --debugger-agent=transport=dt_socket,server=y,address={host}:{port} " + env["MONO_ENV_OPTIONS"];
+				bool passDebugOptionsViaEnvironmentVariable = getBool(args, "passDebugOptionsViaEnvironmentVariable", false);
+
+				if (passDebugOptionsViaEnvironmentVariable) {
+					if (!env.ContainsKey("MONO_ENV_OPTIONS"))
+						env["MONO_ENV_OPTIONS"] = $" --debug --debugger-agent=transport=dt_socket,server=y,address={host}:{port}";
+					else
+						env["MONO_ENV_OPTIONS"] = $" --debug --debugger-agent=transport=dt_socket,server=y,address={host}:{port} " + env["MONO_ENV_OPTIONS"];
+				}
+				else {
+					cmdLine.Add("--debug");
+					cmdLine.Add($"--debugger-agent=transport=dt_socket,server=y,address={host}:{port}");
+				}
 			}
 			
 			if (env.Count == 0) {