diff --git a/cuda_core/cuda/core/_program.pyx b/cuda_core/cuda/core/_program.pyx
index 7fb099b06d2..8cf8d1bb9e7 100644
--- a/cuda_core/cuda/core/_program.pyx
+++ b/cuda_core/cuda/core/_program.pyx
@@ -1233,7 +1233,7 @@ cdef inline object _prepare_nvvm_options_impl(object opts, bint as_bytes):
     if opts.debug is not None and opts.debug:
         options.append("-g")
     if opts.numba_debug:
-        options.append("--numba-debug")
+        options.append("-numba-debug")
     if opts.device_code_optimize is False:
         options.append("-opt=0")
     elif opts.device_code_optimize is True:
diff --git a/cuda_core/docs/source/release/1.2.0-notes.rst b/cuda_core/docs/source/release/1.2.0-notes.rst
index 120d2c2a253..1c706c68d07 100644
--- a/cuda_core/docs/source/release/1.2.0-notes.rst
+++ b/cuda_core/docs/source/release/1.2.0-notes.rst
@@ -73,6 +73,13 @@ Fixes and enhancements
   Windows, both ``ctypes.CFUNCTYPE`` and ``ctypes.WINFUNCTYPE`` are accepted.
   (`#2439 <https://github.com/NVIDIA/cuda-python/issues/2439>`__)
 
+- ``ProgramOptions(numba_debug=True)`` now works on the NVVM backend. The
+  option was emitted as ``--numba-debug``, and libNVVM accepts only the
+  single-dashed ``-numba-debug``, so every such compilation failed with
+  ``NVVM_ERROR_INVALID_OPTION``. The NVRTC backend, which tolerates both
+  spellings, was unaffected.
+  (`#2570 <https://github.com/NVIDIA/cuda-python/issues/2570>`__)
+
 Deprecation Notices
 -------------------
 
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/test_program.py b/cuda_core/tests/test_program.py
index 28465425c0e..c3c484ba413 100644
--- a/cuda_core/tests/test_program.py
+++ b/cuda_core/tests/test_program.py
@@ -93,12 +93,12 @@ def _check_nvvm_arch(arch: str) -> bool:
 
 
 def _check_nvvm_supports_numba_debug() -> bool:
-    """Check if the installed libNVVM recognizes --numba-debug (CTK 13.2+)."""
+    """Check if the installed libNVVM recognizes -numba-debug."""
     if not _has_check_nvvm_compiler_options():
         return False
     from cuda.bindings.utils import check_nvvm_compiler_options
 
-    return check_nvvm_compiler_options(["--numba-debug"])
+    return check_nvvm_compiler_options(["-numba-debug"])
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
@@ -762,18 +762,19 @@ def test_program_options_as_bytes_nvvm_unsupported_option():
 
 @nvvm_available
 def test_nvvm_program_options_as_bytes_numba_debug():
-    """numba_debug must be plumbed through to libNVVM as --numba-debug
-    (see #1287)."""
+    """numba_debug must be plumbed through to libNVVM as -numba-debug
+    (see #1287). libNVVM rejects the double-dashed form of every option."""
     options = ProgramOptions(arch="sm_80", debug=True, numba_debug=True)
     nvvm_bytes = options.as_bytes("nvvm")
-    assert b"--numba-debug" in nvvm_bytes
+    assert b"-numba-debug" in nvvm_bytes
+    assert b"--numba-debug" not in nvvm_bytes
     assert b"-g" in nvvm_bytes
 
 
 @nvvm_available
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
     not _check_nvvm_supports_numba_debug(),
-    reason="installed libNVVM does not recognize --numba-debug (needs CTK 13.2+)",
+    reason="installed libNVVM does not recognize -numba-debug",
 )
 def test_nvvm_program_numba_debug(init_cuda, nvvm_ir):
     options = ProgramOptions(arch="sm_80", debug=True, numba_debug=True)