diff --git a/Rules.mak b/Rules.mak
index bcbed17a2..98ed96543 100644
--- a/Rules.mak
+++ b/Rules.mak
@@ -196,6 +196,14 @@ else
     LDFLAGS += $(call check_ld,--warn-common,)
     LDFLAGS += $(call check_ld,--sort-common,)
 endif
+# warn a bit more verbosely for non-release versions
+ifneq ($(EXTRAVERSION),)
+    CFLAGS+=$(call check_gcc,-Wformat,)
+    CFLAGS+=$(call check_gcc,-Wformat=2,)
+    CFLAGS+=$(call check_gcc,-Wformat-nonliteral,)
+    CFLAGS+=$(call check_gcc,-Wformat-security,)
+    CFLAGS+=$(call check_gcc,-Wformat-y2k,)
+endif
 STRIPCMD:=$(STRIP) -s --remove-section=.note --remove-section=.comment
 ifeq ($(strip $(CONFIG_STATIC)),y)
     PROG_CFLAGS += $(call check_gcc,-static,)