diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 0202ccb..663a2fd 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@
     "symfony/console": "~4.2",
     "psr/log": "~1.1"
   },
+  "suggest": {
+    "ext-xdebug": "*"
+  },
   "require-dev": {
     "phpunit/phpunit": "7.5.*"
   },
diff --git a/src/Console/Commands/BuiltInWebServer.php b/src/Console/Commands/BuiltInWebServer.php
index b9d68df..442ea39 100644
--- a/src/Console/Commands/BuiltInWebServer.php
+++ b/src/Console/Commands/BuiltInWebServer.php
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@ protected function _runCommand($command)
     {
       // Use bash to execute if available,
       // enables CTRL+C to also kill spawned process (cygwin issue)
-      $command = "bash -c '$command'";
+      $command = addcslashes($command, "'");
+      $command = "bash -c $'$command'";
     }
     $method($command, $exitCode);
     return $exitCode;
@@ -143,14 +144,43 @@ protected function _buildCommand(OutputInterface $output)
     $output->write($this->host === '0.0.0.0' ? '127.0.0.1' : $this->host);
     $output->writeln(':' . $this->port);
 
-    $phpCommand = 'php';
+    $phpCommand = PHP_BINARY;
     if($this->debug)
     {
-      $phpCommand .= ' -d zend_extension=xdebug.so';
-      $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.remote_enable=1';
-      $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.remote_autostart=1';
-      $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.remote_connect_back=1';
-      $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.idekey=' . $this->debugIdeKey;
+      // check for xdebug, this must be checked in a new process in case this was launched with different options
+      $xdebugLoaded = $this->_runCommand($phpCommand . ' -r "exit(extension_loaded(\'xdebug\')?0:1);"');
+      if($xdebugLoaded !== 0)
+      {
+        $ext = ' -d zend_extension=xdebug';
+        $xdebugLoaded = $this->_runCommand($phpCommand . $ext . ' -r "exit(extension_loaded(\'xdebug\')?0:1);"');
+        if($xdebugLoaded === 0)
+        {
+          $phpCommand .= $ext;
+        }
+      }
+      if($xdebugLoaded === 0)
+      {
+        $v3 = $this->_runCommand(
+          $phpCommand . ' -r "exit(version_compare(phpversion(\'xdebug\'), \'3.0.0\', \'>=\')?0:1);"'
+        );
+        if($v3 === 0)
+        {
+          $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.mode=debug';
+          $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.start_with_request=1';
+          $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.discover_client_host=1';
+        }
+        else
+        {
+          $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.remote_enable=1';
+          $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.remote_autostart=1';
+          $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.remote_connect_back=1';
+        }
+        $phpCommand .= ' -d xdebug.idekey=' . $this->debugIdeKey;
+      }
+      else
+      {
+        $output->writeln(['', "\tXDebug extension not installed", ""]);
+      }
     }
 
     $projectRoot = trim($this->getContext()->getProjectRoot());
diff --git a/tests/Console/Commands/BuiltInWebServerTest.php b/tests/Console/Commands/BuiltInWebServerTest.php
index 999c2b4..dc42e71 100644
--- a/tests/Console/Commands/BuiltInWebServerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Console/Commands/BuiltInWebServerTest.php
@@ -36,8 +36,9 @@ public function testCommand(array $options, $passthru, $negate = false)
 
   public function optionsProvider()
   {
-    $pre = 'Raw Command: php ';
-    $debugCommand = '-d zend_extension=xdebug.so -d xdebug.remote_enable=1 -d xdebug.remote_autostart=1 -d xdebug.remote_connect_back=1 -d xdebug.idekey=';
+    $debugCommand = '-d xdebug.mode=debug -d xdebug.start_with_request=1 -d xdebug.discover_client_host=1 -d xdebug.idekey=';
+    $pre = 'Raw Command: ' . PHP_BINARY . ' ';
+
     return [
       [[], $pre . '-S 127.0.0.1:8888 -t public/index.php'],
       [[], '|__'],
@@ -46,8 +47,8 @@ public function optionsProvider()
       [['--host' => '0.0.0.0'], $pre . '-S 0.0.0.0:8888 -t public/index.php'],
       [['-c' => 'framework'], $pre . '-S framework.cubex-local.com:8888 -t public/index.php'],
       [['--router' => 'index.exec'], $pre . '-S 127.0.0.1:8888 -t index.exec'],
-      [['-d' => true], $pre . $debugCommand . 'PHPSTORM -S 0.0.0.0:8888 -t public/index.php'],
-      [['-d' => true, '-idekey' => 'TEST'], $pre . $debugCommand . 'TEST -S 0.0.0.0:8888 -t public/index.php'],
+      [['-d' => true], $debugCommand . 'PHPSTORM -S 0.0.0.0:8888 -t public/index.php'],
+      [['-d' => true, '-idekey' => 'TEST'], $debugCommand . 'TEST -S 0.0.0.0:8888 -t public/index.php'],
     ];
   }