diff --git a/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/debug-render-tree-factory.ts b/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/debug-render-tree-factory.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cac6fecf000
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/debug-render-tree-factory.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import type { DebugRenderTree } from '@glimmer/interfaces';
+
+/**
+ * The `DebugRenderTree` implementation is relatively heavy and is only needed
+ * when debug tooling (e.g. Ember Inspector) is in use. To allow the
+ * implementation to be tree-shaken out of production builds that never use
+ * it, the environment does not reference the implementation directly.
+ * Instead, an implementation is registered here:
+ *
+ * - in debug builds, eagerly (see `./environment`), preserving the existing
+ *   behavior of `EmberENV._DEBUG_RENDER_TREE` defaulting to on in
+ *   development; and
+ * - in production builds, as a side effect of importing
+ *   `@ember/debug/lib/capture-render-tree` (the entry point Ember Inspector
+ *   relies on), preserving the documented `EmberENV._DEBUG_RENDER_TREE`
+ *   production opt-in for apps that include that module.
+ *
+ * Production apps whose module graph never reaches `captureRenderTree` pay
+ * neither the bytes nor the runtime cost.
+ */
+let debugRenderTreeFactory: (() => DebugRenderTree<object>) | undefined;
+
+export function setDebugRenderTreeFactory(factory: () => DebugRenderTree<object>): void {
+  debugRenderTreeFactory = factory;
+}
+
+export function createDebugRenderTree(): DebugRenderTree<object> | undefined {
+  return debugRenderTreeFactory?.();
+}
diff --git a/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/environment.ts b/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/environment.ts
index fc2d99f4f4d..6198040bd54 100644
--- a/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/environment.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import { DEBUG } from '@glimmer/env';
 import setGlobalContext from '@glimmer/global-context';
 import type { EnvironmentDelegate } from '@glimmer/runtime/lib/environment';
 import { debug } from '@glimmer/validator/lib/debug';
+import { createDebugRenderTree } from './debug-render-tree-factory';
+import { enableDebugRenderTree } from './setup-debug-render-tree';
 import toIterator from './utils/iterator';
 import { isHTMLSafe } from './utils/string';
 import toBool from './utils/to-bool';
@@ -125,8 +127,17 @@ const VM_ASSERTION_OVERRIDES: { id: string; message: string }[] = [];
 
 // Define environment delegate
 
+if (DEBUG) {
+  // In debug builds the render tree is always available (`_DEBUG_RENDER_TREE`
+  // defaults to on in development). In production builds this block is
+  // stripped, so the `DebugRenderTree` implementation is only included if
+  // something else imports it — notably `@ember/debug/lib/capture-render-tree`,
+  // which registers it for the `EmberENV._DEBUG_RENDER_TREE` opt-in.
+  enableDebugRenderTree();
+}
+
 export class EmberEnvironmentDelegate implements EnvironmentDelegate {
-  public enableDebugTooling: boolean = ENV._DEBUG_RENDER_TREE;
+  public debugRenderTree = ENV._DEBUG_RENDER_TREE ? createDebugRenderTree() : undefined;
 
   constructor(
     public owner: InternalOwner,
diff --git a/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/setup-debug-render-tree.ts b/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/setup-debug-render-tree.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3cb9e61ba70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/setup-debug-render-tree.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import DebugRenderTreeImpl from '@glimmer/runtime/lib/debug-render-tree';
+
+import { setDebugRenderTreeFactory } from './debug-render-tree-factory';
+
+/**
+ * Registers the real `DebugRenderTree` implementation so that renderers
+ * created afterwards will record the render tree (when
+ * `EmberENV._DEBUG_RENDER_TREE` is enabled).
+ *
+ * Importing this module is what causes the `DebugRenderTree` implementation
+ * to be included in a build; see `./debug-render-tree-factory`.
+ */
+export function enableDebugRenderTree(): void {
+  setDebugRenderTreeFactory(() => new DebugRenderTreeImpl());
+}
diff --git a/packages/@ember/debug/lib/capture-render-tree.ts b/packages/@ember/debug/lib/capture-render-tree.ts
index 03c5cd4b3fa..46092b80ddf 100644
--- a/packages/@ember/debug/lib/capture-render-tree.ts
+++ b/packages/@ember/debug/lib/capture-render-tree.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,15 @@
+import { enableDebugRenderTree } from '@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/setup-debug-render-tree';
 import type { Renderer } from '@ember/-internals/glimmer/lib/renderer';
 import type Owner from '@ember/owner';
 import type { CapturedRenderNode } from '@glimmer/interfaces';
 
+// Register the DebugRenderTree implementation as a side effect of importing
+// this module. This is what makes `EmberENV._DEBUG_RENDER_TREE` work in
+// production builds: any build that includes `captureRenderTree` (e.g. for
+// Ember Inspector) also includes the render tree bookkeeping, while builds
+// that never import it can tree-shake the implementation away entirely.
+enableDebugRenderTree();
+
 /**
   @module @ember/debug
 */
diff --git a/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/lib/base-env.ts b/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/lib/base-env.ts
index 24dc0280253..41412070345 100644
--- a/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/lib/base-env.ts
+++ b/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/lib/base-env.ts
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ export function scheduleDidDestroy(fn: () => void) {
 export const BaseEnv: EnvironmentDelegate = {
   isInteractive: true,
 
-  enableDebugTooling: false,
-
   onTransactionCommit() {
     for (const { destroyable, destructor } of scheduled) {
       destructor(destroyable);
diff --git a/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/test/debug-render-tree-test.ts b/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/test/debug-render-tree-test.ts
index 90d4bb8bbd6..bc9d31b9b3f 100644
--- a/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/test/debug-render-tree-test.ts
+++ b/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/test/debug-render-tree-test.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import { expect } from '@glimmer/debug-util';
 import { DEBUG } from '@glimmer/env';
 import { modifierCapabilities, setComponentTemplate, setModifierManager } from '@glimmer/manager';
 import { EMPTY_ARGS, templateOnlyComponent, TemplateOnlyComponentManager } from '@glimmer/runtime';
-import { assign } from '@glimmer/util';
+import DebugRenderTreeImpl from '@glimmer/runtime/lib/debug-render-tree';
 import {
   BaseEnv,
   createTemplate,
@@ -906,7 +906,14 @@ class DebugRenderTreeTest extends RenderTest {
 }
 
 suite(DebugRenderTreeTest, DebugRenderTreeDelegate, {
-  env: assign({}, BaseEnv, {
-    enableDebugTooling: true,
-  }),
+  env: {
+    ...BaseEnv,
+    // A fresh DebugRenderTree per environment, mirroring what
+    // `EmberEnvironmentDelegate` does when debug tooling is enabled.
+    // (Declared as a getter in the literal so each environment gets its
+    // own instance; `assign` would eagerly evaluate it.)
+    get debugRenderTree() {
+      return new DebugRenderTreeImpl();
+    },
+  },
 });
diff --git a/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/test/env-test.ts b/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/test/env-test.ts
index 674843170d8..b2bded1b912 100644
--- a/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/test/env-test.ts
+++ b/packages/@glimmer-workspace/integration-tests/test/env-test.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ if (DEBUG) {
       {
         onTransactionCommit() {},
         isInteractive: true,
-        enableDebugTooling: false,
       }
     );
     env.begin();
@@ -28,7 +27,6 @@ QUnit.test('ensure commit cleans up when it can', (assert) => {
     {
       onTransactionCommit() {},
       isInteractive: true,
-      enableDebugTooling: false,
     }
   );
   env.begin();
diff --git a/packages/@glimmer/runtime/lib/environment.ts b/packages/@glimmer/runtime/lib/environment.ts
index bafbefe2f82..dd26f3cff5c 100644
--- a/packages/@glimmer/runtime/lib/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/@glimmer/runtime/lib/environment.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { DEBUG } from '@glimmer/env';
 import type {
   ClassicResolver,
   ComponentInstanceWithCreate,
+  DebugRenderTree,
   Environment,
   EnvironmentOptions,
   GlimmerTreeChanges,
@@ -19,7 +20,6 @@ import { ProgramImpl } from '@glimmer/program/lib/program';
 import { track } from '@glimmer/validator/lib/tracking';
 import { UPDATE_TAG as updateTag } from '@glimmer/validator/lib/validators';
 
-import DebugRenderTree from './debug-render-tree';
 import { DOMChangesImpl, DOMTreeConstruction } from './dom/helper';
 import { isArgumentError } from './vm/arguments';
 
@@ -107,15 +107,15 @@ export class EnvironmentImpl implements Environment {
 
   // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
   isArgumentCaptureError: ((error: any) => boolean) | undefined;
-  debugRenderTree: DebugRenderTree<object> | undefined;
+  debugRenderTree: DebugRenderTree | undefined;
 
   constructor(
     options: EnvironmentOptions,
     private delegate: EnvironmentDelegate
   ) {
     this.isInteractive = delegate.isInteractive;
-    this.debugRenderTree = this.delegate.enableDebugTooling ? new DebugRenderTree() : undefined;
-    this.isArgumentCaptureError = this.delegate.enableDebugTooling ? isArgumentError : undefined;
+    this.debugRenderTree = this.delegate.debugRenderTree;
+    this.isArgumentCaptureError = this.debugRenderTree ? isArgumentError : undefined;
     if (options.appendOperations) {
       this.appendOperations = options.appendOperations;
       this.updateOperations = options.updateOperations;
@@ -192,9 +192,14 @@ export interface EnvironmentDelegate {
   isInteractive: boolean;
 
   /**
-   * Used to enable debug tooling
+   * When provided, the environment will perform the extra bookkeeping needed
+   * to power debug tooling (e.g. Ember Inspector's render tree).
+   *
+   * This is provided by the delegate (rather than constructed by the
+   * environment) so that the `DebugRenderTree` implementation can be
+   * tree-shaken out of builds that do not use it.
    */
-  enableDebugTooling: boolean;
+  debugRenderTree?: DebugRenderTree | undefined;
 
   /**
    * Callback to be called when an environment transaction commits