diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/globals.h b/compiler/cpp/src/globals.h
index 957e5d1..cf924f1 100644
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/globals.h
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/globals.h
@@ -121,7 +121,8 @@
   INVALID = 0,
   STILL_CANDIDATE = 1,      // the text may or may not be the program doctext
   ALREADY_PROCESSED = 2,    // doctext has been used and is no longer available
-  ABSOLUTELY_SURE = 3       // this is the program doctext
+  ABSOLUTELY_SURE = 3,      // this is the program doctext
+  NO_PROGRAM_DOCTEXT = 4    // there is no program doctext
 };
 
 
diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/logging.h b/compiler/cpp/src/logging.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..097469d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/logging.h
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+#ifndef T_LOGGING_H
+#define T_LOGGING_H
+
+#include <string>
+
+/**
+ * Parse debugging output, used to print helpful info
+ */
+void pdebug(const char* fmt, ...);
+
+/**
+ * Parser warning
+ */
+void pwarning(int level, const char* fmt, ...);
+
+/**
+ * Print verbose output message
+ */
+void pverbose(const char* fmt, ...);
+
+/**
+ * Failure!
+ */
+void failure(const char* fmt, ...);
+
+
+#endif
diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/main.cc b/compiler/cpp/src/main.cc
index bba4cdc..781db3b 100755
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/main.cc
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/main.cc
@@ -406,6 +406,7 @@
   }
   g_program_doctext_lineno = 0;
   g_program_doctext_status = INVALID;
+  pdebug("%s","program doctext set to INVALID");
 }
 
 /**
@@ -414,6 +415,10 @@
 void declare_valid_program_doctext() {
   if((g_program_doctext_candidate != NULL) && (g_program_doctext_status == STILL_CANDIDATE)) {
     g_program_doctext_status = ABSOLUTELY_SURE;  
+    pdebug("%s","program doctext set to ABSOLUTELY_SURE");
+  } else {
+    g_program_doctext_status = NO_PROGRAM_DOCTEXT;  
+    pdebug("%s","program doctext set to NO_PROGRAM_DOCTEXT");
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/main.h b/compiler/cpp/src/main.h
index d554970..87af5f6 100644
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/main.h
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/main.h
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #define T_MAIN_H
 
 #include <string>
+#include "logging.h"
 #include "parse/t_const.h"
 #include "parse/t_field.h"
 
@@ -38,26 +39,6 @@
 void yyerror(const char* fmt, ...);
 
 /**
- * Parse debugging output, used to print helpful info
- */
-void pdebug(const char* fmt, ...);
-
-/**
- * Parser warning
- */
-void pwarning(int level, const char* fmt, ...);
-
-/**
- * Print verbose output message
- */
-void pverbose(const char* fmt, ...);
-
-/**
- * Failure!
- */
-void failure(const char* fmt, ...);
-
-/**
  * Check simple identifier names
  */
 void validate_simple_identifier(const char* identifier);
diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/parse/t_doc.h b/compiler/cpp/src/parse/t_doc.h
index a7c8cc9..2c63b5a 100644
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/parse/t_doc.h
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/parse/t_doc.h
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #define T_DOC_H
 
 #include "globals.h"
+#include "logging.h"
 
 /**
  * Documentation stubs
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@
     has_doc_ = true;
     if( (g_program_doctext_lineno == g_doctext_lineno) &&  (g_program_doctext_status == STILL_CANDIDATE)) {
       g_program_doctext_status = ALREADY_PROCESSED;
+      pdebug("%s","program doctext set to ALREADY_PROCESSED");
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/thriftl.ll b/compiler/cpp/src/thriftl.ll
index 4df4ccb..685bb54 100644
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/thriftl.ll
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/thriftl.ll
@@ -384,10 +384,11 @@
     g_doctext[strlen(g_doctext) - 1] = '\0';
     g_doctext = clean_up_doctext(g_doctext);
     g_doctext_lineno = yylineno;
-    if(g_program_doctext_candidate == NULL){
+    if( (g_program_doctext_candidate == NULL) && (g_program_doctext_status == INVALID)){
       g_program_doctext_candidate = strdup(g_doctext);
       g_program_doctext_lineno = g_doctext_lineno;
       g_program_doctext_status = STILL_CANDIDATE;
+      pdebug("%s","program doctext set to STILL_CANDIDATE");
     }
   }
 }