diff --git a/command/debug.go b/command/debug.go
index 3fd54ea4f..8cec89f9c 100644
--- a/command/debug.go
+++ b/command/debug.go
@@ -389,6 +389,13 @@ func (c *DebugCommand) preflight(rawArgs []string) (string, error) {
 
 	if len(c.flagTargets) == 0 {
 		c.flagTargets = c.defaultTargets()
+	} else {
+		// Check for any invalid targets and ignore them if found
+		invalidTargets := strutil.Difference(c.flagTargets, c.defaultTargets(), true)
+		if len(invalidTargets) != 0 {
+			c.UI.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Ignoring invalid targets: %s", strings.Join(invalidTargets, ", ")))
+			c.flagTargets = strutil.Difference(c.flagTargets, invalidTargets, true)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Make sure we can talk to the server
diff --git a/command/debug_test.go b/command/debug_test.go
index a7a20278e..5f1c22395 100644
--- a/command/debug_test.go
+++ b/command/debug_test.go
@@ -61,6 +61,16 @@ func TestDebugCommand_Run(t *testing.T) {
 			"Too many arguments",
 			1,
 		},
+		{
+			"invalid_target",
+			[]string{
+				"-duration=1s",
+				fmt.Sprintf("-output=%s/too_many_args", testDir),
+				"-target=foo",
+			},
+			"Ignoring invalid targets: foo",
+			0,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {