diff --git a/DuckDuckGo/NetworkProtection/AppTargets/BothAppTargets/NetworkProtectionAppEvents.swift b/DuckDuckGo/NetworkProtection/AppTargets/BothAppTargets/NetworkProtectionAppEvents.swift
index fc494b066e..48c5e2dfa1 100644
--- a/DuckDuckGo/NetworkProtection/AppTargets/BothAppTargets/NetworkProtectionAppEvents.swift
+++ b/DuckDuckGo/NetworkProtection/AppTargets/BothAppTargets/NetworkProtectionAppEvents.swift
@@ -121,6 +121,11 @@ final class NetworkProtectionAppEvents {
             versionStore.lastVersionRun = currentVersion
         }
 
+#if DEBUG
+        // For debug builds we always want to restart the VPN and VPN menu app to ensure
+        // the latest is loaded
+        restartNetworkProtectionTunnelAndMenu(using: loginItemsManager)
+#else
         // should‘ve been run at least once with NetP enabled
         guard let lastVersionRun = versionStore.lastVersionRun else {
             os_log(.info, log: .networkProtection, "No last version found for the NetP login items, skipping update")
@@ -131,6 +136,7 @@ final class NetworkProtectionAppEvents {
             os_log(.info, log: .networkProtection, "App updated from %{public}s to %{public}s: updating login items", lastVersionRun, currentVersion)
             restartNetworkProtectionTunnelAndMenu(using: loginItemsManager)
         }
+#endif
     }
 
     private func restartNetworkProtectionTunnelAndMenu(using loginItemsManager: LoginItemsManager) {