diff --git a/lib/mini_portile2/mini_portile_cmake.rb b/lib/mini_portile2/mini_portile_cmake.rb
index 8543645..fd7aa08 100644
--- a/lib/mini_portile2/mini_portile_cmake.rb
+++ b/lib/mini_portile2/mini_portile_cmake.rb
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ def cmake_compile_flags
       "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=#{cmake_system_name}",
       "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR=#{cpu_type}",
       "-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=#{c_compiler}",
-      "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=#{cxx_compiler}"
+      "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=#{cxx_compiler}",
+      "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
     ]
   end
 
diff --git a/test/test_cmake.rb b/test/test_cmake.rb
index c7bfb35..20abe75 100644
--- a/test/test_cmake.rb
+++ b/test/test_cmake.rb
@@ -96,7 +96,8 @@ def test_configure_defaults_with_macos
                   "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Darwin",
                   "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR=arm64",
                   "-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=some-host-clang",
-                  "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=some-host-clang++"
+                  "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=some-host-clang++",
+                  "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
                 ],
                 recipe.configure_defaults)
             end
@@ -119,7 +120,8 @@ def test_configure_defaults_with_manual_system_name
                 "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Custom",
                 "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR=x86_64",
                 "-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc",
-                "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++"
+                "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++",
+                "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
               ],
               recipe.configure_defaults)
           end
@@ -227,7 +229,8 @@ def default_x86_compile_flags
       "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Linux",
       "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR=x86_64",
       "-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc",
-      "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++"
+      "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++",
+      "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
     ]
   end