diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index d82a7b2..86281e0 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ export DEB_BUILD_MAINT_OPTIONS = hardening=+all optimize=-lto
 
 override_dh_auto_configure:
 	dh_auto_configure -- -DGIT_VERSION="$(DEB_VERSION_UPSTREAM)" \
+		-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
 		-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON \
 		-DBENCHMARK_ENABLE_LTO=ON \
 		-DBENCHMARK_USE_BUNDLED_GTEST=OFF \