diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 4b528f280e..0f99cc6274 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ include(PreventInSourceBuilds)
 
 if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE AND NOT CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS)
   #release comes with -O3 by default
-  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Release CACHE STRING "Choose the type of build, options are: None Debug Release RelWithDebInfo MinSizeRel." FORCE)
+  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE RelWithDebInfo CACHE STRING "Choose the type of build, options are: None Debug Release RelWithDebInfo MinSizeRel." FORCE)
 endif(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE AND NOT CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS)
 string(TOUPPER "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" BTYPE)