diff --git a/bin/tools/buildParaViewFunctions b/bin/tools/buildParaViewFunctions
index dd18e7342d..5d70681343 100644
--- a/bin/tools/buildParaViewFunctions
+++ b/bin/tools/buildParaViewFunctions
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ buildParaView ()
 {
     # set general options
     addCMakeVariable "BUILD_SHARED_LIBS:BOOL=ON"
+    addCMakeVariable "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Release"
 
     # set paraview environment
     unset PARAVIEW_SRC_DIR