diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 997f186..422c0f8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
 project(microirc LANGUAGES C)
 
 set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -Wall -Wextra -pedantic")
-set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Debug)
+if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+	set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Debug)
+endif()
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/build/bin)
 set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/build/lib)
 set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/build/archive)