diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 23d2de6f..e2f332ec 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ ENDIF (EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH)
 SET(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake)
 
 #### Compiler configuration, see cmake/compilerconfig.cmake
+include(BuildType)
 include(compilerconfig)
 include(doxygen)
 
diff --git a/cmake/BuildType.cmake b/cmake/BuildType.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..59b8bc66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/BuildType.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Set a default build type if none was specified
+set(default_build_type "Release")
+ 
+if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE AND NOT CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES)
+  message(STATUS "Setting build type to '${default_build_type}' as none was specified.")
+  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "${default_build_type}" CACHE STRING "Choose the build type." FORCE)
+  set_property(CACHE CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE PROPERTY STRINGS
+    "Debug" "Release" "MinSizeRel" "RelWithDebInfo")
+endif()