diff --git a/scripts/build-catalogue.in b/scripts/build-catalogue.in
index da5e058ccc70ff1aa9e2665a0a4385c446b0010f..047b1f8987a9dcd4ab167f3be605d5532a4965cd 100755
--- a/scripts/build-catalogue.in
+++ b/scripts/build-catalogue.in
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ project({name}-cat LANGUAGES CXX)
 
 find_package(arbor REQUIRED)
 
+set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE release)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER ${{ARB_CXX}})
 set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS    ${{ARB_CXX_FLAGS}})