diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9eb8d96e..09f792eb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,16 @@ include(${ROOT_USE_FILE})
 
 include(GoogleBenchmark)
 
+if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE AND NOT CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES)
+  set(default_build_type "Release")
+  message(STATUS "Setting build type to '${default_build_type}' as none was specified.")
+  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "${default_build_type}" CACHE
+      STRING "Choose the type of build." FORCE)
+  # Set the possible values of build type for cmake-gui
+  set_property(CACHE CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE PROPERTY STRINGS
+    "Debug" "Release" "MinSizeRel" "RelWithDebInfo")
+endif()
+
 #---Add ROOT include direcories and used compilation flags
 include_directories(${ROOT_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 add_definitions(${ROOT_CXX_FLAGS})