diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4638f59c..032b4bbe 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ if("${PROJECT_NAME}" STREQUAL "")
     project (OpenMesh)
 endif()
 
+if (NOT WIN32 AND NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+  message(STATUS "No build type selected, default to Release")
+  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Release" CACHE STRING "Choose the type of build, options are: Debug Release RelWithDebInfo MinSizeRel." FORCE)
+endif()
+
 # add our macro directory to cmake search path
 set (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake)
 set (CMAKE_DEBUG_POSTFIX "d")