diff --git a/share/ci/build.py b/share/ci/build.py
index e970c6a..d17ef63 100644
--- a/share/ci/build.py
+++ b/share/ci/build.py
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ c.run('lupdate "{}"'.format(pro_file))
 c.run('lrelease "{}"'.format(pro_file))
 
 c.set_make_threaded()
-c.run('qmake {} "{}"'.format(os.environ.get('QMAKE_FLAGS',''), pro_file))
+build_type_flag = 'debug' if build_type == 'debug' else 'release'
+qmake_flags = os.environ.get('QMAKE_FLAGS','') + ' CONFIG+=' + build_type_flag
+c.run('qmake {} "{}"'.format(qmake_flags, pro_file))
 make_cmd = c.get_make_cmd()
 c.run(make_cmd)
diff --git a/share/ci/config.py b/share/ci/config.py
index 0ee94e2..48dce73 100644
--- a/share/ci/config.py
+++ b/share/ci/config.py
@@ -30,3 +30,5 @@ app_version += {'linux': '', 'macos': '-experimental',
                 'win32': '', 'win64': ''}[os_name]
 bitness = '32' if os_name == 'win32' else '64'
 msvc_version = getenv('MSVC_VERSION', '2017/Community')
+
+build_type = 'release' # 'debug'
diff --git a/share/ci/get_hunspell.py b/share/ci/get_hunspell.py
index b18b436..6a93f17 100644
--- a/share/ci/get_hunspell.py
+++ b/share/ci/get_hunspell.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import common as c
-from config import bitness, msvc_version, build_dir, dependencies_dir
+from config import bitness, msvc_version, build_dir, dependencies_dir, build_type
 import os
 import platform
 
@@ -110,8 +110,9 @@ DESTINATION lib/pkgconfig)\n')
     cmake_args = '"{}" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="{}" {}'.format(
         build_dir, install_dir, c.get_cmake_arch_args(bitness=bitness))
     c.run('cmake {}'.format(cmake_args))
-    c.run('cmake --build . --config Release --verbose')
-    c.run('cmake --build . --target install --config Release')
+    build_type_flag = 'Debug' if build_type == 'debug' else 'Release'
+    c.run('cmake --build . --config {}'.format(build_type_flag))
+    c.run('cmake --build . --target install --config {}'.format(build_type_flag))
 
 if not check_existing():  # create links
     c.print('>> Build failed')
diff --git a/share/ci/get_leptonica.py b/share/ci/get_leptonica.py
index 5924b4b..2bccd46 100644
--- a/share/ci/get_leptonica.py
+++ b/share/ci/get_leptonica.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import common as c
-from config import bitness, msvc_version, build_dir, dependencies_dir
+from config import bitness, msvc_version, build_dir, dependencies_dir, build_type
 import os
 import platform
 
@@ -67,8 +67,9 @@ if platform.system() == "Windows":
 
 c.set_make_threaded()
 c.run('cmake {}'.format(cmake_args))
-c.run('cmake --build . --config Release')
-c.run('cmake --build . --target install --config Release')
+build_type_flag = 'Debug' if build_type == 'debug' else 'Release'
+c.run('cmake --build . --config {}'.format(build_type_flag))
+c.run('cmake --build . --target install --config {}'.format(build_type_flag))
 
 if not check_existing(): # create links
     c.print('>> Build failed')
diff --git a/share/ci/get_tesseract.py b/share/ci/get_tesseract.py
index 786c7b4..ec23e82 100644
--- a/share/ci/get_tesseract.py
+++ b/share/ci/get_tesseract.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import common as c
-from config import bitness, msvc_version, build_dir, dependencies_dir
+from config import bitness, msvc_version, build_dir, dependencies_dir, build_type
 import os
 import platform
 
@@ -68,8 +68,9 @@ if platform.system() == "Windows":
 
 c.set_make_threaded()
 c.run('cmake {}'.format(cmake_args))
-c.run('cmake --build . --config Release')
-c.run('cmake --build . --target install --config Release')
+build_type_flag = 'Debug' if build_type == 'debug' else 'Release'
+c.run('cmake --build . --config {}'.format(build_type_flag))
+c.run('cmake --build . --target install --config {}'.format(build_type_flag))
 
 if not check_existing():  # create links
     c.print('>> Build failed')