diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index dce5cb1b10705526fcad4d7a73902bb4e08346a8..d9962473a523fa1121d6f05118c0073d5b97f17d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 3.1)
 project (OPAL VERSION 2.5.0)
 set (PROJECT_BUGREPORT opal@lists.psi.ch)
+set (BUILD_FOR_PRODUCTION OFF)
 
 string (REGEX REPLACE "\\.([0-9])\\." ".0\\1." PACKAGE_VERSION ${PROJECT_VERSION})
 string (REGEX REPLACE "\\.([0-9])$" ".0\\1" PACKAGE_VERSION ${PACKAGE_VERSION})
@@ -101,8 +102,7 @@ elseif (${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID} MATCHES "GNU")
 
     # Enables extra error checking in the form of precondition assertion, such
     # as bounds checking and null pointer checks when dereferencing smart pointers
-    string(TOUPPER "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" uppercase_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
-    if (uppercase_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES "^(DEBUG|RELWITHDEBINFO)$")
+    if (NOT BUILD_FOR_PRODUCTION)
         add_compile_options(-Wp,-D_GLIBCXX_ASSERTIONS)
     endif()
 else ()