diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 43d6c03d..b330dfed 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@ project(
     'waybar', 'cpp', 'c',
     version: '0.0.5',
     license: 'MIT',
-    default_options : ['cpp_std=c++17'],
+    default_options : [
+        'cpp_std=c++17',
+        'buildtype=release'
+    ],
 )
 
 cpp_args = []