diff --git a/.github/workflows/wheels.yml b/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
index 657a5571..6aa0363a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ jobs:
           CIBW_ARCHS: ${{ matrix.cibw_arch }}
           CIBW_SKIP: ${{ matrix.cibw_skip }}
           CIBW_CONTAINER_ENGINE: 'docker; create_args: -v ${{ github.workspace }}/ci:/project/ci'
-          CIBW_ENVIRONMENT: LIBSSH2_VERSION=1.11.1 LIBGIT2_VERSION=1.9.7 LIBGIT2=/project/ci
+          CIBW_ENVIRONMENT: LIBSSH2_VERSION=1.11.1 LIBGIT2_VERSION=1.9.7 LIBGIT2=/project/ci BUILD_TYPE=Release
 
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 8f10af14..d5375017 100644
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -83,11 +83,12 @@ if [ "$CIBUILDWHEEL" = "1" ]; then
         fi
     fi
 
-    # Use cached dependencies if they match the requested versions.
+    # Use cached dependencies if they match the requested versions and build type.
     if [ -f ci/versions.txt ] && \
        grep -q "^LIBGIT2_VERSION=$LIBGIT2_VERSION$" ci/versions.txt && \
        grep -q "^LIBSSH2_VERSION=$LIBSSH2_VERSION$" ci/versions.txt && \
-       grep -q "^OPENSSL_VERSION=$OPENSSL_VERSION$" ci/versions.txt; then
+       grep -q "^OPENSSL_VERSION=$OPENSSL_VERSION$" ci/versions.txt && \
+       grep -q "^BUILD_TYPE=$BUILD_TYPE$" ci/versions.txt; then
         echo "Using cached dependencies"
         exit 0
     fi
@@ -163,6 +164,7 @@ if [ -n "$LIBSSH2_VERSION" ]; then
                 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$PREFIX \
                 -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON \
                 -DBUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF \
+                -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=$BUILD_TYPE \
                 -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES="$ARCH" \
                 -DBUILD_TESTING=OFF
     else
@@ -170,6 +172,7 @@ if [ -n "$LIBSSH2_VERSION" ]; then
                 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$PREFIX \
                 -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON \
                 -DBUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF \
+                -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=$BUILD_TYPE \
                 -DBUILD_TESTING=OFF
     fi
     cmake --build . --target install
@@ -216,6 +219,7 @@ if [ "$CIBUILDWHEEL" = "1" ]; then
 LIBGIT2_VERSION=$LIBGIT2_VERSION
 LIBSSH2_VERSION=$LIBSSH2_VERSION
 OPENSSL_VERSION=$OPENSSL_VERSION
+BUILD_TYPE=$BUILD_TYPE
 EOF
     if [ "$KERNEL" = "Darwin" ]; then
         echo "PREFIX        " $PREFIX
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3829aa5c..7bb45840 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ skip = "*musllinux_ppc64le"
 archs = ["native"]
 build-frontend = "default"
 dependency-versions = "pinned"
-environment = {LIBGIT2="$(pwd)/ci", LIBGIT2_VERSION="1.9.7", LIBSSH2_VERSION="1.11.1", OPENSSL_VERSION="3.5.7"}
+environment = {LIBGIT2="$(pwd)/ci", LIBGIT2_VERSION="1.9.7", LIBSSH2_VERSION="1.11.1", OPENSSL_VERSION="3.5.7", BUILD_TYPE="Release"}
 
 before-all = "sh build.sh"
 test-command = "pytest"