diff --git a/build/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/build/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 3b7136209..2340f0eda 100644
--- a/build/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/build/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,9 +12,12 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.9)
 project(zstd)
 set(ZSTD_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../..")
 
-if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE AND NOT CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES)
-  message(STATUS "No build type selected, defaulting to Release")
-  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Release")
+# Set a default build type if none was specified
+if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE AND NOT CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES)
+  message(STATUS "Setting build type to 'Release' as none was specified.")
+  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Release CACHE STRING "Choose the type of build." FORCE)
+  # Set the possible values of build type for cmake-gui
+  set_property(CACHE CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE PROPERTY STRINGS "Debug" "Release" "MinSizeRel" "RelWithDebInfo")
 endif()
 
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/CMakeModules")