diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index c81de3f66..f9f46af05 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ project('gala',
     version: '8.4.0',
     meson_version: '>= 0.59.0',
     license: 'GPL3',
+    default_options: [
+        'buildtype=debugoptimized',
+    ],
 )
 
 gnome = import('gnome')