diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a93e06f4e..44c79e968 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ set (fasttext_VERSION_MINOR 1)
 
 include_directories(fasttext)
 
-set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS " -pthread -std=c++11 -funroll-loops -O3 -march=native")
+set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS " -pthread -std=c++11 -funroll-loops -O3 -march=native -DNDEBUG")
 
 set(HEADER_FILES
     src/args.h