diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c3525ba..6e10a72 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,24 @@ python3_add_library(_sparsediffengine MODULE
     sparsediffpy/_bindings/bindings.c
 )
 
+# Match the engine's per-config optimization flags so the extension doesn't rely on
+# the toolchain's default CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE.
+if(MSVC)
+    target_compile_options(_sparsediffengine PRIVATE
+        $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:/Od /Zi>
+        $<$<CONFIG:Release>:/O2 /DNDEBUG>
+        $<$<CONFIG:RelWithDebInfo>:/O2 /Zi /DNDEBUG>
+        $<$<CONFIG:MinSizeRel>:/Os /DNDEBUG>
+    )
+else()
+    target_compile_options(_sparsediffengine PRIVATE
+        $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:-g -O0>
+        $<$<CONFIG:Release>:-O3 -DNDEBUG>
+        $<$<CONFIG:RelWithDebInfo>:-O2 -g -DNDEBUG>
+        $<$<CONFIG:MinSizeRel>:-Os -DNDEBUG>
+    )
+endif()
+
 target_include_directories(_sparsediffengine PRIVATE
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/SparseDiffEngine/include
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/SparseDiffEngine/include/atoms
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 02ae584..677defb 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ content-type = "text/markdown"
 
 [tool.scikit-build]
 cmake.version = ">=3.15"
+cmake.build-type = "Release"
 wheel.packages = ["sparsediffpy"]
 # Persistent build dir: avoids scikit-build-core's TemporaryDirectory, whose cleanup
 # intermittently fails on Windows CI with WinError 32 (lingering mspdbsrv/AV handle).