diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 05f603f12..b43d31b58 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -590,12 +590,18 @@ if(MSVC)
 else()
     set(LIBUSERLAND "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libuserland.a")
 endif()
+if("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "Debug")
+    set(LIBUSERLAND_RELEASE_MODE "false")
+else()
+    set(LIBUSERLAND_RELEASE_MODE "true")
+endif()
 add_custom_target(zig_build_libuserland ALL
     COMMAND zig0 build
         --override-std-dir std
         --override-lib-dir "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}"
         libuserland install
         "-Doutput-dir=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}"
+        "-Drelease=${LIBUSERLAND_RELEASE_MODE}"
         "-Dlib-files-only"
         --prefix "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}"
     DEPENDS zig0
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 21fa79e86..457314b42 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *Builder) !void {
     try configureStage2(b, test_stage2, ctx);
     try configureStage2(b, exe, ctx);
 
-    addLibUserlandStep(b);
+    addLibUserlandStep(b, mode);
 
     const skip_release = b.option(bool, "skip-release", "Main test suite skips release builds") orelse false;
     const skip_release_small = b.option(bool, "skip-release-small", "Main test suite skips release-small builds") orelse skip_release;
@@ -370,11 +370,15 @@ const Context = struct {
     llvm: LibraryDep,
 };
 
-fn addLibUserlandStep(b: *Builder) void {
+fn addLibUserlandStep(b: *Builder, mode: builtin.Mode) void {
     const artifact = b.addStaticLibrary("userland", "src-self-hosted/stage1.zig");
     artifact.disable_gen_h = true;
     artifact.bundle_compiler_rt = true;
     artifact.setTarget(builtin.arch, builtin.os, builtin.abi);
+    artifact.setBuildMode(mode);
+    if (mode != .Debug) {
+        artifact.strip = true;
+    }
     artifact.linkSystemLibrary("c");
     if (builtin.os == .windows) {
         artifact.linkSystemLibrary("ntdll");
diff --git a/src/codegen.cpp b/src/codegen.cpp
index 3066d8b1c..b590995c9 100644
--- a/src/codegen.cpp
+++ b/src/codegen.cpp
@@ -7381,10 +7381,8 @@ static void do_code_gen(CodeGen *g) {
         LLVMDumpModule(g->module);
     }
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
     char *error = nullptr;
     LLVMVerifyModule(g->module, LLVMAbortProcessAction, &error);
-#endif
 }
 
 static void zig_llvm_emit_output(CodeGen *g) {