diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0d418fb5..89d2f4a1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ project(adol-c
   DESCRIPTION "A Package for Automatic Differentiation of Algorithms Written in C/C++"
   HOMEPAGE_URL "https://github.com/coin-or/ADOL-C")
 
+set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE "-O3")
+set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "-O3")
 
 add_library(adolc SHARED)
 add_library(adolc::adolc ALIAS adolc)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2346b291..bd7c2961 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ The complete documentation can be found in the subdirectory "doc".
 
 2. Call CMake:
 
-     `cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/path/you/want/to/install/in path/to/adolc/sources`
+     `cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/path/you/want/to/install/in path/to/adolc/sources`
 
 3. Build and install:
 
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ The complete documentation can be found in the subdirectory "doc".
      `make install`  
 
 
+
 ## Local installation using the AutoTools
 
 1. Type `autoreconf -fi`