diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index 40beef6eecc..44d3756e4be 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ common --enable_platform_specific_config
 # because we use --override_module with `%workspace%`, the lock file is not stable
 common --lockfile_mode=off
 
+# Build release binaries by default, can be overwritten to in local.bazelrc and set to `fastbuild` or `dbg`
+build --compilation_mode opt
+
 # when building from this repository in isolation, the internal repository will not be found at ..
 # where `MODULE.bazel` looks for it. The following will get us past the module loading phase, so
 # that we can build things that do not rely on that