diff --git a/cmake/Modules/OpmCompile.cmake b/cmake/Modules/OpmCompile.cmake
index aeb0ef68..0f76cf0c 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/OpmCompile.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/OpmCompile.cmake
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # - Compile main library target
 
+option (STRIP_DEBUGGING_SYMBOLS "use separate files for the executable code and the debugging symbols" OFF)
+
 macro (opm_compile opm)
   # some CMake properties do not do list expansion
   string (REPLACE ";" " " ${opm}_LINKER_FLAGS_STR "${${opm}_LINKER_FLAGS}")
@@ -28,8 +30,10 @@ macro (opm_compile opm)
 	  )
 	target_link_libraries (${${opm}_TARGET} ${${opm}_LIBRARIES})
 
-	# queue this executable to be stripped
-	strip_debug_symbols (${${opm}_TARGET} ${opm}_DEBUG)
+        if (STRIP_DEBUGGING_SYMBOLS)
+	  # queue this executable to be stripped
+	  strip_debug_symbols (${${opm}_TARGET} ${opm}_DEBUG)
+        endif()
   else (${opm}_SOURCES)
 	# unset this variable to signal that no library is generated
 	set (${opm}_TARGET)
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/OpmSatellites.cmake b/cmake/Modules/OpmSatellites.cmake
index 161c79fe..3ae5aaf4 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/OpmSatellites.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/OpmSatellites.cmake
@@ -70,8 +70,10 @@ macro (opm_compile_satellites opm satellite excl_all test_regexp)
 	  set (_test_lib "")
 	endif (NOT "${test_regexp}" STREQUAL "")
 	target_link_libraries (${_sat_NAME} ${${opm}_TARGET} ${${opm}_LIBRARIES} ${_test_lib})
-	strip_debug_symbols (${_sat_NAME} _sat_DEBUG)
-	list (APPEND ${satellite}_DEBUG ${_sat_DEBUG})
+        if (STRIP_DEBUGGING_SYMBOLS)
+	  strip_debug_symbols (${_sat_NAME} _sat_DEBUG)
+	  list (APPEND ${satellite}_DEBUG ${_sat_DEBUG})
+        endif()
 
 	# variable with regular expression doubles as a flag for
 	# whether tests should be setup or not
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/UseDebugSymbols.cmake b/cmake/Modules/UseDebugSymbols.cmake
index e3eae4b3..bbe38530 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/UseDebugSymbols.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/UseDebugSymbols.cmake
@@ -18,12 +18,10 @@ if (CXX_COMPAT_GCC)
   # default debug level, if not specified by the user
   set_default_option (CXX _dbg_flag "-ggdb3" "(^|\ )-g")
 
-  # add debug symbols to *all* targets, regardless. there WILL come a
-  # time when you need to find a bug which only manifests itself in a
-  # release target on a production system!
+  # add debug symbols to *all* targets if the build mode is either "Debug" or "RelWithDebInfo"
   if (_dbg_flag)
 	message (STATUS "Generating debug symbols: ${_dbg_flag}")
-	add_options (ALL_LANGUAGES ALL_BUILDS "${_dbg_flag}")
+	add_options (ALL_LANGUAGES "Debug;RelWithDebInfo" "${_dbg_flag}")
   endif (_dbg_flag)
 
   # extracting the debug info is done by a separate utility in the GNU
diff --git a/cmake/Scripts/configure b/cmake/Scripts/configure
index c87eecf1..5074a8d2 100755
--- a/cmake/Scripts/configure
+++ b/cmake/Scripts/configure
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Optional Features:
                           [default=no]
   --disable-runpath       do not use RUNPATH in installed library [default=yes]
   --enable-lto            use whole program optimization [default=no]
+  --enable-strip-debug    separate the executable code and the debugging symbols [default=no]
   --disable-tests         do not compile and enable unit tests [default=yes]
   --disable-examples      do not compile example programs [default=yes]
   --disable-pch           do not use precompiled headers (if buggy compiler)
@@ -123,6 +124,8 @@ silent_rules=
 debug_loc=
 #use_lto=" -DWHOLE_PROG_OPTIM=OFF"
 use_lto=
+#strip_debug=" -DSTRIP_DEBUGGING_SYMBOLS=OFF"
+strip_debug=
 #use_runpath=" -DUSE_RUNPATH=OFF"
 use_runpath=
 #use_tests=" -DBUILD_TESTING=ON"
@@ -314,6 +317,10 @@ for OPT in "$@"; do
               use_lto=" -DWHOLE_PROG_OPTIM=OFF"
               pkgname=""
               ;;
+            strip-debug  )
+              strip_debug=" -DSTRIP_DEBUGGING_SYMBOLS=OFF"
+              pkgname=""
+              ;;
             openmp)
               use_openmp=" -DUSE_OPENMP=OFF"
               pkgname=""
@@ -397,6 +404,10 @@ for OPT in "$@"; do
               use_lto=" -DWHOLE_PROG_OPTIM=ON"
               shared=""
               ;;
+            strip-debug  )
+              strip_debug=" -DSTRIP_DEBUGGING_SYMBOLS=ON"
+              pkgname=""
+              ;;
             tests)
               use_tests=" -DBUILD_TESTING=ON"
               pkgname=""
@@ -534,7 +545,7 @@ elif test "$c_compiler$c_opts$cxx_compiler$cxx_opts$fort_compiler$fort_opts" !=
 fi
 
 # pass everything on to CMake
-CMDLINE="${ENVVARS}${CMAKE_COMMAND} \"${srcdir}\" ${use_ninja}\"-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$prefix\"${buildtype}${pch_use}${silent_rules}${debug_loc}${use_openmp}${use_mpi}${use_lto}${use_runpath}${use_tests}${use_samples}${use_underscoring}${c_compiler}${c_opts}${cxx_compiler}${cxx_opts}${fort_compiler}${fort_opts}${boost_opts}${buildname}${site} ${FEATURES}"
+CMDLINE="${ENVVARS}${CMAKE_COMMAND} \"${srcdir}\" ${use_ninja}\"-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$prefix\"${buildtype}${pch_use}${silent_rules}${debug_loc}${use_openmp}${use_mpi}${use_lto}${strip_debug}${use_runpath}${use_tests}${use_samples}${use_underscoring}${c_compiler}${c_opts}${cxx_compiler}${cxx_opts}${fort_compiler}${fort_opts}${boost_opts}${buildname}${site} ${FEATURES}"
 echo --- calling CMake ---
 echo "${CMDLINE}"
 eval exec "${CMDLINE}"
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 4a6a8ca2..f96f6557 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ override_dh_auto_build:
 
 # consider using -DUSE_VERSIONED_DIR=ON if backporting
 override_dh_auto_configure:
-	dh_auto_configure --buildsystem=cmake -- -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=1 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR=share/doc/libopm-core1 -DWHOLE_PROG_OPTIM=ON -DUSE_RUNPATH=OFF
+	dh_auto_configure --buildsystem=cmake -- -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -DSTRIP_DEBUGGING_SYMBOLS=ON -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=1 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR=share/doc/libopm-core1 -DWHOLE_PROG_OPTIM=ON -DUSE_RUNPATH=OFF
 
 override_dh_auto_install:
 	dh_auto_install -- install-html
diff --git a/redhat/opm-core.spec b/redhat/opm-core.spec
index 116d0df9..9fa8d035 100644
--- a/redhat/opm-core.spec
+++ b/redhat/opm-core.spec
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ This package contains the debug symbols for opm-core
 
 # consider using -DUSE_VERSIONED_DIR=ON if backporting
 %build
-cmake28 -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=1 -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%{_prefix} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR=share/doc/%{name}-%{version} -DUSE_RUNPATH=OFF %{?el5:-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++44 -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc44 -DBOOST_LIBRARYDIR=%{_libdir}/boost141 -DBOOST_INCLUDEDIR=/usr/include/boost141}
+cmake28 -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=1 -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo  -DSTRIP_DEBUGGING_SYMBOLS=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%{_prefix} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR=share/doc/%{name}-%{version} -DUSE_RUNPATH=OFF %{?el5:-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++44 -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc44 -DBOOST_LIBRARYDIR=%{_libdir}/boost141 -DBOOST_INCLUDEDIR=/usr/include/boost141}
 make
 
 %install