diff --git a/sdk/cmake/host-tools.cmake b/sdk/cmake/host-tools.cmake
index e2349b8841d..4114256096d 100644
--- a/sdk/cmake/host-tools.cmake
+++ b/sdk/cmake/host-tools.cmake
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ function(setup_host_tools)
     endif()
 
     if(NOT DEFINED HOST_BUILD_TYPE)
-        set(HOST_BUILD_TYPE Release)
+        set(HOST_BUILD_TYPE Debug)
     endif()
 
     ExternalProject_Add(host-tools