diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 77af34a5..49c9a4ad 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -171,8 +171,14 @@ else()
     endif()
 
     # set compiler flags - more are tested and added later
-    set(EXTRA_C_FLAGS "-std=c99 -Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -Wcast-qual -Werror")
-    set(EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS "-std=c++11 -Wall -Wextra -Werror -Wno-shadow -Wswitch -Wreturn-type -Wcast-qual -Wno-deprecated -Wnon-virtual-dtor")
+    set(EXTRA_C_FLAGS "-std=c99 -Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -Wcast-qual")
+    set(EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS "-std=c++11 -Wall -Wextra -Wno-shadow -Wswitch -Wreturn-type -Wcast-qual -Wno-deprecated -Wnon-virtual-dtor")
+    if (NOT RELEASE_BUILD)
+        # -Werror is most useful during development, don't potentially break
+        # release builds
+        set(EXTRA_C_FLAGS "${EXTRA_C_FLAGS} -Werror")
+        set(EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS "${EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS} -Werror")
+    endif()
 
     if (NOT CMAKE_C_FLAGS MATCHES .*march.*)
         message(STATUS "Building for current host CPU")