diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1bc3748ce1..0dfb15dae8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH
   "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/dep/cotire/CMake")
 
 # build in Release-mode by default if not explicitly set
-if( NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE )
+if(CMAKE_GENERATOR STREQUAL "Ninja Multi-Config")
+  set(CMAKE_DEFAULT_BUILD_TYPE "RelWithDebInfo" CACHE INTERNAL "")
+endif()
+if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
   set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "RelWithDebInfo")
 endif()
 
diff --git a/cmake/compiler/clang/settings.cmake b/cmake/compiler/clang/settings.cmake
index fd690d2405..d42345541e 100644
--- a/cmake/compiler/clang/settings.cmake
+++ b/cmake/compiler/clang/settings.cmake
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Set build-directive (used in core to tell which buildtype we used)
 target_compile_definitions(trinity-compile-option-interface
   INTERFACE
-    -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+    -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="$<CONFIG>")
 
 if(WITH_WARNINGS)
   target_compile_options(trinity-warning-interface
diff --git a/cmake/compiler/gcc/settings.cmake b/cmake/compiler/gcc/settings.cmake
index 9139a028f1..f827f53b3d 100644
--- a/cmake/compiler/gcc/settings.cmake
+++ b/cmake/compiler/gcc/settings.cmake
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Set build-directive (used in core to tell which buildtype we used)
 target_compile_definitions(trinity-compile-option-interface
   INTERFACE
-    -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+    -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="$<CONFIG>")
 
 set(GCC_EXPECTED_VERSION 6.3.0)
 
diff --git a/cmake/compiler/icc/settings.cmake b/cmake/compiler/icc/settings.cmake
index 563b92d6b9..fd59144035 100644
--- a/cmake/compiler/icc/settings.cmake
+++ b/cmake/compiler/icc/settings.cmake
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 target_compile_definitions(trinity-compile-option-interface
   INTERFACE
-    -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+    -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="$<CONFIG>")
 
 if(PLATFORM EQUAL 32)
   target_compile_options(trinity-compile-option-interface
diff --git a/cmake/compiler/mingw/settings.cmake b/cmake/compiler/mingw/settings.cmake
index e3c7558164..0268de93ff 100644
--- a/cmake/compiler/mingw/settings.cmake
+++ b/cmake/compiler/mingw/settings.cmake
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin)
 # Set build-directive (used in core to tell which buildtype we used)
 target_compile_definitions(trinity-compile-option-interface
   INTERFACE
-    -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+    -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="$<CONFIG>")
 
 if(PLATFORM EQUAL 32)
   # Required on 32-bit systems to enable SSE2 (standard on x64)
diff --git a/cmake/compiler/msvc/settings.cmake b/cmake/compiler/msvc/settings.cmake
index 72f6176007..5e40b5ea41 100644
--- a/cmake/compiler/msvc/settings.cmake
+++ b/cmake/compiler/msvc/settings.cmake
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ else()
   # while all make-like generators do (nmake, ninja)
   target_compile_definitions(trinity-compile-option-interface
     INTERFACE
-      -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+      -D_BUILD_DIRECTIVE="$<CONFIG>")
 endif()
 
 # multithreaded compiling on VS