diff --git a/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/Dockerfile b/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/Dockerfile
index 8a0276f9d4..86bd36c43e 100644
--- a/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/Dockerfile
+++ b/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/Dockerfile
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ RUN echo "INFO: Using UCX from base image (UCX=${UCX})."
 
 # --- Stage 2b: Represents building UCX from source ---
 FROM os_setup_stage AS ucx_custom_image
+ARG BUILD_TYPE="release"
 ARG NPROC
 RUN mkdir -p /workspace/ucx
 COPY --from=ucx . /workspace/ucx
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@ RUN echo "INFO: Starting custom UCX build..." && \
     ./autogen.sh && \
     echo "INFO: Building UCX..." && \
     ./contrib/configure-release --with-cuda=/usr/local/cuda \
+                                $(if [ "$BUILD_TYPE" = "debug" ]; then echo "--enable-debug"; fi) \
                                 --enable-mt \
                                 --without-go && \
     make -j${NPROC:-$(nproc)} && \
@@ -107,6 +109,7 @@ ARG ARCH="x86_64"
 ARG DEFAULT_PYTHON_VERSION
 ARG WHL_PYTHON_VERSIONS="3.12"
 ARG WHL_PLATFORM="manylinux_2_39_$ARCH"
+ARG BUILD_TYPE="release"
 ARG NPROC
 
 WORKDIR /workspace
@@ -140,7 +143,7 @@ RUN uv venv $VIRTUAL_ENV --python $DEFAULT_PYTHON_VERSION && \
 
 RUN rm -rf build && \
     mkdir build && \
-    uv run meson setup build/ --prefix=/usr/local/nixl && \
+    uv run meson setup build/ --prefix=/usr/local/nixl --buildtype=$BUILD_TYPE && \
     cd build && \
     ninja && \
     ninja install
@@ -173,7 +176,7 @@ RUN ls -ll /workspace/nixlbench
 
 RUN rm -rf build && \
     mkdir build && \
-    uv run meson setup build -Dnixl_path=/usr/local/nixl/ -Dprefix=/usr/local/nixlbench && \
+    uv run meson setup build -Dnixl_path=/usr/local/nixl/ -Dprefix=/usr/local/nixlbench --buildtype=$BUILD_TYPE && \
     cd build && ninja && ninja install
 
 WORKDIR /workspace/nixl
diff --git a/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/build.sh b/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/build.sh
index da6e902c7a..3473e0cfc3 100755
--- a/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/build.sh
+++ b/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/build.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ NIXL_BENCH_BUILD_CONTEXT_ARGS="--build-context nixlbench=$BUILD_CONTEXT/"
 DOCKER_FILE="${SOURCE_DIR}/Dockerfile"
 UCX_SRC=""
 UCX_BUILD_CONTEXT_ARGS=""
+BUILD_TYPE="release"
 commit_id=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 
 # Get latest TAG and add COMMIT_ID for dev
@@ -66,6 +67,14 @@ get_options() {
                 missing_requirement $1
             fi
             ;;
+        --build-type)
+            if [ "$2" ]; then
+                BUILD_TYPE=$2
+                shift
+            else
+                missing_requirement $1
+            fi
+            ;;
         --nixl)
             if [ "$2" ]; then
                 NIXL_BUILD_CONTEXT_ARGS="--build-context nixl=$2"
@@ -156,6 +165,7 @@ show_build_options() {
     echo "Building NIXLBench Image"
     echo "NIXL Source: ${NIXL_SRC}"
     echo "UCX Source: ${UCX_SRC} (optional)"
+    echo "Build Type: ${BUILD_TYPE}"
     echo "Image Tag: ${TAG}"
     echo "Build Context: ${BUILD_CONTEXT}"
     echo "Build Context Args: ${BUILD_CONTEXT_ARGS}"
@@ -171,6 +181,7 @@ show_help() {
     echo "  [--base-image-tag base image tag]"
     echo "  [--nixlbench path/to/nixlbench/source/dir]"
     echo "  [--ucx path/to/ucx/source/dir]"
+    echo "  [--build-type [debug|release] to select build type]"
     echo "  [--no-cache disable docker build cache]"
     echo "  [--os [ubuntu24|ubuntu22] to select Ubuntu version]"
     echo "  [--python-versions python versions to build for, comma separated]"
@@ -194,6 +205,7 @@ BUILD_ARGS+=" --build-arg BASE_IMAGE=$BASE_IMAGE --build-arg BASE_IMAGE_TAG=$BAS
 BUILD_ARGS+=" --build-arg WHL_PYTHON_VERSIONS=$WHL_PYTHON_VERSIONS"
 BUILD_ARGS+=" --build-arg WHL_PLATFORM=$WHL_PLATFORM"
 BUILD_ARGS+=" --build-arg ARCH=$ARCH"
+BUILD_ARGS+=" --build-arg BUILD_TYPE=$BUILD_TYPE"
 BUILD_ARGS+=" --build-arg NPROC=$NPROC"
 
 show_build_options