diff --git a/cmake/external/mkldnn.cmake b/cmake/external/mkldnn.cmake
index 89fc34796a..3b8314a06b 100644
--- a/cmake/external/mkldnn.cmake
+++ b/cmake/external/mkldnn.cmake
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ ExternalProject_Add(
     PREFIX              ${MKLDNN_SOURCES_DIR}
     UPDATE_COMMAND      ""
     CMAKE_ARGS          -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${MKLDNN_INSTALL_DIR}
+    CMAKE_ARGS          -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} 
     CMAKE_ARGS          -DMKLROOT=${MKLML_ROOT}
     CMAKE_ARGS          -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=${MKLDNN_CFLAG}
     CMAKE_ARGS          -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=${MKLDNN_CXXFLAG}