diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index b6b65800e..d4fd279c7 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -167,6 +167,10 @@ jobs:
             echo "${VERSION}" >> artifacts/version
             echo "${CIRCLE_TAG}" >> artifacts/git_version
             cp ./target/release/wasmer ./artifacts/$(./binary-name.sh)
+      - run:
+          name: Debug release build
+          command: |
+            make debug-release
       - persist_to_workspace:
           root: .
           paths:
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0c9a0692d..a9de5a0e4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -50,9 +50,6 @@ release:
 	# brew install mingw-w64
 	cargo build --release
 
-debug-release:
-	cargo build --release --features debug
-
 debug-release:
 	cargo build --release --features "debug"