diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeql-pico-scripts/pico-build.sh b/.github/workflows/codeql-pico-scripts/pico-build.sh
index 7f6aba5..66a19f9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql-pico-scripts/pico-build.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql-pico-scripts/pico-build.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ set -e
 SOURCE_DIR=$1
 OUTPUT_DIR="build"
 BOARD_NAME="pico"
-CMAKE_ARGS=""
+CMAKE_ARGS="-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
 MAKEFILES_GENERATOR="Unix Makefiles"
 
 # Validate arguments
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pico-build.yml b/.github/workflows/pico-build.yml
index 1cb3e76..159edb5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pico-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pico-build.yml
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ jobs:
                   output_dir: "build"
                   output_ext: "*.uf2 *.elf *.elf.map *.hex *.bin *.dis"
                   output_ignored_dirs: "src/lib"
+                  cmake_args: "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
 
             - name: Upload Pico Source Code Artifacts
               uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4