diff --git a/package/libmemcached/libmemcached.mk b/package/libmemcached/libmemcached.mk
index bd63d78c97..f64ab5ec48 100644
--- a/package/libmemcached/libmemcached.mk
+++ b/package/libmemcached/libmemcached.mk
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ LIBMEMCACHED_LICENSE = BSD-3-Clause
 LIBMEMCACHED_LICENSE_FILES = LICENSE
 LIBMEMCACHED_CPE_ID_VENDOR = awesome
 
+# Force Release otherwise libraries will be suffixed by -dbg which will raise
+# unexpected build failures with packages that use libmemcached (e.g. c-icap)
+LIBMEMCACHED_CONF_OPTS += -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBEVENT),y)
 LIBMEMCACHED_DEPENDENCIES += libevent
 LIBMEMCACHED_CONF_OPTS += -DENABLE_MEMASLAP=ON