diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 636006ea..7681cc87 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ jobs:
               if: "!contains(github.event.commits[0].message, '[debug]')"
               env:
                   PDO_INTERPRETER: ${{ matrix.interpreter }}
+                  PDO_DEBUG_BUILD: 1
+                  PDO_LOG_LEVEL: warning
               run: |
                   # The creation of a dummy branch is necessary for the CI tests
                   # to work on PRs. Based on empirical results, in the absence of
diff --git a/build/__tools__/build.sh b/build/__tools__/build.sh
index 6c324c98..5b805d14 100755
--- a/build/__tools__/build.sh
+++ b/build/__tools__/build.sh
@@ -58,8 +58,10 @@ fi
 # Build type "Debug" does not define NDEBUG, which causes sgx_urts.h to set SGX_DEBUG_FLAG to 1.
 if [ ${PDO_DEBUG_BUILD} == "0" ]; then
     MAKE_ARGS+=" CMAKE_OPTS=-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
+    CMAKE_ARGS+=" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
 else
     MAKE_ARGS+=" CMAKE_OPTS=-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug"
+    CMAKE_ARGS+=" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug"
 fi
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/build/cmake/SGX.cmake b/build/cmake/SGX.cmake
index f88a3eed..357bebc9 100644
--- a/build/cmake/SGX.cmake
+++ b/build/cmake/SGX.cmake
@@ -28,8 +28,18 @@ SET(SGX_MODE $ENV{SGX_MODE})
 
 IF (${SGX_MODE} STREQUAL "SIM")
     SET(SGX_USE_SIMULATOR TRUE)
+
+    IF (${PDO_DEBUG_BUILD} STREQUAL "0")
+        MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "SGX_MODE=SIM does not accept PDO_DEBUG_BUILD=0")
+    ENDIF()
 ELSE()
     SET(SGX_USE_SIMULATOR FALSE)
+
+    IF (${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} STREQUAL "Release")
+        IF (${PDO_DEBUG_BUILD} STREQUAL "1")
+            MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "SGX_MODE=HW and CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release do not accept PDO_DEBUG_BUILD=1")
+        ENDIF()
+    ENDIF()
 ENDIF()
 
 IF (NOT DEFINED ENV{SGX_SDK})
diff --git a/docker/Makefile b/docker/Makefile
index 1063bd39..d18fab94 100644
--- a/docker/Makefile
+++ b/docker/Makefile
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ PDO_SOURCE_ROOT ?= $(realpath $(dir $(abspath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))/../
 
 # PDO_DEBUG_BUILD
 # The flag that determines the build type (debug or not).
-PDO_DEBUG_BUILD ?= 0
+PDO_DEBUG_BUILD ?= ${PDO_DEBUG_BUILD:-0}
 
 # PDO_REPO --
 #   The URL or path to the git repository, the default uses the current repository
@@ -73,12 +73,14 @@ rebuild_% : repository
 	$(DOCKER_COMMAND) build $(DOCKER_ARGS) \
 		--build-arg REBUILD=$(TIMESTAMP) \
 		--build-arg PDO_VERSION=$(PDO_VERSION) \
+		--build-arg PDO_DEBUG_BUILD=$(PDO_DEBUG_BUILD) \
 		--tag pdo_$*:$(PDO_VERSION) \
 		--file '$(DOCKER_DIR)'/pdo_$*.dockerfile .
 
 build_% : repository
 	$(DOCKER_COMMAND) build $(DOCKER_ARGS) \
 		--build-arg PDO_VERSION=$(PDO_VERSION) \
+		--build-arg PDO_DEBUG_BUILD=$(PDO_DEBUG_BUILD) \
 		--tag pdo_$*:$(PDO_VERSION) \
 		--file '$(DOCKER_DIR)'/pdo_$*.dockerfile .