diff --git a/src/build_config.zig b/src/build_config.zig
index 803e3ee4d..250429f68 100644
--- a/src/build_config.zig
+++ b/src/build_config.zig
@@ -83,6 +83,13 @@ pub const BuildConfig = struct {
 pub const version = options.app_version;
 pub const version_string = options.app_version_string;
 
+/// The optimization mode as a string.
+pub const mode_string = mode: {
+    const m = @tagName(builtin.mode);
+    if (std.mem.lastIndexOfScalar(u8, m, '.')) |i| break :mode m[i..];
+    break :mode m;
+};
+
 /// The artifact we're producing. This can be used to determine if we're
 /// building a standalone exe, an embedded lib, etc.
 pub const artifact = Artifact.detect();
diff --git a/src/main_ghostty.zig b/src/main_ghostty.zig
index 73e771a7c..53d358527 100644
--- a/src/main_ghostty.zig
+++ b/src/main_ghostty.zig
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ pub const GlobalState = struct {
 
         // Output some debug information right away
         std.log.info("ghostty version={s}", .{build_config.version_string});
+        std.log.info("ghostty build optimize={s}", .{build_config.mode_string});
         std.log.info("runtime={}", .{build_config.app_runtime});
         std.log.info("font_backend={}", .{build_config.font_backend});
         std.log.info("dependency harfbuzz={s}", .{harfbuzz.versionString()});