diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/protobuf/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/protobuf/package.py
index 0923d3a961e1646050e3c004121a4d523609919c..05702d9fc96d300ef435c4634eaea7555a5a065d 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/protobuf/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/protobuf/package.py
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ class Protobuf(CMakePackage):
 
     variant('shared', default=True,
             description='Enables the build of shared libraries')
+    variant('build_type', default='Release',
+            description='The build type to build',
+            values=('Debug', 'Release'))
 
     depends_on('zlib')