diff --git a/src/application.cpp b/src/application.cpp
index 74776a06..f6f20c0e 100644
--- a/src/application.cpp
+++ b/src/application.cpp
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 #include "helper/console_helpers.hpp"
 #endif
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
 #include "graphics/text.hpp"
 #endif
 
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ Application::Application(std::shared_ptr<Window>&& window, const std::vector<std
 void Application::run() {
     m_event_dispatcher.register_listener(this);
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
     auto start_time = SDL_GetPerformanceCounter();
     const auto update_time = SDL_GetPerformanceFrequency() / 2; //0.5 s
     const auto count_per_s = static_cast<double>(SDL_GetPerformanceFrequency());
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ void Application::run() {
         render();
         m_renderer.present();
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
         ++frame_counter;
 
         const Uint64 current_time = SDL_GetPerformanceCounter();
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ void Application::render() const {
     for (const auto& scene : m_scene_stack) {
         scene->render(*this);
     }
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
     m_fps_text->render(*this);
 #endif
 }
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ void Application::initialize() {
 
         this->load_resources();
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
         m_fps_text = std::make_unique<ui::Label>(
                 this, "FPS: ?", font_manager().get(FontId::Default), Color::white(),
                 std::pair<double, double>{ 0.95, 0.95 },
diff --git a/src/application.hpp b/src/application.hpp
index c21f5ca2..676e910c 100644
--- a/src/application.hpp
+++ b/src/application.hpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ struct Application final : public EventListener, public ServiceProvider {
     std::unique_ptr<FontManager> m_font_manager;
 
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
     std::unique_ptr<ui::Label> m_fps_text{ nullptr };
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/discord/core.cpp b/src/discord/core.cpp
index 350c14ce..5b0c5c4f 100644
--- a/src/discord/core.cpp
+++ b/src/discord/core.cpp
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ void DiscordInstance::after_setup() {
 
 
     core->SetLogHook(
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
             discord::LogLevel::Debug
 #else
             discord::LogLevel::Error
diff --git a/src/game/tetrion.cpp b/src/game/tetrion.cpp
index 01e64d75..abff894e 100644
--- a/src/game/tetrion.cpp
+++ b/src/game/tetrion.cpp
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ void Tetrion::lock_active_tetromino(const SimulationStep simulation_step_index)
     reset_lock_delay(simulation_step_index);
 
     // save a snapshot on every freeze (only in debug builds)
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
     if (m_recording_writer) {
         spdlog::debug("adding snapshot at step {}", simulation_step_index);
         (*m_recording_writer)->add_snapshot(m_tetrion_index, simulation_step_index, core_information());
diff --git a/src/helper/parse_json.hpp b/src/helper/parse_json.hpp
index c601a77b..ceb790f1 100644
--- a/src/helper/parse_json.hpp
+++ b/src/helper/parse_json.hpp
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
 // better json error messages, see https://json.nlohmann.me/api/macros/json_diagnostics/
 #define JSON_DIAGNOSTICS 1 // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-macro-usage)
 #endif
+
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
 #include "helper/expected.hpp"
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index d23a52a4..0f1a564d 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     auto combined_logger = std::make_shared<spdlog::logger>("combined_logger", begin(sinks), end(sinks));
     spdlog::set_default_logger(combined_logger);
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
     spdlog::set_level(spdlog::level::debug);
 #else
     spdlog::set_level(spdlog::level::err);
diff --git a/src/manager/music_manager.cpp b/src/manager/music_manager.cpp
index d040ae02..a60ca0a6 100644
--- a/src/manager/music_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/manager/music_manager.cpp
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ void MusicManager::hook_music_finished() {
 
 
 [[nodiscard]] helper::optional<double> MusicManager::get_volume() const {
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
     int result = Mix_VolumeMusic(-1);
     if (result == 0) {
         return helper::nullopt;
diff --git a/src/scenes/about_page/about_page.cpp b/src/scenes/about_page/about_page.cpp
index a8fb3ecb..e7fea40d 100644
--- a/src/scenes/about_page/about_page.cpp
+++ b/src/scenes/about_page/about_page.cpp
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ namespace scenes {
 
         auto focus_helper = ui::FocusHelper{ 1 };
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
         m_main_grid.add<ui::Label>(
                 service_provider, fmt::format("Git Commit: {}", utils::git_commit()),
                 service_provider->font_manager().get(FontId::Default), Color::white(),
diff --git a/src/ui/layouts/focus_layout.cpp b/src/ui/layouts/focus_layout.cpp
index e9ea348c..a7707994 100644
--- a/src/ui/layouts/focus_layout.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/layouts/focus_layout.cpp
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ ui::FocusLayout::handle_event_result(const helper::optional<ui::Widget::InnerSta
         }
     }
 
-#ifdef DEBUG_BUILD
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
     // this works, since result is sorted already
     const auto duplicates = std::ranges::adjacent_find(result);
     if (duplicates != result.cend()) {
diff --git a/tools/options/meson.build b/tools/options/meson.build
index d4814ff1..a7e1a144 100644
--- a/tools/options/meson.build
+++ b/tools/options/meson.build
@@ -61,13 +61,3 @@ elif cpp.get_id() == 'clang'
     endif
 
 endif
-
-if (
-    get_option('buildtype') == 'debug'
-    or get_option('buildtype') == 'debugoptimized'
-)
-    #TODO: replace with ! NDEBUG in cpp files and remove this
-    core_lib += {
-        'compile_args': [core_lib.get('compile_args'), '-DDEBUG_BUILD'],
-    }
-endif