diff --git a/3rdparty/fusion/CMakeLists.txt b/3rdparty/fusion/CMakeLists.txt
index 099056a8de..c58b2dfe9f 100644
--- a/3rdparty/fusion/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/3rdparty/fusion/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1 +1,5 @@
+# To avoid python numpy dependency in debug build, force release build of this library
+set(ORIG_BUILD_TYPE ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE})
+set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Release)
 add_subdirectory(fusion EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE ${ORIG_BUILD_TYPE})