diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 55df5684b..461514461 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -77,6 +77,11 @@ if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug)
 endif()
 if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug)
     message(STATUS "Configuring OSRM in debug mode")
+    if(NOT "${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" STREQUAL "MSVC")
+      message(STATUS "adding profiling flags")
+      set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage")
+      set(CMAKE_LINKER_FLAGS "${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS} -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage")
+    endif()
 endif()
 if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Release)
     message(STATUS "Configuring OSRM in release mode")