diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 021cbfe28..155201183 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ 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 -fno-inline")
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage -fno-inline")
     set(CMAKE_LINKER_FLAGS "${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS} -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage -fno-inline")
   endif()
 endif()