diff --git a/cmake/profile.cmake b/cmake/profile.cmake
index 72ac20d6bb..3a7f90bc0e 100644
--- a/cmake/profile.cmake
+++ b/cmake/profile.cmake
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2020 ARM Limited. All rights reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+# Set Develop as our default type if no other selected
+if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+    set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Develop" CACHE
+        STRING "The type of build" FORCE)
+endif()
+
 # Mapping CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE into MBED_BUILD_TYPES, as we understand only 3 profiles
 set(MBED_BUILD_TYPES Debug Release Develop)
 
@@ -11,8 +17,10 @@ string(TOLOWER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} LOWERCASE_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
 
 get_property(multi_config GLOBAL PROPERTY GENERATOR_IS_MULTI_CONFIG)
 if(multi_config)
+  # multi configuration generators do not support build type, providing a list only
   set(CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES "${MBED_BUILD_TYPES}" CACHE STRING "List of supported build types" FORCE)
 else()
+  # Set the possible values of build type for cmake-gui
   set_property(CACHE CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE PROPERTY STRINGS "${MBED_BUILD_TYPES}")
   if(NOT LOWERCASE_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE IN_LIST LOWERCASE_MBED_BUILD_TYPES)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Invalid build type '${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}'. Possible values:\n ${MBED_BUILD_TYPES}")