diff --git a/scripts/build_darwin.sh b/scripts/build_darwin.sh
index 3144349b..d7143615 100755
--- a/scripts/build_darwin.sh
+++ b/scripts/build_darwin.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 mkdir -p dist
 
 GO_LDFLAGS="-X github.com/jmorganca/ollama/version.Version=$VERSION"
+GO_LDFLAGS="$GO_LDFLAGS -X github.com/jmorganca/ollama/server.mode=release"
 
 # build universal binary
 CGO_ENABLED=1 GOARCH=arm64 go build -ldflags "$GO_LDFLAGS" -o dist/ollama-darwin-arm64
diff --git a/server/routes.go b/server/routes.go
index 880eba8a..dbe0a6ad 100644
--- a/server/routes.go
+++ b/server/routes.go
@@ -25,6 +25,20 @@ import (
 	"github.com/jmorganca/ollama/vector"
 )
 
+var mode string = gin.DebugMode
+
+func init() {
+	switch mode {
+	case gin.DebugMode:
+	case gin.ReleaseMode:
+	case gin.TestMode:
+	default:
+		mode = gin.DebugMode
+	}
+
+	gin.SetMode(mode)
+}
+
 var loaded struct {
 	mu sync.Mutex