diff --git a/xtask/src/build_ebpf.rs b/xtask/src/build_ebpf.rs
index 4c1fea2..85facdc 100644
--- a/xtask/src/build_ebpf.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/build_ebpf.rs
@@ -35,24 +35,25 @@ pub struct Options {
     /// Set the endianness of the BPF target
     #[structopt(default_value = "bpfel-unknown-none", long)]
     pub target: Architecture,
-    /// Build profile for eBPF programs
-    #[structopt(default_value = "release", long)]
-    pub profile: String,
+    /// Build the release target
+    #[structopt(long)]
+    pub release: bool,
 }
 
 pub fn build_ebpf(opts: Options) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
     let dir = PathBuf::from("{{project-name}}-ebpf");
     let target = format!("--target={}", opts.target);
-    let args = vec![
+    let mut args = vec![
         "+nightly",
         "build",
         "--verbose",
         target.as_str(),
         "-Z",
         "build-std=core",
-        "--profile",
-        opts.profile.as_str(),
     ];
+    if opts.release {
+        args.push("--release")
+    }
     let status = Command::new("cargo")
         .current_dir(&dir)
         .args(&args)
diff --git a/xtask/src/run.rs b/xtask/src/run.rs
index e717f98..175c410 100644
--- a/xtask/src/run.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/run.rs
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ pub struct Options {
     /// Set the endianness of the BPF target
     #[structopt(default_value = "bpfel-unknown-none", long)]
     pub bpf_target: Architecture,
-    /// Build profile for userspace program
-    #[structopt(default_value = "dev", long)]
-    pub profile: String,
+    /// Build and run the release target
+    #[structopt(long)]
+    pub release: bool,
     /// The command used to wrap your application
     #[structopt(short, long, default_value = "sudo -E")]
     pub runner: String,
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ pub struct Options {
 
 /// Build the project
 fn build(opts: &Options) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
-    let args = vec!["build", "--profile", opts.profile.as_str()];
+    let mut args = vec!["build"];
+    if opts.release {
+        args.push("--release")
+    }
     let status = Command::new("cargo")
         .args(&args)
         .status()
@@ -37,17 +40,14 @@ pub fn run(opts: Options) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
     // build our ebpf program followed by our application
     build_ebpf(BuildOptions {
         target: opts.bpf_target,
-        profile: opts.profile.clone(),
+        release: opts.release,
     })
     .context("Error while building eBPF program")?;
     build(&opts).context("Error while building userspace application")?;
 
-    let target_dir = match opts.profile.as_str() {
-        "dev" | "test" => "debug",
-        "bench" | "release" => "release",
-        _ => opts.profile.as_str(),
-    };
-    let bin_path = format!("target/{}/{{project-name}}", target_dir);
+    // profile we are building (release or debug)
+    let profile = if opts.release { "release" } else { "debug" };
+    let bin_path = format!("target/{}/{{project-name}}", profile);
 
     // arguments to pass to the application
     let mut run_args: Vec<_> = opts.run_args.iter().map(String::as_str).collect();
diff --git a/{{project-name}}-ebpf/Cargo.toml b/{{project-name}}-ebpf/Cargo.toml
index c8ed8b3..4d07f31 100644
--- a/{{project-name}}-ebpf/Cargo.toml
+++ b/{{project-name}}-ebpf/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ aya-bpf = { git = "https://github.com/aya-rs/aya", branch = "main" }
 name = "{{ project-name }}"
 path = "src/main.rs"
 
+[profile.dev]
+panic = "abort"
+debug = 1
+opt-level = 2
+overflow-checks = false
+
 [profile.release]
 panic = "abort"
 
diff --git a/{{project-name}}/src/main.rs b/{{project-name}}/src/main.rs
index 1c533c0..1579092 100644
--- a/{{project-name}}/src/main.rs
+++ b/{{project-name}}/src/main.rs
@@ -65,6 +65,11 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
     // runtime. This approach is recommended for most real-world use cases. If you would
     // like to specify the eBPF program at runtime rather than at compile-time, you can
     // reach for `Bpf::load_file` instead.
+    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+    let mut bpf = Bpf::load(include_bytes_aligned!(
+        "../../target/bpfel-unknown-none/debug/{{project-name}}"
+    ))?;
+    #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
     let mut bpf = Bpf::load(include_bytes_aligned!(
         "../../target/bpfel-unknown-none/release/{{project-name}}"
     ))?;