diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 670df4d..703f9d2 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -471,9 +471,6 @@ class BuildExt (build_ext):
             linkflags.extend([
                 "-O0",
             ])
-        else:
-            linkflags.append("-O3")
-            ccflags.append("-O3")
 
         return build_ext.build_extension(self, ext)
 
@@ -869,7 +866,6 @@ def get_ext_modules():
         '-Wno-write-strings',
         '-D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=200809L',
         "-DNO_TESTS",  # FIXME: we're building against shared libmypaint now
-        '-g',  # always include symbols, for profiling
     ]
     extra_link_args = []