diff --git a/CMake/Dependencies/libcurl-CMakeLists.txt b/CMake/Dependencies/libcurl-CMakeLists.txt
index 7d369197e..f0cb9f85e 100644
--- a/CMake/Dependencies/libcurl-CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMake/Dependencies/libcurl-CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ endif()
 
 set(CMAKE_ARGS
         -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS}
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
         -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${OPEN_SRC_INSTALL_PREFIX}
         -DBUILD_CURL_EXE=0
         -DHTTP_ONLY=1)
diff --git a/CMake/Dependencies/libjsmn-CMakeLists.txt b/CMake/Dependencies/libjsmn-CMakeLists.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index b16ca0f5b..000000000
--- a/CMake/Dependencies/libjsmn-CMakeLists.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.6.3)
-
-project(libjsmn-download NONE)
-
-include(ExternalProject)
-ExternalProject_Add(project_libjsmn
-    GIT_REPOSITORY    https://github.com/zserge/jsmn.git
-    GIT_TAG           v1.0.0
-    PREFIX            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/build
-    PATCH_COMMAND     git apply --ignore-whitespace ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../../CMake/Dependencies/libjsmn-add-cmakelists.patch
-    CMAKE_ARGS        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${OPEN_SRC_INSTALL_PREFIX}
-    BUILD_ALWAYS      TRUE
-    TEST_COMMAND      ""
-)
diff --git a/CMake/Dependencies/libjsmn-add-cmakelists.patch b/CMake/Dependencies/libjsmn-add-cmakelists.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 133c61d9d..000000000
--- a/CMake/Dependencies/libjsmn-add-cmakelists.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
-new file mode 100644
-index 0000000..f4a1d44
---- /dev/null
-+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
-@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
-+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.6.3)
-+project(jsmn C)
-+
-+
-+if("${CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID}" MATCHES "GNU|Clang")
-+    set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -fPIC")
-+endif()
-+
-+add_library(jsmn STATIC jsmn.h jsmn.c)
-+install(TARGETS jsmn DESTINATION lib)
-+install(FILES jsmn.h DESTINATION include)
diff --git a/CMake/Dependencies/libmbedtls-CMakeLists.txt b/CMake/Dependencies/libmbedtls-CMakeLists.txt
index cd89da2b4..4a0d5f318 100644
--- a/CMake/Dependencies/libmbedtls-CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMake/Dependencies/libmbedtls-CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ ExternalProject_Add(
   CMAKE_ARGS
   	-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${OPEN_SRC_INSTALL_PREFIX}
     -DUSE_SHARED_MBEDTLS_LIBRARY=${BUILD_SHARED}
-    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
     -DCMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH=${CMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH}
   BUILD_ALWAYS 		TRUE
   TEST_COMMAND 		"")
diff --git a/CMake/Dependencies/libwebsockets-CMakeLists.txt b/CMake/Dependencies/libwebsockets-CMakeLists.txt
index e00ee305d..3992337ef 100644
--- a/CMake/Dependencies/libwebsockets-CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMake/Dependencies/libwebsockets-CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ ExternalProject_Add(project_libwebsockets
     CMAKE_ARGS
         -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${OPEN_SRC_INSTALL_PREFIX}
         -DLWS_WITH_HTTP2=1
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
         -DLWS_HAVE_HMAC_CTX_new=1
         -DLWS_HAVE_SSL_EXTRA_CHAIN_CERTS=1
         -DLWS_HAVE_OPENSSL_ECDH_H=1
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8310dd98f..10b5f12cc 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ endif()
 
 message(STATUS "Kinesis Video Producer path is ${KINESIS_VIDEO_PRODUCER_C_SRC}")
 
+if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+    message(STATUS "Setting CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE to Release by default")
+    set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Release" CACHE STRING "Choose the type of build." FORCE)
+endif()
+
 if(BUILD_DEPENDENCIES)
   if (NOT OPEN_SRC_INSTALL_PREFIX)
     set(OPEN_SRC_INSTALL_PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/open-source)
@@ -88,7 +93,7 @@ if(BUILD_DEPENDENCIES)
                     -DBUILD_OPENSSL_PLATFORM=${BUILD_OPENSSL_PLATFORM})
       build_dependency(openssl ${BUILD_ARGS})
     elseif(USE_MBEDTLS)
-      set(BUILD_ARGS -DBUILD_STATIC=${BUILD_STATIC})
+      set(BUILD_ARGS -DBUILD_STATIC=${BUILD_STATIC} -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE})
       build_dependency(mbedtls ${BUILD_ARGS})
     else()
       message(FATAL_ERROR "No crypto library selected.")
@@ -97,6 +102,7 @@ if(BUILD_DEPENDENCIES)
 
   if (BUILD_COMMON_LWS)
     set(BUILD_ARGS  -DBUILD_STATIC=${BUILD_STATIC}
+                    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
                     -DOPENSSL_DIR=${OPEN_SRC_INSTALL_PREFIX}
                     -DUSE_OPENSSL=${USE_OPENSSL}
                     -DUSE_MBEDTLS=${USE_MBEDTLS})
@@ -105,6 +111,7 @@ if(BUILD_DEPENDENCIES)
 
   if (BUILD_COMMON_CURL)
     set(BUILD_ARGS  -DBUILD_STATIC=${BUILD_STATIC}
+                    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
                     -DUSE_OPENSSL=${USE_OPENSSL}
                     -DUSE_MBEDTLS=${USE_MBEDTLS})
     build_dependency(curl ${BUILD_ARGS})
diff --git a/tst/ProducerTestFixture.cpp b/tst/ProducerTestFixture.cpp
index 5ef4cdea2..b8aa3a782 100644
--- a/tst/ProducerTestFixture.cpp
+++ b/tst/ProducerTestFixture.cpp
@@ -233,9 +233,16 @@ ProducerClientTestBase::ProducerClientTestBase() :
         mDescribeFailCount(0),
         mDescribeRecoverCount(0)
 {
+    STATUS retStatus = STATUS_SUCCESS;
     auto logLevelStr = GETENV("AWS_KVS_LOG_LEVEL");
     if (logLevelStr != NULL) {
-        assert(STRTOUI32(logLevelStr, NULL, 10, &this->loggerLogLevel) == STATUS_SUCCESS);
+        retStatus = STRTOUI32(logLevelStr, NULL, 10, &this->loggerLogLevel);
+        if (retStatus != STATUS_SUCCESS) {
+            // Throwing instead of asserting since this is being done in a constructor. ASSERT_EQ
+            // causes the function to exit immediately and constructor does not have a return type.
+            // The goal is to ensure if an env is set, it is set with a valid value and not empty
+            throw std::runtime_error("Failed to set log level from env");
+        }
         SET_LOGGER_LOG_LEVEL(this->loggerLogLevel);
     }