diff --git a/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-255_rc3.ebuild b/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-255_rc3.ebuild
index 5dd68f386e4bd..412ecb66e4682 100644
--- a/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-255_rc3.ebuild
+++ b/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-255_rc3.ebuild
@@ -272,6 +272,8 @@ src_configure() {
 multilib_src_configure() {
 	local myconf=(
 		--localstatedir="${EPREFIX}/var"
+		# default is developer, bug 918671
+		-Dmode=release
 		-Dsupport-url="https://gentoo.org/support/"
 		-Dpamlibdir="$(getpam_mod_dir)"
 		# avoid bash-completion dep
diff --git a/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-255_rc4.ebuild b/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-255_rc4.ebuild
index 5dd68f386e4bd..412ecb66e4682 100644
--- a/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-255_rc4.ebuild
+++ b/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-255_rc4.ebuild
@@ -272,6 +272,8 @@ src_configure() {
 multilib_src_configure() {
 	local myconf=(
 		--localstatedir="${EPREFIX}/var"
+		# default is developer, bug 918671
+		-Dmode=release
 		-Dsupport-url="https://gentoo.org/support/"
 		-Dpamlibdir="$(getpam_mod_dir)"
 		# avoid bash-completion dep
diff --git a/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-9999.ebuild b/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-9999.ebuild
index 5dd68f386e4bd..412ecb66e4682 100644
--- a/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-9999.ebuild
+++ b/sys-apps/systemd/systemd-9999.ebuild
@@ -272,6 +272,8 @@ src_configure() {
 multilib_src_configure() {
 	local myconf=(
 		--localstatedir="${EPREFIX}/var"
+		# default is developer, bug 918671
+		-Dmode=release
 		-Dsupport-url="https://gentoo.org/support/"
 		-Dpamlibdir="$(getpam_mod_dir)"
 		# avoid bash-completion dep