diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4d00ac1..a0b3760 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ file(GLOB_RECURSE GLSL_SOURCE_FILES
         "shaders/*.comp"
 )
 
+if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug)
+    add_compile_definitions(DEBUG)
+else ()
+    add_compile_definitions(NDEBUG)
+endif ()
+
 if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug AND NOT APPLE)
     set(GLSLC_DEFINE "-DDEBUG")
 else ()
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 2a2f691..7a927ff 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -66,8 +66,17 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
         config.immediateSwapchain = args::get(immediateSwapchainFlag);
     }
 
+#ifndef DEBUG
+    try {
+#endif
     auto renderer = Renderer(config);
     renderer.initialize();
     renderer.run();
+#ifndef DEBUG
+    } catch (const std::exception& e) {
+        std::cerr << e.what() << std::endl;
+        return 1;
+    }
+#endif
     return 0;
 }