diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 241a1824ec..949d6d4092 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ Copyright @copyright{} 2021 Xinglu Chen@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2021 Raghav Gururajan@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2021 Domagoj Stolfa@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2021 Hui Lu@*
+Copyright @copyright{} 2021 pukkamustard@*
 
 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
@@ -7731,6 +7732,12 @@ The @code{#:package} parameter can be passed to specify a package name, which
 is useful when a package contains multiple packages and you want to build
 only one of them.  This is equivalent to passing the @code{-p} argument to
 @code{dune}.
+
+The @code{#:profile} parameter can be passed to specify the
+@uref{https://dune.readthedocs.io/en/stable/dune-files.html#profile,
+dune build profile}. This is equivalent to passing the @code{--profile}
+argument to @code{dune}. Its default value is @code{"release"}.
+
 @end defvr
 
 @defvr {Scheme Variable} go-build-system
diff --git a/gnu/packages/ocaml.scm b/gnu/packages/ocaml.scm
index bdd52d2940..fee9e5e0ee 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/ocaml.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/ocaml.scm
@@ -2876,8 +2876,7 @@ without a complete in-memory representation of the data.")
           "1dvcl108ir9nqkk4mjm9xhhj4p9dx9bmg8bnms54fizs1x3x8ar3"))))
     (build-system dune-build-system)
     (arguments
-     `(#:test-target "tests"
-       #:build-flags (list "--profile=release")))
+     `(#:test-target "tests"))
     (propagated-inputs
      `(("ocaml-cmdliner" ,ocaml-cmdliner)))
     (home-page "https://www.typerex.org/ocp-indent.html")
@@ -3295,8 +3294,7 @@ build system and allows external tools to analyse your project easily.")
                   "1smcc0l6fh2n0y6bp96c69j5nw755jja99w0b206wx3yb2m4w2hs"))))
     (build-system dune-build-system)
     (arguments
-     `(#:tests? #f
-       #:build-flags (list "--profile" "release")))
+     `(#:tests? #f))
     (native-inputs
      `(("ocamlbuild" ,ocamlbuild)))
     (home-page "https://github.com/mjambon/cppo")
@@ -3364,8 +3362,7 @@ standard iterator type starting from 4.07.")
         (base32 "07ycb103mr4mrkxfd63cwlsn023xvcjp0ra0k7n2gwrg0mwxmfss"))))
     (build-system dune-build-system)
     (arguments
-     `(#:tests? #f
-       #:build-flags (list "--profile" "release")))
+     `(#:tests? #f))
     (propagated-inputs
      `(("ocaml-seq" ,ocaml-seq)))
     (native-inputs
@@ -3842,9 +3839,8 @@ the plugins facilitate extensibility, and the frontends serve as entry points.")
                 "0chn7ldqb3wyf95yhmsxxq65cif56smgz1mhhc7m0dpwmyq1k97h"))))
     (build-system dune-build-system)
     (arguments
-     `(#:build-flags (list "--profile" "release")
-       #:test-target "camomile-test"
-       #:tests? #f; Tests fail, see https://github.com/yoriyuki/Camomile/issues/82
+     `(#:test-target "camomile-test"
+       #:tests? #f ; Tests fail, see https://github.com/yoriyuki/Camomile/issues/82
        #:phases
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-before 'build 'fix-usr-share
@@ -3935,8 +3931,7 @@ connect an engine to your inputs and rendering functions to get an editor.")
         (base32 "0zcjy6fvf0d3i2ssz96asl889n3r6bplyzk7xvb2s3dkxbgcisyy"))))
     (build-system dune-build-system)
     (arguments
-     `(#:build-flags (list "--profile" "release")
-       #:tests? #f
+     `(#:tests? #f
        #:ocaml ,ocaml-4.07
        #:findlib ,ocaml4.07-findlib
        #:dune ,ocaml4.07-dune))
diff --git a/guix/build-system/dune.scm b/guix/build-system/dune.scm
index 6a2f3d16de..1a64cf9b75 100644
--- a/guix/build-system/dune.scm
+++ b/guix/build-system/dune.scm
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
 ;;; Copyright © 2016, 2017, 2018 Julien Lepiller <julien@lepiller.eu>
 ;;; Copyright © 2017 Ben Woodcroft <donttrustben@gmail.com>
+;;; Copyright © 2021 pukkamustard <pukkamustard@posteo.net>
 ;;;
 ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
 ;;;
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@
                      (out-of-source? #t)
                      (jbuild? #f)
                      (package #f)
+                     (profile "release")
                      (tests? #t)
                      (test-flags ''())
                      (test-target "test")
@@ -127,6 +129,7 @@ provides a 'setup.ml' file as its build system."
                    #:out-of-source? ,out-of-source?
                    #:jbuild? ,jbuild?
                    #:package ,package
+                   #:profile ,profile
                    #:tests? ,tests?
                    #:test-target ,test-target
                    #:install-target ,install-target
diff --git a/guix/build/dune-build-system.scm b/guix/build/dune-build-system.scm
index 7e2ec1e3e1..6a0c2593ac 100644
--- a/guix/build/dune-build-system.scm
+++ b/guix/build/dune-build-system.scm
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
 ;;; Copyright © 2018 Julien Lepiller <julien@lepiller.eu>
 ;;; Copyright © 2019 Gabriel Hondet <gabrielhondet@gmail.com>
+;;; Copyright © 2021 pukkamustard <pukkamustard@posteo.net>
 ;;;
 ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
 ;;;
@@ -31,11 +32,14 @@
 ;; Code:
 
 (define* (build #:key (build-flags '()) (jbuild? #f)
-                (use-make? #f) (package #f) #:allow-other-keys)
+                (use-make? #f) (package #f)
+                (profile "release") #:allow-other-keys)
   "Build the given package."
   (let ((program (if jbuild? "jbuilder" "dune")))
     (apply invoke program "build" "@install"
-           (append (if package (list "-p" package) '()) build-flags)))
+           (append (if package (list "-p" package) '())
+                   `("--profile" ,profile)
+                   build-flags)))
   #t)
 
 (define* (check #:key (test-flags '()) (test-target "test") tests?