diff --git a/example/README.md b/example/README.md
index 1d4c56607..dc732378a 100644
--- a/example/README.md
+++ b/example/README.md
@@ -36,7 +36,14 @@ Run `make -C example/linux_fde/`. The example binary and its resources will be
 in `example/build/linux_fde`, and can be run from there:
 
 ```
-$ ./example/build/linux_fde/flutter_embedder_example
+$ ./example/build/linux_fde/debug/flutter_embedder_example
+```
+
+To build a version with Dart asserts disabled (and thus no DEBUG banner),
+run `make BUILD=release` instead, then launch it with:
+
+```
+$ ./example/build/linux_fde/release/flutter_embedder_example
 ```
 
 ### macOS
diff --git a/example/linux_fde/Makefile b/example/linux_fde/Makefile
index 9582e7c03..c9073a6e7 100644
--- a/example/linux_fde/Makefile
+++ b/example/linux_fde/Makefile
@@ -12,13 +12,30 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+# Example-specific variables.
+# To modify this Makefile for a different application, these are the values
+# that are mostly likely to need to be changed.
+
+# The location of the flutter-desktop-embedding repository.
+FDE_ROOT=$(CURDIR)/../..
+# The C++ code for the embedder application.
+SOURCES=flutter_embedder_example.cc
+# Plugins to include (from the flutter-desktop-embedding plugins/ directory).
+PLUGIN_NAMES=color_panel file_chooser menubar
+
+
+# Default build type. For a release build, set BUILD=release.
+# Currently this only sets NDEBUG, which is used to control the flags passed
+# to the Flutter engine in the example shell, and not the complation settings
+# (e.g., optimization level) of the C++ code.
+BUILD:=debug
+
 # Dependency locations
-PROJECT_ROOT=$(CURDIR)/../..
-FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB_DIR=$(PROJECT_ROOT)/library/linux
 FLUTTER_APP_DIR=$(CURDIR)/..
 FLUTTER_APP_BUILD_DIR=$(FLUTTER_APP_DIR)/build
-PLUGINS_DIR=$(PROJECT_ROOT)/plugins
-TOOLS_DIR=$(PROJECT_ROOT)/tools
+FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB_DIR=$(FDE_ROOT)/library/linux
+PLUGINS_DIR=$(FDE_ROOT)/plugins
+TOOLS_DIR=$(FDE_ROOT)/tools
 FLUTTER_DIR=$(shell $(TOOLS_DIR)/flutter_location)
 
 # Libraries
@@ -28,7 +45,6 @@ FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB=$(FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB_DIR)/lib$(FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB_NAME)
 FLUTTER_ENGINE_LIB_NAME=flutter_engine
 FLUTTER_ENGINE_LIB=$(FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB_DIR)/lib$(FLUTTER_ENGINE_LIB_NAME).so
 
-PLUGIN_NAMES=color_panel file_chooser menubar
 PLUGIN_LIB_NAME_PREFIX=flutter_embedder_
 PLUGIN_LIBS=$(foreach plugin,$(PLUGIN_NAMES)\
 	,$(PLUGINS_DIR)/$(plugin)/linux/lib$(PLUGIN_LIB_NAME_PREFIX)$(plugin).so)
@@ -38,7 +54,7 @@ ALL_LIBS=$(FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB) $(FLUTTER_ENGINE_LIB) $(PLUGIN_LIBS)
 # Headers
 PLUGIN_DIRS=$(patsubst %,$(PLUGINS_DIR)/%/linux,$(PLUGIN_NAMES))
 LIBRARY_DIRS=$(FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB_DIR) $(PLUGIN_DIRS)
-INCLUDE_DIRS=$(patsubst %,%/include,$(LIBRARY_DIRS)) $(PROJECT_ROOT)/library/include
+INCLUDE_DIRS=$(patsubst %,%/include,$(LIBRARY_DIRS)) $(FDE_ROOT)/library/include
 
 # Tools
 BUILD_ASSETS_BIN=$(TOOLS_DIR)/build_flutter_assets
@@ -51,7 +67,7 @@ FLUTTER_ASSETS_NAME=flutter_assets
 FLUTTER_ASSETS_SOURCE=$(FLUTTER_APP_BUILD_DIR)/$(FLUTTER_ASSETS_NAME)
 
 # Output bundle structure and targets
-OUT_DIR=$(FLUTTER_APP_BUILD_DIR)/linux_fde
+OUT_DIR=$(FLUTTER_APP_BUILD_DIR)/linux_fde/$(BUILD)
 OUT_DATA_DIR=$(OUT_DIR)/data
 OUT_LIB_DIR=$(OUT_DIR)/lib
 
@@ -61,7 +77,7 @@ ALL_LIBS_OUT=$(foreach lib,$(ALL_LIBS),$(OUT_LIB_DIR)/$(notdir $(lib)))
 
 # Overrides for the optional GN build.
 ifdef USE_GN
-GN_OUT_DIR=$(PROJECT_ROOT)/out
+GN_OUT_DIR=$(FDE_ROOT)/out
 
 # The GN build places all libraries at the top level of the output directory.
 FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB=$(GN_OUT_DIR)/lib$(FLUTTER_EMBEDDER_LIB_NAME).so
@@ -82,7 +98,9 @@ endif
 
 # Build settings
 CXX=g++ -std=c++14
-CXXFLAGS=-Wall -Werror $(shell pkg-config --cflags jsoncpp glfw3)
+CXXFLAGS.release=-DNDEBUG
+CXXFLAGS=-Wall -Werror $(shell pkg-config --cflags jsoncpp glfw3) \
+				 $(CXXFLAGS.$(BUILD))
 CPPFLAGS=$(patsubst %,-I%,$(INCLUDE_DIRS))
 ifdef USE_GN
 CPPFLAGS+=-DUSE_FLATTENED_INCLUDES
@@ -94,8 +112,6 @@ LDFLAGS=-L$(OUT_LIB_DIR) \
 	$(patsubst %,-l$(PLUGIN_LIB_NAME_PREFIX)%,$(PLUGIN_NAMES)) \
 	-Wl,-rpath=\$$ORIGIN/lib
 
-SOURCES=flutter_embedder_example.cc
-
 # Targets
 
 .PHONY: all