diff --git a/cmake/QtCreatorAPI.cmake b/cmake/QtCreatorAPI.cmake
index c0db1ab3854..6504175d9e8 100644
--- a/cmake/QtCreatorAPI.cmake
+++ b/cmake/QtCreatorAPI.cmake
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ function(qtc_source_dir varName)
 endfunction()
 
 function(add_qtc_library name)
-  cmake_parse_arguments(_arg "STATIC;OBJECT;SKIP_TRANSLATION;ALLOW_ASCII_CASTS;UNVERSIONED;FEATURE_INFO"
+  cmake_parse_arguments(_arg "STATIC;OBJECT;SKIP_TRANSLATION;ALLOW_ASCII_CASTS;UNVERSIONED;FEATURE_INFO;SKIP_PCH"
     "DESTINATION;COMPONENT;SOURCES_PREFIX;BUILD_DEFAULT"
     "CONDITION;DEPENDS;PUBLIC_DEPENDS;DEFINES;PUBLIC_DEFINES;INCLUDES;PUBLIC_INCLUDES;SOURCES;EXPLICIT_MOC;SKIP_AUTOMOC;EXTRA_TRANSLATIONS;PROPERTIES" ${ARGN}
   )
@@ -252,7 +252,10 @@ function(add_qtc_library name)
     ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${_output_binary_dir}/${IDE_LIBRARY_PATH}"
     ${_arg_PROPERTIES}
   )
-  enable_pch(${name})
+
+  if (NOT _arg_SKIP_PCH)
+    enable_pch(${name})
+  endif()
 
   if (WIN32 AND library_type STREQUAL "SHARED" AND NOT _arg_UNVERSIONED)
     # Match qmake naming scheme e.g. Library4.dll
@@ -309,7 +312,7 @@ endfunction(add_qtc_library)
 
 function(add_qtc_plugin target_name)
   cmake_parse_arguments(_arg
-    "SKIP_DEBUG_CMAKE_FILE_CHECK;SKIP_INSTALL;INTERNAL_ONLY;SKIP_TRANSLATION;EXPORT"
+    "SKIP_DEBUG_CMAKE_FILE_CHECK;SKIP_INSTALL;INTERNAL_ONLY;SKIP_TRANSLATION;EXPORT;SKIP_PCH"
     "VERSION;COMPAT_VERSION;PLUGIN_JSON_IN;PLUGIN_PATH;PLUGIN_NAME;OUTPUT_NAME;BUILD_DEFAULT"
     "CONDITION;DEPENDS;PUBLIC_DEPENDS;DEFINES;PUBLIC_DEFINES;INCLUDES;PUBLIC_INCLUDES;SOURCES;EXPLICIT_MOC;SKIP_AUTOMOC;EXTRA_TRANSLATIONS;PLUGIN_DEPENDS;PLUGIN_RECOMMENDS;PLUGIN_TEST_DEPENDS;PROPERTIES"
     ${ARGN}
@@ -518,7 +521,9 @@ function(add_qtc_plugin target_name)
       IMPORT_PREFIX ""
     )
   endif()
-  enable_pch(${target_name})
+  if (NOT _arg_SKIP_PCH)
+    enable_pch(${target_name})
+  endif()
 
   if (NOT _arg_SKIP_INSTALL)
     if (_arg_EXPORT)
@@ -591,7 +596,7 @@ function(extend_qtc_test target_name)
 endfunction()
 
 function(add_qtc_executable name)
-  cmake_parse_arguments(_arg "SKIP_INSTALL;SKIP_TRANSLATION;ALLOW_ASCII_CASTS"
+  cmake_parse_arguments(_arg "SKIP_INSTALL;SKIP_TRANSLATION;ALLOW_ASCII_CASTS;SKIP_PCH"
     "DESTINATION;COMPONENT;BUILD_DEFAULT"
     "CONDITION;DEPENDS;DEFINES;INCLUDES;SOURCES;EXPLICIT_MOC;SKIP_AUTOMOC;EXTRA_TRANSLATIONS;PROPERTIES" ${ARGN})
 
@@ -692,7 +697,9 @@ function(add_qtc_executable name)
     VISIBILITY_INLINES_HIDDEN ON
     ${_arg_PROPERTIES}
   )
-  enable_pch(${name})
+  if (NOT _arg_SKIP_PCH)
+    enable_pch(${name})
+  endif()
 
   if (NOT _arg_SKIP_INSTALL)
     unset(COMPONENT_OPTION)
@@ -779,7 +786,7 @@ function(extend_qtc_executable name)
 endfunction()
 
 function(add_qtc_test name)
-  cmake_parse_arguments(_arg "GTEST" "TIMEOUT" "DEFINES;DEPENDS;INCLUDES;SOURCES;EXPLICIT_MOC;SKIP_AUTOMOC" ${ARGN})
+  cmake_parse_arguments(_arg "GTEST" "TIMEOUT" "DEFINES;DEPENDS;INCLUDES;SOURCES;EXPLICIT_MOC;SKIP_AUTOMOC;SKIP_PCH" ${ARGN})
 
   foreach(dependency ${_arg_DEPENDS})
     if (NOT TARGET ${dependency} AND NOT _arg_GTEST)
@@ -820,7 +827,9 @@ function(add_qtc_test name)
     BUILD_RPATH "${_RPATH_BASE}/${_RPATH}"
     INSTALL_RPATH "${_RPATH_BASE}/${_RPATH}"
   )
-  enable_pch(${name})
+  if (NOT _arg_SKIP_PCH)
+    enable_pch(${name})
+  endif()
 
   if (NOT _arg_GTEST)
     add_test(NAME ${name} COMMAND ${name})
diff --git a/cmake/QtCreatorAPIInternal.cmake b/cmake/QtCreatorAPIInternal.cmake
index 45aa8246dbe..75da71d69ab 100644
--- a/cmake/QtCreatorAPIInternal.cmake
+++ b/cmake/QtCreatorAPIInternal.cmake
@@ -122,6 +122,17 @@ function(qtc_handle_sccache_support)
   endif()
 endfunction()
 
+function(qtc_enable_release_for_debug_configuration)
+  if (MSVC)
+    string(REPLACE "/Od" "/O2" CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG}")
+    string(REPLACE "/Ob0" "/Ob1" CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG}")
+    string(REPLACE "/RTC1" ""  CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG}")
+  else()
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG} -O2")
+  endif()
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction()
+
 function(append_extra_translations target_name)
   if(NOT ARGN)
     return()
diff --git a/src/libs/3rdparty/cplusplus/CMakeLists.txt b/src/libs/3rdparty/cplusplus/CMakeLists.txt
index b8a8607a8c3..f2515c9c3a0 100644
--- a/src/libs/3rdparty/cplusplus/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/libs/3rdparty/cplusplus/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -41,5 +41,14 @@ add_qtc_library(3rd_cplusplus OBJECT
     Type.cpp Type.h
     TypeVisitor.cpp TypeVisitor.h
     cppassert.h
+  SKIP_PCH
   PROPERTIES POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON
 )
+
+if(TARGET 3rd_cplusplus)
+  qtc_enable_release_for_debug_configuration()
+  if (BUILD_WITH_PCH)
+    target_precompile_headers(3rd_cplusplus PRIVATE
+      "${QtCreator_SOURCE_DIR}/src/shared/qtcreator_gui_pch.h")
+  endif()
+endif()
diff --git a/src/libs/cplusplus/CMakeLists.txt b/src/libs/cplusplus/CMakeLists.txt
index 9ca49291d4c..aa650c11b34 100644
--- a/src/libs/cplusplus/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/libs/cplusplus/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -40,4 +40,13 @@ add_qtc_library(CPlusPlus
     pp-engine.h pp-scanner.cpp
     pp-scanner.h
     pp.h
+  SKIP_PCH
 )
+
+if(TARGET CPlusPlus)
+  qtc_enable_release_for_debug_configuration()
+  if (BUILD_WITH_PCH)
+    target_precompile_headers(CPlusPlus PRIVATE
+      "${QtCreator_SOURCE_DIR}/src/shared/qtcreator_gui_pch.h")
+  endif()
+endif()