diff --git a/cmake/QtBuildOptionsHelpers.cmake b/cmake/QtBuildOptionsHelpers.cmake
index 8a14060e5e4..1d5002bfd18 100644
--- a/cmake/QtBuildOptionsHelpers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/QtBuildOptionsHelpers.cmake
@@ -10,9 +10,11 @@ macro(qt_internal_set_default_build_type)
     # Try to detect if an explicit CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE was set by the user.
     # CMake sets CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE_INIT to Debug on most Windows platforms and doesn't set
     # anything for UNIXes. CMake assigns CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE_INIT to CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE during
-    # first project() if CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE has no previous value.
+    # the first project() call, if CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE had no previous value.
     # We use extra information about the state of CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE before the first
-    # project() call that's set in QtAutodetect.
+    # project() call that's set in QtAutoDetect.cmake or manually in a project via the
+    # __qt_internal_standalone_project_cmake_build_type_before_project_call variable (as done
+    # for the qtbase sqldrivers project).
     # STREQUAL check needs to have expanded variables because an undefined var is not equal
     # to an empty defined var.
     # See also qt_internal_force_set_cmake_build_type_conditionally which is used
@@ -20,6 +22,7 @@ macro(qt_internal_set_default_build_type)
     if("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE_INIT}"
         AND NOT __qt_auto_detect_cmake_build_type_before_project_call
         AND NOT __qt_build_internals_cmake_build_type
+        AND NOT __qt_internal_standalone_project_cmake_build_type_before_project_call
         AND NOT CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES)
       message(STATUS "Setting build type to '${_default_build_type}' as none was specified.")
       set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "${_default_build_type}" CACHE STRING "Choose the type of build." FORCE)
diff --git a/src/plugins/sqldrivers/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/sqldrivers/CMakeLists.txt
index 7f44072da05..e3254a762de 100644
--- a/src/plugins/sqldrivers/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/sqldrivers/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
 if (NOT CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME STREQUAL "QtBase" AND NOT CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME STREQUAL "Qt")
     include(.cmake.conf)
+    # Store initial build type (if any is specified) to be read by
+    # qt_internal_set_default_build_type().
+    # See qt_internal_set_default_build_type() for details.
+    if(DEFINED CACHE{CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE})
+        set(__qt_internal_standalone_project_cmake_build_type_before_project_call
+            "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+    endif()
+
     project(QSQLiteDriverPlugins
         VERSION "${QT_REPO_MODULE_VERSION}"
         DESCRIPTION "Qt6 SQL driver plugins"