diff --git a/contrib/debian/compat b/contrib/debian/compat
--- a/contrib/debian/compat
+++ b/contrib/debian/compat
@@ -1 +1 @@
-9
+12
diff --git a/contrib/debian/control b/contrib/debian/control
--- a/contrib/debian/control
+++ b/contrib/debian/control
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 Maintainer: Bitcoin ABC Package Maintainers <package-maintainers@bitcoinabc.org>
 Uploaders: Jason B. Cox <jasonbcox@bitcoinabc.org>
 Build-Depends: cmake (>= 3.13),
- debhelper,
+ debhelper (>=12.1),
  devscripts,
  git,
  libdb5.3++-dev,
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
  libqrencode-dev,
  libssl-dev,
  libzmq3-dev,
+ ninja-build,
  protobuf-compiler,
  python3,
  qttools5-dev,
diff --git a/contrib/debian/rules b/contrib/debian/rules
--- a/contrib/debian/rules
+++ b/contrib/debian/rules
@@ -2,4 +2,10 @@
 # -*- mode: makefile; coding: utf-8 -*-
 
 %:
-	dh $@ --buildsystem=cmake
+	dh $@ --buildsystem=cmake+ninja --builddirectory=_build
+
+override_dh_auto_configure:
+	dh_auto_configure -- -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo
+
+override_dh_auto_test:
+	ninja -C _build check