diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/Compilation/CompilationOptionsProviderExtension.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/Compilation/CompilationOptionsProviderExtension.cs
index a07015da3b..039047cfa9 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/Compilation/CompilationOptionsProviderExtension.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/Compilation/CompilationOptionsProviderExtension.cs
@@ -23,10 +23,14 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Compilation
         /// <param name="applicationEnvironment">
         /// The <see cref="IApplicationEnvironment"/> for the executing application.
         /// </param>
+        /// <param name="configuration">
+        /// The configuration name to use for compilation.
+        /// </param>
         /// <returns>The <see cref="CompilationSettings"/> for the current application.</returns>
         public static CompilationSettings GetCompilationSettings(
             this ICompilerOptionsProvider compilerOptionsProvider,
-            IApplicationEnvironment applicationEnvironment)
+            IApplicationEnvironment applicationEnvironment,
+            string configuration)
         {
             if (compilerOptionsProvider == null)
             {
@@ -38,10 +42,16 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Compilation
                 throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(applicationEnvironment));
             }
 
-            return compilerOptionsProvider.GetCompilerOptions(applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName,
-                                                              applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework,
-                                                              applicationEnvironment.Configuration)
-                                          .ToCompilationSettings(applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework, applicationEnvironment.ApplicationBasePath);
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(configuration))
+            {
+                throw new ArgumentException(Resources.ArgumentCannotBeNullOrEmpty, nameof(configuration));
+            }
+
+            return compilerOptionsProvider.GetCompilerOptions(
+                    applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName,
+                    applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework,
+                    configuration)
+                .ToCompilationSettings(applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework, applicationEnvironment.ApplicationBasePath);
         }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/Compilation/RoslynCompilationService.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/Compilation/RoslynCompilationService.cs
index 1a9dd35d06..bacd815042 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/Compilation/RoslynCompilationService.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/Compilation/RoslynCompilationService.cs
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Compilation
         private readonly IFileProvider _fileProvider;
         private readonly Lazy<List<MetadataReference>> _applicationReferences;
         private readonly string _classPrefix;
+        private readonly string _configuration;
 
 #if DOTNET5_5
         private readonly RazorLoadContext _razorLoadContext;
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Compilation
             _compilerOptionsProvider = compilerOptionsProvider;
             _fileProvider = optionsAccessor.Value.FileProvider;
             _classPrefix = host.MainClassNamePrefix;
+            _configuration = optionsAccessor.Value.Configuration;
 
 #if DOTNET5_5
             _razorLoadContext = new RazorLoadContext();
@@ -89,7 +91,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Compilation
             }
 
             var assemblyName = Path.GetRandomFileName();
-            var compilationSettings = _compilerOptionsProvider.GetCompilationSettings(_environment);
+            var compilationSettings = _compilerOptionsProvider.GetCompilationSettings(_environment, _configuration);
             var syntaxTree = SyntaxTreeGenerator.Generate(
                 compilationContent,
                 assemblyName,
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/RazorViewEngineOptions.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/RazorViewEngineOptions.cs
index 20663aa5b8..39327befb5 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/RazorViewEngineOptions.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/RazorViewEngineOptions.cs
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor
     {
         private IFileProvider _fileProvider;
 
+        private string _configuration;
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Get a <see cref="IList{IViewLocationExpander}"/> used by the <see cref="RazorViewEngine"/>.
         /// </summary>
@@ -42,5 +44,26 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor
                 _fileProvider = value;
             }
         }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets the configuration name used by <see cref="RazorViewEngine"/> to compile razor views.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// At startup, this is initialized to "Debug" if <see cref="Microsoft.AspNet.Hosting.IHostingEnvironment"/> service is
+        /// registred and environment is development (<see cref="Microsoft.AspNet.Hosting.HostingEnvironmentExtensions.IsDevelopment"/>) else it is set to
+        /// "Release".
+        /// </remarks>
+        public string Configuration
+        {
+            get { return _configuration; }
+            set
+            {
+                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
+                {
+                    throw new ArgumentException(Resources.ArgumentCannotBeNullOrEmpty, nameof(value));
+                }
+                _configuration = value;
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup.cs
index 59ef2e9c89..5925e1d9a3 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor/RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
 
 using Microsoft.AspNet.FileProviders;
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Hosting;
 using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.OptionsModel;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.PlatformAbstractions;
@@ -17,16 +18,26 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
         /// Initializes a new instance of <see cref="RazorViewEngineOptions"/>.
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="applicationEnvironment"><see cref="IApplicationEnvironment"/> for the application.</param>
-        public RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup(IApplicationEnvironment applicationEnvironment)
-            : base(options => ConfigureRazor(options, applicationEnvironment))
+        /// <param name="hostingEnvironment"><see cref="IHostingEnvironment"/> for the application.</param>
+        public RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup(IApplicationEnvironment applicationEnvironment, IHostingEnvironment hostingEnvironment)
+            : base(options => ConfigureRazor(options, applicationEnvironment, hostingEnvironment))
         {
         }
 
         private static void ConfigureRazor(
             RazorViewEngineOptions razorOptions,
-            IApplicationEnvironment applicationEnvironment)
+            IApplicationEnvironment applicationEnvironment,
+            IHostingEnvironment hostingEnvironment)
         {
             razorOptions.FileProvider = new PhysicalFileProvider(applicationEnvironment.ApplicationBasePath);
+            if (hostingEnvironment.IsDevelopment())
+            {
+                razorOptions.Configuration = "Debug";
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                razorOptions.Configuration = "Release";
+            }
         }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.FunctionalTests/TestApplicationEnvironment.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.FunctionalTests/TestApplicationEnvironment.cs
index 4b83042c8d..95e2c16252 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.FunctionalTests/TestApplicationEnvironment.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.FunctionalTests/TestApplicationEnvironment.cs
@@ -33,14 +33,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.FunctionalTests
 
         public string ApplicationBasePath { get; }
 
-        public string Configuration
-        {
-            get
-            {
-                return _original.Configuration;
-            }
-        }
-
         public FrameworkName RuntimeFramework
         {
             get
@@ -48,15 +40,5 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.FunctionalTests
                 return _original.RuntimeFramework;
             }
         }
-
-        public object GetData(string name)
-        {
-            return _original.GetData(name);
-        }
-
-        public void SetData(string name, object value)
-        {
-            _original.SetData(name, value);
-        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Test/Compilation/RoslynCompilationServiceTest.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Test/Compilation/RoslynCompilationServiceTest.cs
index 64c10a3e06..799bc4d594 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Test/Compilation/RoslynCompilationServiceTest.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Test/Compilation/RoslynCompilationServiceTest.cs
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor.Compilation
 {
     public class RoslynCompilationServiceTest
     {
+        private const string ConfigurationName = "Release";
+
         [Fact]
         public void Compile_ReturnsCompilationResult()
         {
@@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ public class MyTestType  {}";
                 .Setup(p => p.GetCompilerOptions(
                     applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName,
                     applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework,
-                    applicationEnvironment.Configuration))
+                    ConfigurationName))
                 .Returns(new CompilerOptions());
             var mvcRazorHost = new Mock<IMvcRazorHost>();
             mvcRazorHost.SetupGet(m => m.MainClassNamePrefix)
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@ this should fail";
                 .Setup(p => p.GetCompilerOptions(
                     applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName,
                     applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework,
-                    applicationEnvironment.Configuration))
+                    ConfigurationName))
                 .Returns(new CompilerOptions());
             var mvcRazorHost = Mock.Of<IMvcRazorHost>();
             var fileProvider = new TestFileProvider();
@@ -112,7 +114,7 @@ this should fail";
                 .Setup(p => p.GetCompilerOptions(
                     applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName,
                     applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework,
-                    applicationEnvironment.Configuration))
+                    ConfigurationName))
                 .Returns(new CompilerOptions());
             var mvcRazorHost = Mock.Of<IMvcRazorHost>();
 
@@ -154,7 +156,7 @@ this should fail";
                 .Setup(p => p.GetCompilerOptions(
                     applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName,
                     applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework,
-                    applicationEnvironment.Configuration))
+                    ConfigurationName))
                 .Returns(new CompilerOptions());
             var mvcRazorHost = Mock.Of<IMvcRazorHost>();
 
@@ -203,7 +205,7 @@ public class MyNonCustomDefinedClass {}
                 .Setup(p => p.GetCompilerOptions(
                     applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName,
                     applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework,
-                    applicationEnvironment.Configuration))
+                    ConfigurationName))
                 .Returns(new CompilerOptions { Defines = new[] { "MY_CUSTOM_DEFINE" } });
             var mvcRazorHost = new Mock<IMvcRazorHost>();
             mvcRazorHost.SetupGet(m => m.MainClassNamePrefix)
@@ -242,7 +244,7 @@ public class NotRazorPrefixType {}";
                 .Setup(p => p.GetCompilerOptions(
                     applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName,
                     applicationEnvironment.RuntimeFramework,
-                    applicationEnvironment.Configuration))
+                    ConfigurationName))
                 .Returns(new CompilerOptions());
             var mvcRazorHost = new Mock<IMvcRazorHost>();
             mvcRazorHost.SetupGet(m => m.MainClassNamePrefix)
@@ -397,9 +399,6 @@ public class NotRazorPrefixType {}";
             applicationEnvironment
                 .SetupGet(a => a.RuntimeFramework)
                 .Returns(new FrameworkName("ASPNET", new Version(5, 0)));
-            applicationEnvironment
-                .SetupGet(a => a.Configuration)
-                .Returns("Debug");
             applicationEnvironment
                 .SetupGet(a => a.ApplicationBasePath)
                 .Returns("MyBasePath");
@@ -411,7 +410,8 @@ public class NotRazorPrefixType {}";
         {
             var razorViewEngineOptions = new RazorViewEngineOptions
             {
-                FileProvider = fileProvider ?? new TestFileProvider()
+                FileProvider = fileProvider ?? new TestFileProvider(),
+                Configuration = ConfigurationName
             };
             var options = new Mock<IOptions<RazorViewEngineOptions>>();
             options
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Test/MvcOptionsSetupTest.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Test/MvcOptionsSetupTest.cs
index 660dd34e4f..fc31fbdab6 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Test/MvcOptionsSetupTest.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Test/MvcOptionsSetupTest.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ using System;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Xml.Linq;
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Hosting;
 using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Formatters;
 using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Internal;
 using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.ModelBinding;
@@ -237,6 +238,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
             serviceCollection.AddSingleton(Mock.Of<ILibraryExporter>());
             serviceCollection.AddSingleton(Mock.Of<ICompilerOptionsProvider>());
             serviceCollection.AddSingleton(Mock.Of<IAssemblyLoadContextAccessor>());
+            serviceCollection.AddSingleton(Mock.Of<IHostingEnvironment>());
             var applicationEnvironment = new Mock<IApplicationEnvironment>();
 
             // ApplicationBasePath is used to set up a PhysicalFileProvider which requires
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Test/RazorViewEngineOptionsSetupTest.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Test/RazorViewEngineOptionsSetupTest.cs
index 7bdbb4a1ac..033e0e895d 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Test/RazorViewEngineOptionsSetupTest.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Test/RazorViewEngineOptionsSetupTest.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 using System.IO;
 using Microsoft.AspNet.FileProviders;
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Hosting;
 using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.Razor;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.PlatformAbstractions;
 using Moq;
@@ -20,7 +21,10 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
             var appEnv = new Mock<IApplicationEnvironment>();
             appEnv.SetupGet(e => e.ApplicationBasePath)
                   .Returns(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
-            var optionsSetup = new RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup(appEnv.Object);
+            var hostingEnv = new Mock<IHostingEnvironment>();
+            hostingEnv.SetupGet(e => e.EnvironmentName)
+                  .Returns("Development");
+            var optionsSetup = new RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup(appEnv.Object, hostingEnv.Object);
 
             // Act
             optionsSetup.Configure(options);
@@ -29,5 +33,28 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
             Assert.NotNull(options.FileProvider);
             Assert.IsType<PhysicalFileProvider>(options.FileProvider);
         }
+
+        [Theory]
+        [InlineData("Development", "Debug")]
+        [InlineData("Staging", "Release")]
+        [InlineData("Production", "Release")]
+        public void RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup_SetsCorrectConfiguration(string environment, string expectedConfiguration)
+        {
+            // Arrange
+            var options = new RazorViewEngineOptions();
+            var appEnv = new Mock<IApplicationEnvironment>();
+            appEnv.SetupGet(e => e.ApplicationBasePath)
+                  .Returns(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
+            var hostingEnv = new Mock<IHostingEnvironment>();
+            hostingEnv.SetupGet(e => e.EnvironmentName)
+                  .Returns(environment);
+            var optionsSetup = new RazorViewEngineOptionsSetup(appEnv.Object, hostingEnv.Object);
+
+            // Act
+            optionsSetup.Configure(options);
+
+            // Assert
+            Assert.Equal(expectedConfiguration, options.Configuration);
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file