diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index ca1620ae..1138edfd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -48,18 +48,35 @@ jobs:
         with:
           targets: ${{ matrix.target }}
 
-      - name: Install musl tools (Linux x86_64)
-        if: matrix.target == 'x86_64-unknown-linux-musl'
-        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y musl-tools
+      - name: Install Zig
+        uses: mlugg/setup-zig@v2
+        with:
+          version: 0.15.2
 
-      - name: Install cross-compilation tools (Linux aarch64)
+      - name: Install Linux build tools
+        if: runner.os == 'Linux'
+        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y cmake ninja-build musl-tools gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu crossbuild-essential-arm64
+
+      - name: Install macOS build tools
+        if: runner.os == 'macOS'
+        run: brew install cmake ninja
+
+      - name: Set Linux aarch64 linker
         if: matrix.target == 'aarch64-unknown-linux-musl'
-        run: |
-          sudo apt-get update
-          sudo apt-get install -y gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu musl-tools
-          # Install aarch64 musl cross-compiler
-          sudo apt-get install -y crossbuild-essential-arm64
-          echo "CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_UNKNOWN_LINUX_MUSL_LINKER=aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        run: echo "CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_UNKNOWN_LINUX_MUSL_LINKER=aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Cache Rust artifacts
+        uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+        with:
+          key: release-${{ matrix.target }}
+
+      - name: Cache vendored libghostty-vt build outputs
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: |
+            vendor/libghostty-vt/.zig-cache
+            vendor/libghostty-vt/zig-out
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ matrix.target }}-libghostty-${{ hashFiles('vendor/libghostty-vt.vendor.json', 'vendor/libghostty-vt/build.zig', 'vendor/libghostty-vt/build.zig.zon', 'vendor/libghostty-vt/VERSION', 'build.rs') }}
 
       - name: Build
         run: cargo build --release --locked --target ${{ matrix.target }}
diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
index f4cbd170..a421c5c5 100644
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,18 @@ use std::env;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 use std::process::Command;
 
+fn zig_target(target: &str) -> &str {
+    match target {
+        "x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu" => "x86_64-linux-gnu",
+        "aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu" => "aarch64-linux-gnu",
+        "x86_64-unknown-linux-musl" => "x86_64-linux-musl",
+        "aarch64-unknown-linux-musl" => "aarch64-linux-musl",
+        "x86_64-apple-darwin" => "x86_64-macos",
+        "aarch64-apple-darwin" => "aarch64-macos",
+        other => panic!("unsupported target for libghostty-vt build: {other}"),
+    }
+}
+
 fn main() {
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=build.rs");
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=vendor/libghostty-vt.vendor.json");
@@ -13,11 +25,14 @@ fn main() {
     let manifest_dir = PathBuf::from(env::var("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR").expect("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"));
     let vendored_dir = manifest_dir.join("vendor/libghostty-vt");
     let optimize = env::var("LIBGHOSTTY_VT_OPTIMIZE").unwrap_or_else(|_| "ReleaseFast".into());
+    let target = env::var("TARGET").expect("TARGET");
+    let zig_target = zig_target(&target);
 
     let status = Command::new("zig")
         .arg("build")
         .arg("-Demit-lib-vt")
         .arg(format!("-Doptimize={optimize}"))
+        .arg(format!("-Dtarget={zig_target}"))
         .current_dir(&vendored_dir)
         .status()
         .expect("failed to execute zig build for vendored libghostty-vt");
@@ -28,12 +43,10 @@ fn main() {
 
     let lib_dir = vendored_dir.join("zig-out/lib");
     println!("cargo:rustc-link-search=native={}", lib_dir.display());
-    println!("cargo:rustc-link-lib=dylib=ghostty-vt");
-
-    let target = env::var("TARGET").expect("TARGET");
+    println!("cargo:rustc-link-lib=static=ghostty-vt");
     if target.contains("linux") {
-        println!("cargo:rustc-link-arg=-Wl,-rpath,{}", lib_dir.display());
+        println!("cargo:rustc-link-lib=dylib=stdc++");
     } else if target.contains("apple-darwin") {
-        println!("cargo:rustc-link-arg=-Wl,-rpath,{}", lib_dir.display());
+        println!("cargo:rustc-link-lib=dylib=c++");
     }
 }