diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2b5b0ef16..42f9e8068 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -146,9 +146,6 @@ debug = 0
 opt-level = 1
 debug = 0
 
-[profile.dev.package.runner]
-opt-level = 1
-
 # Debug info off by default, which speeds up incremental builds and produces a considerably
 # smaller library.
 [profile.dev.package.anki]
diff --git a/ninja b/ninja
index 129338351..b96df5d1c 100755
--- a/ninja
+++ b/ninja
@@ -13,6 +13,6 @@ export RECONFIGURE_KEY="${MAC_X86};${SOURCEMAP}"
 if [ "$SKIP_RUNNER_BUILD" = "1" ]; then
     echo "Runner not rebuilt."
 else
-    cargo build -p runner;
+    cargo build -p runner --release
 fi
-exec $out/rust/debug/runner build -- $*
+exec $out/rust/release/runner build -- $*