diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c2e0441..5465aa4 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,9 +11,15 @@ name = "repl"
 required-features = ["repl"]
 
 [profile.perf]
-debug = 1
+debug = 2
+strip = false
 inherits = "release"
 
+[profile.release]
+lto = true
+codegen-units = 1
+strip = true
+
 [dependencies]
 rnix = "0.12"
 thiserror = "2.0"
diff --git a/src/jit/mod.rs b/src/jit/mod.rs
index 5730856..4f93d8a 100644
--- a/src/jit/mod.rs
+++ b/src/jit/mod.rs
@@ -135,9 +135,13 @@ pub struct JITContext<'ctx> {
 
 impl<'vm, 'ctx: 'vm> JITContext<'ctx> {
     pub fn new(context: &'ctx Context) -> Self {
+        // force linker to link JIT engine
+        unsafe {
+            inkwell::llvm_sys::execution_engine::LLVMLinkInMCJIT();
+        }
         let module = context.create_module("nixjit");
         let execution_engine = module
-            .create_jit_execution_engine(OptimizationLevel::Default)
+            .create_jit_execution_engine(OptimizationLevel::Aggressive)
             .unwrap();
         let helpers = Helpers::new(context, &module, &execution_engine);