diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ce497e85..2d6ed5d9 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2250,6 +2250,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "escargot"
+version = "0.5.12"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c000f23e9d459aef148b7267e02b03b94a0aaacf4ec64c65612f67e02f525fb6"
+dependencies = [
+ "log",
+ "once_cell",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "esp-alloc"
 version = "0.3.0"
@@ -5212,7 +5224,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "bootloader",
  "clap 4.4.0",
- "mnemos-x86_64-core",
+ "escargot",
  "ovmf-prebuilt",
 ]
 
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index 388d7338..25babfb6 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ _d1_pkg := "mnemos-d1"
 
 _espbuddy_pkg := "mnemos-esp32c3-buddy"
 
-_x86_pkg := "mnemos-x86_64-bootloader"
+_x86_pkg := "mnemos-x86_64-core"
 _x86_bootloader_pkg := "mnemos-x86_64-bootloader"
 
 _mn_pkg := "manganese"
@@ -169,6 +169,12 @@ flash-c3 board *espflash-args: (_get-cargo-command "espflash" "cargo-espflash")
 
 # build a bootable x86_64 disk image, using rust-osdev/bootloader.
 build-x86 *args='':
+    # run `cargo check` first because the actual binary will be built in a build
+    # script that that eats compiler output :(
+    {{ _cargo }} check --package {{ _x86_pkg }} \
+        --bin bootloader \
+        --target x86_64-unknown-none \
+        --features bootloader_api {{ args }}
     {{ _cargo }} build --package {{ _x86_bootloader_pkg }} {{ args }}
 
 # run an x86_64 MnemOS image in QEMU
diff --git a/platforms/x86_64/bootloader/Cargo.toml b/platforms/x86_64/bootloader/Cargo.toml
index 8aabdb87..5eaf8c38 100644
--- a/platforms/x86_64/bootloader/Cargo.toml
+++ b/platforms/x86_64/bootloader/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,12 +11,6 @@ ovmf-prebuilt = "0.1.0-alpha.1"
 clap = { version = "4", features = ["derive", "env"] }
 
 [build-dependencies]
+anyhow = "1"
 bootloader = "0.11"
-
-# the actual MnemOS kernel binary
-[build-dependencies.mnemos]
-package = "mnemos-x86_64-core"
-path = "../core"
-artifact = "bin:bootloader"
-target = "x86_64-unknown-none"
-features = ["bootloader_api"]
+escargot = "0.5"
diff --git a/platforms/x86_64/bootloader/build.rs b/platforms/x86_64/bootloader/build.rs
index 9d9605dc..f7933184 100644
--- a/platforms/x86_64/bootloader/build.rs
+++ b/platforms/x86_64/bootloader/build.rs
@@ -1,24 +1,66 @@
+use anyhow::Context;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
-fn main() {
+fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    const PKG_NAME: &'static str = "mnemos-x86_64-core";
+    const BIN_NAME: &'static str = "bootloader";
+    const TARGET_TRIPLE: &'static str = "x86_64-unknown-none";
+    const ENV_OUT_DIR: &'static str = "OUT_DIR";
+    const ENV_PROFILE: &'static str = "PROFILE";
+
     // set by cargo, build scripts should use this directory for output files
-    let out_dir = PathBuf::from(std::env::var_os("OUT_DIR").unwrap());
-    // set by cargo's artifact dependency feature, see
-    // https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/cargo/reference/unstable.html#artifact-dependencies
-    let kernel = PathBuf::from(std::env::var_os("CARGO_BIN_FILE_MNEMOS_bootloader").unwrap());
+    let out_dir = PathBuf::from(
+        std::env::var_os(ENV_OUT_DIR)
+            .with_context(|| format!("missing {ENV_OUT_DIR} environment variable!"))?,
+    );
+    let release = match std::env::var_os(ENV_PROFILE) {
+        Some(x) if x == "release" => true,
+        Some(x) if x == "debug" => false,
+        x => {
+            println!("cargo:warning={ENV_PROFILE} env var either unset or weird: {x:?}");
+            false
+        }
+    };
+
+    // XXX(eliza): it's sad that this way of building the binary by just
+    // shelling out to a child `cargo` invocation will eat things like the
+    // compiler output. but, the alternative approach where the same cargo
+    // invocation can build everything would be to use artifact deps, which are
+    // unfortunately broken due to this Cargo bug:
+    // https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/issues/12358
+    //
+    // If upstream PR https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/pull/13207 ever merges,
+    // we should revisit this approach and see if we can switch back to artifact
+    // deps...
+    let mut build = escargot::CargoBuild::new()
+        .package(PKG_NAME)
+        .bin(BIN_NAME)
+        .target(TARGET_TRIPLE)
+        .target_dir(&out_dir)
+        .features("bootloader_api");
+    if release {
+        build = build.release();
+    }
+
+    let cargo_output = build
+        .run()
+        .context("failed to execute cargo build command")?;
+
+    let kernel = cargo_output.path();
 
     let uefi_path = out_dir.join("mnemos-x86_64-uefi.img");
-    bootloader::UefiBoot::new(&kernel)
+    bootloader::UefiBoot::new(kernel)
         .create_disk_image(&uefi_path)
         .unwrap();
 
     // create a BIOS disk image
     let bios_path = out_dir.join("mnemos-x86_64-bios.img");
-    bootloader::BiosBoot::new(&kernel)
+    bootloader::BiosBoot::new(kernel)
         .create_disk_image(&bios_path)
         .unwrap();
 
     // pass the disk image paths as env variables to the `main.rs`
     println!("cargo:rustc-env=UEFI_PATH={}", uefi_path.display());
     println!("cargo:rustc-env=BIOS_PATH={}", bios_path.display());
+    Ok(())
 }