diff --git a/eng/native/configurecompiler.cmake b/eng/native/configurecompiler.cmake
index e3669f462a9efc..c4c438106ed20c 100644
--- a/eng/native/configurecompiler.cmake
+++ b/eng/native/configurecompiler.cmake
@@ -321,6 +321,17 @@ if(CLR_CMAKE_HOST_UNIX)
   endforeach()
 endif(CLR_CMAKE_HOST_UNIX)
 
+# Strip unreferenced sections at link time, paired with -ffunction-sections/-fdata-sections
+# (set in the Unix/WASI compile-options block below). Gated to non-Debug builds so Debug
+# keeps full symbols and incremental linking. Windows uses /OPT:REF, configured above.
+if(CLR_CMAKE_HOST_UNIX)
+  if(CLR_CMAKE_HOST_APPLE)
+    add_linker_flag(-Wl,-dead_strip CHECKED RELEASE RELWITHDEBINFO)
+  else()
+    add_linker_flag(-Wl,--gc-sections CHECKED RELEASE RELWITHDEBINFO)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 if(CLR_CMAKE_HOST_LINUX)
   add_compile_options($<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:ASM>:-Wa,--noexecstack>)
   add_linker_flag(-Wl,--build-id=sha1)
@@ -740,8 +751,11 @@ if (CLR_CMAKE_HOST_UNIX OR CLR_CMAKE_HOST_WASI)
   # We mark the function which needs exporting with DLLEXPORT
   add_compile_options(-fvisibility=hidden)
 
-  # Separate functions so linker can remove them.
+  # Separate functions and data into their own sections so the linker can remove
+  # unreferenced ones via --gc-sections (ELF) / -dead_strip (Mach-O), which are
+  # enabled earlier in this file for non-Debug configurations.
   add_compile_options(-ffunction-sections)
+  add_compile_options(-fdata-sections)
 
   # Specify the minimum supported version of macOS
   # Mac Catalyst needs a special CFLAG, exclusive with mmacosx-version-min