diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 1fdcbf680..4e616ff5e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -136,10 +136,6 @@ version = "0.7.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7c02d123df017efcdfbd739ef81735b36c5ba83ec3c59c80a9d7ecc718f92e50"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "artifact_profile"
-version = "0.0.0"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "assert2"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -1330,7 +1326,6 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "fspy_preload_unix"
 version = "0.0.0"
 dependencies = [
- "artifact_profile",
  "ctor",
  "fspy_client_unix",
  "fspy_shared",
@@ -1345,7 +1340,6 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "fspy_preload_windows"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
- "artifact_profile",
  "constcat",
  "fspy_detours_sys",
  "fspy_shared",
@@ -4301,7 +4295,6 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "vt_client_napi"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
- "artifact_profile",
  "napi",
  "napi-build",
  "napi-derive",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index e5353f2d5..9152581fe 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ future_not_send = "allow"
 
 [workspace.dependencies]
 allocator-api2 = { version = "0.2", default-features = false }
-artifact_profile = { path = "crates/artifact_profile" }
 anstream = "1.0.0"
 anyhow = "1.0.103"
 assert2 = "0.4.0"
@@ -209,32 +208,3 @@ codegen-units = 1
 strip = "symbols" # set to `false` for debug information
 debug = false # set to `true` for debug information
 panic = "abort" # Let it crash and force ourselves to write safe Rust.
-
-# Cargo compiles artifact dependencies declared under `[build-dependencies]`
-# with the build-override profile — opt-level 0, no codegen-units setting —
-# even in release builds, and even with `target = "target"`. Their output
-# still lands under `target/<triple>/release/`, so the missing optimization
-# is easy to miss. (Artifact deps under `[dependencies]`/`[dev-dependencies]`
-# get the normal profile and need nothing here.) See
-# https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/issues/16719.
-#
-# These are the workspace's build-dependency artifacts: the preload libraries
-# are injected into every traced process and run inside every intercepted
-# libc call, and the napi library backs the Node.js client.
-#
-# `strip` must be restated: a package override resets an inherited `strip`
-# to "debuginfo" when the field is omitted (Cargo quirk in profile merging).
-[profile.release.package.fspy_preload_unix]
-opt-level = 3
-codegen-units = 1
-strip = "symbols"
-
-[profile.release.package.fspy_preload_windows]
-opt-level = 3
-codegen-units = 1
-strip = "symbols"
-
-[profile.release.package.vt_client_napi]
-opt-level = 3
-codegen-units = 1
-strip = "symbols"
diff --git a/crates/artifact_profile/Cargo.toml b/crates/artifact_profile/Cargo.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index 1226de4ad..000000000
--- a/crates/artifact_profile/Cargo.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-[package]
-name = "artifact_profile"
-version = "0.0.0"
-edition = "2024"
-license.workspace = true
-publish = false
-
-[lib]
-test = false
-doctest = false
-
-[lints]
-workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/artifact_profile/src/lib.rs b/crates/artifact_profile/src/lib.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index f2cb09af2..000000000
--- a/crates/artifact_profile/src/lib.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,63 +0,0 @@
-//! Build-script guard for crates that are consumed as artifact dependencies.
-//!
-//! This is the producer side of the artifact contract, and it has to live
-//! here rather than in `materialized_artifact_build`: that crate runs from the
-//! *consuming* crate's build script, which only ever sees its own profile.
-//! A consumer's build script reports `OPT_LEVEL=3` while the artifact it just
-//! embedded was built at 0, and the artifact's path records nothing about how
-//! it was compiled. Only the artifact crate's own build script can tell.
-
-use std::env;
-
-/// Fails the build when the calling crate is compiled without optimizations
-/// in a release build.
-///
-/// Cargo compiles artifact dependencies declared under `[build-dependencies]`
-/// with the build-override profile — opt-level 0 — even in release builds, and
-/// it only reads profiles from the root manifest of the workspace being built.
-/// A workspace that depends on this repo therefore has to opt in explicitly,
-/// and nothing tells it otherwise: the output still lands under
-/// `target/<triple>/release/`, and the only symptom is a slower binary. See
-/// <https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/issues/16719>.
-///
-/// Call this from the artifact crate's own build script, where `OPT_LEVEL`
-/// reports that crate's own profile rather than its parent's.
-///
-/// Only the optimization level is checked. Cargo passes `OPT_LEVEL`, `DEBUG`
-/// and `PROFILE` to build scripts but not `codegen-units` or `strip`, so the
-/// rest of the recommended profile block cannot be verified here — which is
-/// why the failure prints the whole block rather than just the one setting.
-/// `strip` in particular must be restated by anyone adding an override at all:
-/// a package override that omits it silently resets an inherited
-/// `strip = "symbols"` to `"debuginfo"`.
-///
-/// # Panics
-///
-/// Panics — failing the build — when `PROFILE` is `release` and `OPT_LEVEL` is
-/// `0`.
-pub fn require_optimized_in_release() {
-    // `PROFILE` is `release` for release-like profiles and `debug` otherwise,
-    // so debug builds — where opt-level 0 is correct — never trip this.
-    if env::var("PROFILE").as_deref() != Ok("release")
-        || env::var("OPT_LEVEL").as_deref() != Ok("0")
-    {
-        return;
-    }
-    let package = env::var("CARGO_PKG_NAME").unwrap_or_else(|_| "this crate".into());
-    panic!(
-        "\n\n\
-         `{package}` was built without optimizations in a release build.\n\n\
-         It is an artifact dependency, which Cargo compiles with the\n\
-         build-override profile (opt-level 0) even in release builds. Profiles\n\
-         only take effect from the root manifest of the workspace being built,\n\
-         so add this to the root Cargo.toml of *your* workspace:\n\n    \
-         [profile.release.package.{package}]\n    \
-         opt-level = 3\n    \
-         codegen-units = 1\n    \
-         strip = \"symbols\"\n\n\
-         Keep all three: an override that omits `strip` resets it to\n\
-         \"debuginfo\", and `codegen-units` is dropped by the build-override\n\
-         profile. Without this block the crate ships unoptimized and nothing\n\
-         else reports it.\n"
-    );
-}
diff --git a/crates/fspy_preload_unix/Cargo.toml b/crates/fspy_preload_unix/Cargo.toml
index f5bbd2283..a9bc03f60 100644
--- a/crates/fspy_preload_unix/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/fspy_preload_unix/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,8 +17,5 @@ nix = { workspace = true, features = ["signal", "fs", "socket", "mman", "time"]
 sigsafe = { workspace = true }
 sigsafe_alloc = { workspace = true }
 
-[build-dependencies]
-artifact_profile = { workspace = true }
-
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/fspy_preload_unix/build.rs b/crates/fspy_preload_unix/build.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 9e0fe647d..000000000
--- a/crates/fspy_preload_unix/build.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-fn main() {
-    // This library is injected into every traced process and runs inside every
-    // intercepted libc call, so an unoptimized build is a silent, large
-    // regression for whoever consumes it.
-    artifact_profile::require_optimized_in_release();
-}
diff --git a/crates/fspy_preload_windows/Cargo.toml b/crates/fspy_preload_windows/Cargo.toml
index a3417a6a6..9dd1c50cc 100644
--- a/crates/fspy_preload_windows/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/fspy_preload_windows/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,8 +29,5 @@ winsafe = { workspace = true }
 [target.'cfg(target_os = "windows")'.dev-dependencies]
 tempfile = { workspace = true }
 
-[build-dependencies]
-artifact_profile = { workspace = true }
-
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/fspy_preload_windows/build.rs b/crates/fspy_preload_windows/build.rs
index 11eeede17..75269058f 100644
--- a/crates/fspy_preload_windows/build.rs
+++ b/crates/fspy_preload_windows/build.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
 fn main() {
-    // Injected into every traced process; see the unix preload's build.rs.
-    artifact_profile::require_optimized_in_release();
-
     if std::env::var_os("CARGO_CFG_TARGET_OS").unwrap() == "windows" {
         println!("cargo:rustc-cdylib-link-arg=/EXPORT:DetourFinishHelperProcess,@1,NONAME");
     }
diff --git a/crates/vt_client_napi/Cargo.toml b/crates/vt_client_napi/Cargo.toml
index 99ed2c408..79a88af5f 100644
--- a/crates/vt_client_napi/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/vt_client_napi/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ vt_str = { workspace = true }
 vt_client = { workspace = true }
 
 [build-dependencies]
-artifact_profile = { workspace = true }
 napi-build = { workspace = true }
 
 [lints]
diff --git a/crates/vt_client_napi/build.rs b/crates/vt_client_napi/build.rs
index 504876321..0a83a311b 100644
--- a/crates/vt_client_napi/build.rs
+++ b/crates/vt_client_napi/build.rs
@@ -8,9 +8,6 @@ extern crate napi_build;
 use std::{env, fs, path::PathBuf};
 
 fn main() {
-    // Shipped inside the built product; see `artifact_profile`.
-    artifact_profile::require_optimized_in_release();
-
     napi_build::setup();
 
     // Keep this crate's napi-derive type-defs out of any consumer's generated