diff --git a/.github/actions/prebuild-sp1-runner/action.yml b/.github/actions/prebuild-sp1-runner/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..71d0253a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/prebuild-sp1-runner/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+name: Pre-build SP1 core runner binary
+description: >-
+  Pre-build the sp1-core-executor-runner helper binary so the crate's build.rs
+  skips its nested cargo build. Returns the binary path as an output; set it as
+  SP1_CORE_RUNNER_OVERRIDE_BINARY on the steps that compile the crate. Requires
+  the repo checked out and a Rust toolchain on PATH.
+
+# `sp1-core-executor-runner`'s build.rs runs a nested `cargo build` and embeds
+# the helper binary via `include_bytes!(env!("SP1_CORE_RUNNER_BINARY"))`. The
+# binary lands under the registry source dir, which `Swatinem/rust-cache` does
+# not preserve, while the build-script output that records its path is cached —
+# so on a cache hit cargo skips the rebuild and `include_bytes!` fails with
+# "couldn't read ...". The crate's build.rs honors `SP1_CORE_RUNNER_OVERRIDE_BINARY`
+# (source-only, not in its docs): when set it skips the nested build and points
+# at an external binary instead. Pin to the version resolved in Cargo.lock, not
+# the `sp1-sdk` requirement (a caret that floats up to a later patch), so the
+# prebuilt helper matches the linked runner crate.
+#
+# The path is returned as an output rather than written to $GITHUB_ENV so it is
+# scoped to the steps that opt in (via env:), instead of every step in the job.
+outputs:
+  override-binary:
+    description: >-
+      Absolute path to the prebuilt helper. Set it as
+      SP1_CORE_RUNNER_OVERRIDE_BINARY on steps that build sp1-core-executor-runner.
+    value: ${{ steps.prebuild.outputs.override-binary }}
+runs:
+  using: composite
+  steps:
+    - id: prebuild
+      name: Pre-build SP1 core runner binary
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        VER="$(awk -F'"' '/^name = "sp1-core-executor-runner-binary"$/{f=1;next} f&&/^version = /{print $2;exit}' Cargo.lock)"
+        test -n "$VER" || { echo "could not determine sp1-core-executor-runner-binary version from Cargo.lock"; exit 1; }
+        cargo install sp1-core-executor-runner-binary --version "$VER" --root "$RUNNER_TEMP/sp1-core-runner" --force
+        echo "override-binary=$RUNNER_TEMP/sp1-core-runner/bin/sp1-core-executor-runner-binary" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 5baf5252..c05d5018 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -37,10 +37,19 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install protoc
         uses: arduino/setup-protoc@c65c819552d16ad3c9b72d9dfd5ba5237b9c906b # v3.0.0
 
+      # `--all-features` pulls in `sp1-core-executor-runner`, whose build.rs
+      # embeds a nested-built helper that breaks clippy on a cache hit; the
+      # action pre-builds it and returns the path to use as the override (see the
+      # action for why).
+      - name: Pre-build SP1 core runner binary
+        id: sp1-runner
+        uses: ./.github/actions/prebuild-sp1-runner
+
       - name: Run clippy
         run: cargo clippy --examples --tests --benches --all-features --all-targets --locked
         env:
           RUSTFLAGS: -D warnings
+          SP1_CORE_RUNNER_OVERRIDE_BINARY: ${{ steps.sp1-runner.outputs.override-binary }}
 
   fmt:
     name: Check code formatting
diff --git a/.github/workflows/prover.yml b/.github/workflows/prover.yml
index 1d540606..4760d282 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/prover.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/prover.yml
@@ -52,17 +52,12 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install protoc
         uses: arduino/setup-protoc@c65c819552d16ad3c9b72d9dfd5ba5237b9c906b # v3.0.0
 
-      # `sp1-core-executor-runner`'s build.rs builds a helper binary and embeds
-      # it via `include_bytes!(env!("SP1_CORE_RUNNER_BINARY"))`. When pulled from
-      # crates.io, the binary is written *inside* the registry source dir
-      # (`~/.cargo/registry/src/.../sp1-core-executor-runner-X.Y.Z/target/`),
-      # which `Swatinem/rust-cache` does not preserve — but it does cache the
-      # build-script output that records the path. On a cache hit cargo skips
-      # rerunning the build script, then `include_bytes!` fails with "couldn't
-      # read ..." because the binary is gone. Clean these crates so build.rs
-      # always re-runs and re-creates the binary.
-      - name: Clean SP1 core executor runner crates
-        run: cargo clean -p sp1-core-executor-runner -p sp1-core-executor-runner-binary
+      # `sp1-core-executor-runner`'s build.rs embeds a nested-built helper that
+      # breaks on a cache hit; the action pre-builds it and returns the path to
+      # use as the override so build.rs skips the nested build (see the action).
+      - name: Pre-build SP1 core runner binary
+        id: sp1-runner
+        uses: ./.github/actions/prebuild-sp1-runner
 
       - name: Run prover-perf and post PR comment
         if: github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork == false
@@ -70,6 +65,7 @@ jobs:
           ZKVM_MOCK: "1"
           ZKVM_PROFILING: "1"
           SKIP_VKEY_BUILD: "1"
+          SP1_CORE_RUNNER_OVERRIDE_BINARY: ${{ steps.sp1-runner.outputs.override-binary }}
         run: |
           cargo run --release -p strata-asm-prover-perf -- \
             --post-to-gh \
@@ -85,5 +81,6 @@ jobs:
           ZKVM_MOCK: "1"
           ZKVM_PROFILING: "1"
           SKIP_VKEY_BUILD: "1"
+          SP1_CORE_RUNNER_OVERRIDE_BINARY: ${{ steps.sp1-runner.outputs.override-binary }}
         run: |
           cargo run --release -p strata-asm-prover-perf -- --programs asm-stf