diff --git a/.cargo/release.toml b/.cargo/release.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bd3a5760
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.cargo/release.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Remove source locations from release panic metadata to reduce binary size.
+[target.'cfg(all())']
+rustflags = ["-Zlocation-detail=none"]
diff --git a/.github/workflows/reusable-native-build.yml b/.github/workflows/reusable-native-build.yml
index 4a893f2f..d06dbd48 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reusable-native-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reusable-native-build.yml
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ jobs:
               ;;
           esac
 
+          # Omit panic source locations to reduce the release binary size.
+          args+=(-- --config ../../.cargo/release.toml)
           pnpm exec napi "${args[@]}"
 
       - name: Upload native binding
diff --git a/packages/rstack/package.json b/packages/rstack/package.json
index a678ae1e..89782fd7 100644
--- a/packages/rstack/package.json
+++ b/packages/rstack/package.json
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
     "build": "rslib",
     "build:native": "napi build --config-path napi.json --platform --manifest-path ../../Cargo.toml --package rstack-binding --package-json-path package.json --output-dir . --js binding.cjs --dts binding.d.cts",
     "build:native:ci": "napi build --config-path napi.json --platform --profile ci --manifest-path ../../Cargo.toml --package rstack-binding --package-json-path package.json --output-dir . --js binding.cjs --dts binding.d.cts",
-    "build:native:release": "napi build --config-path napi.json --platform --release --manifest-path ../../Cargo.toml --package rstack-binding --package-json-path package.json --output-dir . --js binding.cjs --dts binding.d.cts",
+    "build:native:release": "napi build --config-path napi.json --platform --release --manifest-path ../../Cargo.toml --package rstack-binding --package-json-path package.json --output-dir . --js binding.cjs --dts binding.d.cts -- --config ../../.cargo/release.toml",
     "dev": "rslib -w",
     "package:native": "napi create-npm-dirs --config-path napi.json",
     "test": "rs test"
diff --git a/rust-toolchain.toml b/rust-toolchain.toml
index 99461977..6f8397f5 100644
--- a/rust-toolchain.toml
+++ b/rust-toolchain.toml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 [toolchain]
-channel = "1.97.1"
+# Required by the release-only -Zlocation-detail=none flag.
+channel = "nightly-2026-04-16"
 components = ["clippy", "rustfmt"]
 profile = "minimal"