diff --git a/crates/remote/Cargo.toml b/crates/remote/Cargo.toml
index ae32cd5cb10c2bf4c65b3b8ae51bf20e7e3ad15a..139e6c9cf2eddb6f1a52e112991f34e860ccd31e 100644
--- a/crates/remote/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/remote/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ doctest = false
 
 [features]
 default = []
+build-remote-server-binary = []
 test-support = ["fs/test-support"]
 
 [dependencies]
diff --git a/crates/remote/src/transport.rs b/crates/remote/src/transport.rs
index 8031e27ebc9d8ecfccc341f4099abe52f68405f6..d8643147a4b75ff020bf232c861ef3892e934791 100644
--- a/crates/remote/src/transport.rs
+++ b/crates/remote/src/transport.rs
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ fn handle_rpc_messages_over_child_process_stdio(
     })
 }
 
-#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "build-remote-server-binary"))]
 async fn build_remote_server_from_source(
     platform: &crate::RemotePlatform,
     delegate: &dyn crate::RemoteClientDelegate,
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ async fn build_remote_server_from_source(
     Ok(Some(path))
 }
 
-#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+#[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "build-remote-server-binary"))]
 async fn which(
     binary_name: impl AsRef<str>,
     cx: &mut AsyncApp,
diff --git a/crates/remote/src/transport/docker.rs b/crates/remote/src/transport/docker.rs
index 3723001f9e0d04caa571530eab70cbb60155b6c2..379e7f7e622025ac55feeaae2899bb00b3150333 100644
--- a/crates/remote/src/transport/docker.rs
+++ b/crates/remote/src/transport/docker.rs
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ impl DockerExecConnection {
         let dst_path =
             paths::remote_server_dir_relative().join(RelPath::unix(&binary_name).unwrap());
 
-        #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+        #[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "build-remote-server-binary"))]
         if let Some(remote_server_path) =
             super::build_remote_server_from_source(&remote_platform, delegate.as_ref(), cx).await?
         {
diff --git a/crates/remote/src/transport/ssh.rs b/crates/remote/src/transport/ssh.rs
index ff4f07f420dce163c818999fcdfb058a490aed98..8fed10608de61da648ddc65e0d1771d8db71e94a 100644
--- a/crates/remote/src/transport/ssh.rs
+++ b/crates/remote/src/transport/ssh.rs
@@ -625,7 +625,7 @@ impl SshRemoteConnection {
         let dst_path =
             paths::remote_server_dir_relative().join(RelPath::unix(&binary_name).unwrap());
 
-        #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+        #[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "build-remote-server-binary"))]
         if let Some(remote_server_path) =
             super::build_remote_server_from_source(&self.ssh_platform, delegate.as_ref(), cx)
                 .await?
diff --git a/crates/remote/src/transport/wsl.rs b/crates/remote/src/transport/wsl.rs
index bac263188d58730e720c12ed2805321fe41d206a..94cd8bed8682fe2552fbfbfed088c92e25023647 100644
--- a/crates/remote/src/transport/wsl.rs
+++ b/crates/remote/src/transport/wsl.rs
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ impl WslRemoteConnection {
                 .map_err(|e| anyhow!("Failed to create directory: {}", e))?;
         }
 
-        #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+        #[cfg(any(debug_assertions, feature = "build-remote-server-binary"))]
         if let Some(remote_server_path) =
             super::build_remote_server_from_source(&self.platform, delegate.as_ref(), cx).await?
         {