diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index b651e7046bc7d603a7a829ce1b59fcf0468bdd3b..35efafcfcd97c0139f8225ce7b15a05946c385ad 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ jobs:
         SCCACHE_BUCKET: sccache-zed
     - name: steps::cargo_nextest
       run: cargo nextest run --workspace --no-fail-fast --no-tests=warn
+    - name: steps::cargo_build_visual_tests
+      run: cargo build -p zed --bin zed_visual_test_runner --features visual-tests
     - name: steps::show_sccache_stats
       run: sccache --show-stats || true
     - name: steps::cleanup_cargo_config
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
index a1a0569f5df00cfa9e93e311681a98c90d6ce067..13d036b128666700d45ae39013b2dd8f3da5abf9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
@@ -440,6 +440,8 @@ jobs:
         SCCACHE_BUCKET: sccache-zed
     - name: steps::cargo_nextest
       run: cargo nextest run --workspace --no-fail-fast --no-tests=warn${{ needs.orchestrate.outputs.changed_packages && format(' -E "{0}"', needs.orchestrate.outputs.changed_packages) || '' }}
+    - name: steps::cargo_build_visual_tests
+      run: cargo build -p zed --bin zed_visual_test_runner --features visual-tests
     - name: steps::show_sccache_stats
       run: sccache --show-stats || true
     - name: steps::cleanup_cargo_config
diff --git a/crates/zed/src/visual_test_runner.rs b/crates/zed/src/visual_test_runner.rs
index 17ce65bea4f3354bec1efd9b14d1b0ae08a6263f..7e081c15a564cb996f176345ee3330f00ee6b6f3 100644
--- a/crates/zed/src/visual_test_runner.rs
+++ b/crates/zed/src/visual_test_runner.rs
@@ -2646,10 +2646,11 @@ fn run_multi_workspace_sidebar_visual_tests(
 
     cx.run_until_parked();
 
-    // Create the sidebar and register it on the MultiWorkspace
-    let sidebar = multi_workspace_window
-        .update(cx, |_multi_workspace, window, cx| {
-            let multi_workspace_handle = cx.entity();
+    // Create the sidebar outside the MultiWorkspace update to avoid a
+    // re-entrant read panic (Sidebar::new reads the MultiWorkspace).
+    let sidebar = cx
+        .update_window(multi_workspace_window.into(), |root_view, window, cx| {
+            let multi_workspace_handle: Entity<MultiWorkspace> = root_view.downcast().unwrap();
             cx.new(|cx| sidebar::Sidebar::new(multi_workspace_handle, window, cx))
         })
         .context("Failed to create sidebar")?;
@@ -3178,10 +3179,11 @@ edition = "2021"
 
     cx.run_until_parked();
 
-    // Create and register the workspace sidebar
-    let sidebar = workspace_window
-        .update(cx, |_multi_workspace, window, cx| {
-            let multi_workspace_handle = cx.entity();
+    // Create the sidebar outside the MultiWorkspace update to avoid a
+    // re-entrant read panic (Sidebar::new reads the MultiWorkspace).
+    let sidebar = cx
+        .update_window(workspace_window.into(), |root_view, window, cx| {
+            let multi_workspace_handle: Entity<MultiWorkspace> = root_view.downcast().unwrap();
             cx.new(|cx| sidebar::Sidebar::new(multi_workspace_handle, window, cx))
         })
         .context("Failed to create sidebar")?;
diff --git a/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/run_tests.rs b/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/run_tests.rs
index 52338e30ff15f9862c802f8515980642a9ba490d..65b44123c7b76f49e7c349318aab1bc2fb856c1f 100644
--- a/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/run_tests.rs
+++ b/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/run_tests.rs
@@ -596,6 +596,9 @@ fn run_platform_tests_impl(platform: Platform, filter_packages: bool) -> NamedJo
             .when(!filter_packages, |job| {
                 job.add_step(steps::cargo_nextest(platform))
             })
+            .when(platform == Platform::Mac, |job| {
+                job.add_step(steps::cargo_build_visual_tests())
+            })
             .add_step(steps::show_sccache_stats(platform))
             .add_step(steps::cleanup_cargo_config(platform)),
     }
diff --git a/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/steps.rs b/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/steps.rs
index 02476531ae97b6878784d2ce4694b29801446993..15c2614ada81dd7c2e772f52c7072dac4324d1dc 100644
--- a/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/steps.rs
+++ b/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/steps.rs
@@ -254,6 +254,10 @@ pub fn setup_sccache(platform: Platform) -> Step<Run> {
         .add_env(("SCCACHE_BUCKET", SCCACHE_R2_BUCKET))
 }
 
+pub fn cargo_build_visual_tests() -> Step<Run> {
+    named::bash("cargo build -p zed --bin zed_visual_test_runner --features visual-tests")
+}
+
 pub fn show_sccache_stats(platform: Platform) -> Step<Run> {
     match platform {
         // Use $env:RUSTC_WRAPPER (absolute path) because GITHUB_PATH changes