diff --git a/Earthfile b/Earthfile
index 0e4d5652..7ecac849 100644
--- a/Earthfile
+++ b/Earthfile
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ deps-rust:
             echo "retry #$retry..."; \
             sleep 10; \
         done
-    RUN cargo install wasm-pack wasm-tools --locked
+    RUN cargo install wasm-pack wasm-opt --locked
     RUN cargo install -f wasm-bindgen-cli --locked --version $WASM_BINDGEN_CLI_VERSION
     # Caching tool
     RUN cargo install cargo-chef --locked
diff --git a/dev-setup/setup_linux.sh b/dev-setup/setup_linux.sh
index fd483564..fef2e108 100755
--- a/dev-setup/setup_linux.sh
+++ b/dev-setup/setup_linux.sh
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ fi
 rustup target add aarch64-linux-android armv7-linux-androideabi i686-linux-android x86_64-linux-android wasm32-unknown-unknown
 
 # install cargo packages
-cargo install wasm-bindgen-cli wasm-pack cargo-edit@0.13.0 wasm-tools
+cargo install wasm-bindgen-cli wasm-pack wasm-opt cargo-edit@0.13.0
 
 # install pip packages
 pip3 install --upgrade bumpversion
diff --git a/dev-setup/setup_macos.sh b/dev-setup/setup_macos.sh
index f40eb77a..c6c2f742 100755
--- a/dev-setup/setup_macos.sh
+++ b/dev-setup/setup_macos.sh
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ $BREW_COMMAND install capnp cmake llvm jq
 rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin aarch64-apple-ios aarch64-apple-ios-sim x86_64-apple-darwin x86_64-apple-ios wasm32-unknown-unknown aarch64-linux-android armv7-linux-androideabi i686-linux-android x86_64-linux-android
 
 # install cargo packages
-cargo install wasm-bindgen-cli wasm-pack cargo-edit@0.13.0 wasm-tools
+cargo install wasm-bindgen-cli wasm-pack wasm-opt cargo-edit@0.13.0
 
 # attempt to install pip packages - this may result in an error, which we will try to catch
 pip3 install --upgrade bumpversion || ( \
diff --git a/veilid-wasm/wasm_build.sh b/veilid-wasm/wasm_build.sh
index ce3615f4..bbc81291 100755
--- a/veilid-wasm/wasm_build.sh
+++ b/veilid-wasm/wasm_build.sh
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ if [[ "$1" == "release" ]]; then
     ./wasm_remap_paths.sh cargo build --target wasm32-unknown-unknown --release
     mkdir -p $OUTPUTDIR
     wasm-bindgen --out-dir $OUTPUTDIR --target web --weak-refs $INPUTDIR/veilid_wasm.wasm
-    wasm-tools strip $OUTPUTDIR/veilid_wasm_bg.wasm -o $OUTPUTDIR/veilid_wasm_bg.wasm.stripped
-    mv $OUTPUTDIR/veilid_wasm_bg.wasm.stripped $OUTPUTDIR/veilid_wasm_bg.wasm
+    wasm-opt -O --enable-mutable-globals $OUTPUTDIR/veilid_wasm_bg.wasm -o $OUTPUTDIR/veilid_wasm_bg.wasm.optimized
+    mv $OUTPUTDIR/veilid_wasm_bg.wasm.optimized $OUTPUTDIR/veilid_wasm_bg.wasm
 else
     OUTPUTDIR=$SCRIPTDIR/../target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/debug/pkg
     INPUTDIR=$SCRIPTDIR/../target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/debug
diff --git a/veilid-wasm/wasm_setup_check.sh b/veilid-wasm/wasm_setup_check.sh
index 3759650d..407ea3b0 100755
--- a/veilid-wasm/wasm_setup_check.sh
+++ b/veilid-wasm/wasm_setup_check.sh
@@ -37,11 +37,19 @@ else
     exit 1
 fi
 
-if command -v wasm-tools &> /dev/null; then
-    echo '[X] wasm-tools is available in the path'
+if command -v wasm-pack &> /dev/null; then
+    echo '[X] wasm-pack is available in the path'
 else
-    echo -e 'wasm-tools is not available in the path.
-  Install wasm-tools: cargo install wasm-tools'
+    echo -e 'wasm-pack is not available in the path.
+  Install wasm-pack: cargo install wasm-pack'
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if command -v wasm-opt &> /dev/null; then
+    echo '[X] wasm-opt is available in the path'
+else
+    echo -e 'wasm-opt is not available in the path.
+  Install wasm-opt: cargo install wasm-opt'
     exit 1
 fi