diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 74da6dc93..05c002230 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -314,9 +314,14 @@ else()
   )
   add_compile_options($<$<CONFIG:Release>:-O3>)
   # Link-time optimization (use lld and llvm-ar/ranlib to avoid system
-  # linker/archiver LTO plugin version mismatch with clang's bitcode)
-  add_compile_options($<$<CONFIG:Release>:-flto=thin>)
-  add_link_options($<$<CONFIG:Release>:-flto=thin>)
+  # linker/archiver LTO plugin version mismatch with clang's bitcode).
+  # Guarded so memory-constrained hosts can build Release without the
+  # ThinLTO link-time memory spike: pass -DXENIA_ENABLE_LTO=OFF.
+  option(XENIA_ENABLE_LTO "Enable ThinLTO for Release builds" ON)
+  if(XENIA_ENABLE_LTO)
+    add_compile_options($<$<CONFIG:Release>:-flto=thin>)
+    add_link_options($<$<CONFIG:Release>:-flto=thin>)
+  endif()
   add_link_options($<$<CONFIG:Release>:-fuse-ld=lld>)
   find_program(LLVM_AR NAMES llvm-ar)
   find_program(LLVM_RANLIB NAMES llvm-ranlib)