diff --git a/.github/workflows/template-tauri-build-linux-x64.yml b/.github/workflows/template-tauri-build-linux-x64.yml
index 303b001096..274aa36620 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/template-tauri-build-linux-x64.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/template-tauri-build-linux-x64.yml
@@ -150,12 +150,6 @@ jobs:
           fi
       - name: Build app
         run: |
-          # Pin linuxdeploy version to prevent @tauri-apps/cli-linux-x64-gnu from pulling in an outdated version
-          TAURI_TOOLKIT_PATH="${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/tauri"
-          mkdir -p "$TAURI_TOOLKIT_PATH"
-          wget https://github.com/linuxdeploy/linuxdeploy/releases/download/1-alpha-20250213-2/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage -O "$TAURI_TOOLKIT_PATH/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage"
-          chmod +x "$TAURI_TOOLKIT_PATH/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage"
-
           make build-tauri
           # Copy engines and bun to appimage
            wget https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/releases/download/continuous/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage -O ./appimagetool
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f09d958d00..e714bfdd6a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -49,4 +49,5 @@ src-tauri/resources/bin
 # Helper tools
 .opencode
 OpenCode.md
-archive/
\ No newline at end of file
+archive/
+.cache/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6e69c602dd..e2c3bc2819 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ else ifeq ($(shell uname -s),Linux)
 	rm -rf ./src-tauri/target
 	rm -rf "~/jan/extensions"
 	rm -rf "~/.cache/jan*"
+	rm -rf "./.cache"
 else
 	find . -name "node_modules" -type d -prune -exec rm -rf '{}' +
 	find . -name ".next" -type d -exec rm -rf '{}' +
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7be0e769db..356aeff1c5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@
     "copy:lib:win32": "cpx \"./lib/windows/*.dll\" \"./src-tauri/resources/lib/\"",
     "copy:lib:darwin": "mkdir -p \"./src-tauri/resources/lib/\"",
     "download:bin": "node ./scripts/download-bin.mjs",
-    "build:tauri:linux:win32": "yarn download:bin && yarn install:cortex && yarn build:icon && yarn copy:assets:tauri && yarn tauri build",
-    "build:tauri:darwin": "yarn install:cortex && yarn build:icon && yarn copy:assets:tauri && yarn tauri build --target universal-apple-darwin",
-    "build:tauri": "run-script-os",
+    "build:tauri:win32": "yarn download:bin && yarn tauri build",
+    "build:tauri:linux": "yarn download:bin && ./src-tauri/build-utils/shim-linuxdeploy.sh yarn tauri build",
+    "build:tauri:darwin": "yarn tauri build --target universal-apple-darwin",
+    "build:tauri": "yarn install:cortex && yarn build:icon && yarn copy:assets:tauri && run-script-os",
     "build:icon": "tauri icon ./src-tauri/icons/icon.png",
     "build:core": "cd core && yarn build && yarn pack",
     "build:web": "yarn workspace @janhq/web-app build",
diff --git a/src-tauri/build-utils/shim-linuxdeploy.sh b/src-tauri/build-utils/shim-linuxdeploy.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..fbbbd51734
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src-tauri/build-utils/shim-linuxdeploy.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# wrapper script to pin linuxdeploy version and inject environment variables into the 
+# build process. While yarn supports injecting environment vairables via env files,
+# this applies to all yarn scripts. Using a wrapper allows granular control over
+# when environment variables are injected, and avoids tainting the system .cache
+
+# avoid redownloading corepack if possible
+export COREPACK_HOME=${COREPACK_HOME:-${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/node/corepack}
+# move cache home to <project root>/.cache
+export XDG_CACHE_HOME=${PWD}/.cache
+
+LINUXDEPLOY_VER="1-alpha-20250213-2"
+LINUXDEPLOY="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/tauri/linuxdeploy-$LINUXDEPLOY_VER-x86_64.AppImage"
+SYMLINK="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/tauri/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage"
+
+mkdir -p "$XDG_CACHE_HOME/tauri"
+
+if [ ! -f $LINUXDEPLOY ]; then
+  GLOB_PATTERN="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/tauri/linuxdeploy-*-x86_64.AppImage"
+  rm $GLOB_PATTERN
+  wget "https://github.com/linuxdeploy/linuxdeploy/releases/download/$LINUXDEPLOY_VER/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage" -O "$LINUXDEPLOY"
+  chmod a+x "$LINUXDEPLOY"
+fi
+
+rm $SYMLINK
+ln -s "$LINUXDEPLOY" "$SYMLINK"
+
+"$@"
\ No newline at end of file