diff --git a/backend/cpp/audio-cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/backend/cpp/audio-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 1e784cde8..3b5f36278 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/audio-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/backend/cpp/audio-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -33,7 +33,9 @@ if(NOT Protobuf_FOUND)
 endif()
 find_package(gRPC CONFIG QUIET)
 if(NOT gRPC_FOUND)
-    # Ubuntu's apt-installed grpc++ ships no CMake config. Fall back.
+    # Reached only on distros whose grpc++ packaging ships no CMake config.
+    # Ubuntu's libgrpc-dev does ship one, so this is dead code on LocalAI's own
+    # build distro. Kept for the distros that do not.
     find_library(GRPCPP_LIB grpc++ REQUIRED)
     find_library(GRPCPP_REFLECTION_LIB grpc++_reflection REQUIRED)
     add_library(gRPC::grpc++ INTERFACE IMPORTED)
@@ -75,6 +77,11 @@ target_link_libraries(hw_grpc_proto PUBLIC protobuf::libprotobuf gRPC::grpc++)
 
 # Upstream's global add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -pedantic-errors)
 # is a directory property of the subdirectory and does not reach our targets.
+#
+# EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL is load-bearing, do not drop it: upstream's default target set
+# includes its CLI, server, converter and test binaries, none of which we ship.
+# Without it every build would compile all of them. The targets we do name in
+# target_link_libraries below are still built on demand, so nothing is lost.
 add_subdirectory("${AUDIO_CPP_DIR}" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/audio-cpp" EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
 
 add_executable(${TARGET}
@@ -96,9 +103,16 @@ target_link_libraries(${TARGET} PRIVATE
 
 # ENGINE_ENABLE_CPU_ALL_VARIANTS builds ggml backends as shared objects that sit
 # next to the binary in the package, so the binary must search its own directory.
+# BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH keeps the build-tree binary at exactly "$ORIGIN".
+# Upstream sets CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH in its own directory scope, which
+# does not reach ours, so without this CMake also appends its build-tree library
+# directory. That absolute build-host path would survive into the copied binary
+# and let a package.sh that forgot to bundle libggml*.so still pass on the build
+# machine while failing everywhere else.
 set_target_properties(${TARGET} PROPERTIES
     BUILD_RPATH "$ORIGIN"
-    INSTALL_RPATH "$ORIGIN")
+    INSTALL_RPATH "$ORIGIN"
+    BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH TRUE)
 
 if(AUDIO_CPP_GRPC_BUILD_TESTS)
     enable_testing()
diff --git a/backend/cpp/audio-cpp/Makefile b/backend/cpp/audio-cpp/Makefile
index 4adf0228f..c32d34a2f 100644
--- a/backend/cpp/audio-cpp/Makefile
+++ b/backend/cpp/audio-cpp/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 # audio.cpp backend Makefile.
 #
-# Upstream pin lives below as AUDIO_CPP_VERSION?=<sha> so .github/bump_deps.sh
-# can find and update it, matching the llama-cpp / ds4 convention. The clone
+# Upstream pin lives below in the AUDIO_CPP_VERSION variable, so
+# .github/bump_deps.sh can find and update it, matching the llama-cpp / ds4
+# convention. That script seds every line matching the variable name followed by
+# an assignment, so this comment deliberately spells the name on its own: a
+# comment repeating the full assignment token gets rewritten and mangled by the
+# first auto-bump (backend/cpp/ds4/Makefile shows the damage). The clone
 # recipe is a make target (not a prepare.sh) so 'make purge && make' is a clean
 # rebuild and so the bump bot can see the pin.
 
@@ -69,7 +73,7 @@ test:
 test-engine: audio.cpp
 	mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)
 	cd $(BUILD_DIR) && cmake $(CMAKE_ARGS) -DAUDIO_CPP_GRPC_BUILD_TESTS=ON $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR) && \
-	cmake --build . --config Release -j $(JOBS) && ctest --output-on-failure
+	cmake --build . --config Release -j $(JOBS) && ctest --output-on-failure --no-tests=error
 
 clean:
 	rm -rf $(BUILD_DIR) grpc-server package