diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c23d7cc4..48403d38 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 /.zig-cache/
 /.lp-cache/
-/v8/
 /zig-pkg/
 zig-out
 lightpanda.id
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4f30d2fd..22a82879 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -43,13 +43,12 @@ V8_VERSION := $(shell awk -F\' '/^  v8:/{f=1} f&&/default:/{print $$2; exit}' $(
 ZIG_V8_TAG := $(shell awk -F\' '/^  zig-v8:/{f=1} f&&/default:/{print $$2; exit}' $(V8_ACTION))
 V8_ARCHIVE := libc_v8_$(V8_VERSION)_$(OS)_$(ARCH).a
 V8_CACHE   := .lp-cache/prebuilt-v8/$(V8_ARCHIVE)
-V8_LINK    := v8/libc_v8.a
 
-# If the prebuilt archive is in place and the caller hasn't set ZIGFLAGS, link
-# against it (the same flag CI passes) rather than building V8 from source.
+# If the prebuilt archive is in place and the caller hasn't set ZIGFLAGS, point
+# the build at it rather than building V8 from source.
 ifeq ($(strip $(ZIGFLAGS)),)
-  ifneq ($(wildcard $(V8_LINK)),)
-    ZIGFLAGS := -Dprebuilt_v8_path=$(V8_LINK)
+  ifneq ($(wildcard $(V8_CACHE)),)
+    ZIGFLAGS := -Dprebuilt_v8_path=$(V8_CACHE)
   endif
 endif
 
@@ -77,14 +76,13 @@ help:
 
 ## Download the prebuilt V8 archive (skips the 10+ min source build)
 download-v8:
-	@mkdir -p $(dir $(V8_CACHE)) $(dir $(V8_LINK))
+	@mkdir -p $(dir $(V8_CACHE))
 	@test -f $(V8_CACHE) || ( \
 		printf "\033[36mDownloading prebuilt V8 $(V8_VERSION) ($(ZIG_V8_TAG))...\033[0m\n"; \
 		curl -fL --progress-bar -o $(V8_CACHE) \
 			https://github.com/lightpanda-io/zig-v8-fork/releases/download/$(ZIG_V8_TAG)/$(V8_ARCHIVE) \
 		|| (rm -f $(V8_CACHE); printf "\033[33mDownload ERROR\033[0m\n"; exit 1) )
-	@ln -sf $(abspath $(V8_CACHE)) $(V8_LINK)
-	@printf "\033[33mV8 ready: %s -> %s\033[0m\n" "$(V8_LINK)" "$(V8_CACHE)"
+	@printf "\033[33mV8 ready: %s\033[0m\n" "$(V8_CACHE)"
 
 ## Build v8 snapshot
 build-v8-snapshot:
@@ -130,7 +128,7 @@ end2end:
 	@test -d ../demo
 	cd ../demo && go run runner/main.go
 
-## Remove build artifacts (keeps v8/ and zig-pkg/ — slow to re-fetch)
+## Remove build artifacts (keeps .lp-cache/ and zig-pkg/ — slow to re-fetch)
 clean:
 	rm -rf zig-out .zig-cache src/snapshot.bin
 	cd src/html5ever && cargo clean