diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 1ec4c365..fcf9eb05 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build & push docker images
         env:
           DOCKER_TAG: ${{ (github.ref_name == 'main' && 'unstable') || github.ref_name }}
+          LEAN_REPO_ROOT: ${{ github.workspace }}
         run: |
           make docker \
             DOCKER_TAG=${{ env.DOCKER_TAG }}
diff --git a/lean_client/Cross.toml b/lean_client/Cross.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b5a973a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lean_client/Cross.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[build.env]
+volumes = ["LEAN_REPO_ROOT"]
diff --git a/lean_client/Makefile b/lean_client/Makefile
index e1d489b5..1d0b4237 100644
--- a/lean_client/Makefile
+++ b/lean_client/Makefile
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ GIT_BRANCH := $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 BUILD_DATE := $(shell date -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')
 # Currently supported devnet. Used to publish devnet tag, along with `latest`.
 CURRENT_DEVNET := devnet-4
+# Repo root that cross bind-mounts into its build container (see
+# `lean_client/Cross.toml`). Auto-derived locally; CI overrides via env.
+LEAN_REPO_ROOT ?= $(shell git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
 
 # Temporary variable, which constructs `--tag` arguments, to be passed into 
 #   docker build command. It is used as intermediatery step, not as config 
@@ -70,13 +73,13 @@ clean:
 x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu: ./target/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/lean_client
 
 ./target/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/lean_client:
-	cross build --bin lean_client --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu --profile release
+	LEAN_REPO_ROOT=$(LEAN_REPO_ROOT) cross build --bin lean_client --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu --profile release
 
 .PHONY: aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
 aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu: ./target/aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/lean_client
 
 ./target/aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/lean_client:
-	cross build --bin lean_client --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --profile release
+	LEAN_REPO_ROOT=$(LEAN_REPO_ROOT) cross build --bin lean_client --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --profile release
 
 .PHONY: release
 release: docker