diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2cbd7d5..057c20c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ jobs:
             mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc
             mingw-w64-x86_64-lz4
             mingw-w64-x86_64-zlib
+            mingw-w64-x86_64-ntldd
 
       - name: Cache Chez Scheme (Windows)
         if: runner.os == 'Windows'
@@ -154,6 +155,15 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build joltc (release)
         run: make joltc-release
 
+      - name: Inspect the binary (Windows)
+        if: runner.os == 'Windows'
+        run: |
+          set +e
+          ls -la target/release/
+          ntldd target/release/joltc.exe 2>&1 | head -20
+          ./target/release/joltc.exe -e '(+ 1 2)'
+          echo "exit=$?"
+
       # Sanity: the built binary runs (no Chez needed) and self-reports a value.
       - name: Smoke the binary
         run: |
diff --git a/host/chez/build.ss b/host/chez/build.ss
index abe0312..1fb4812 100644
--- a/host/chez/build.ss
+++ b/host/chez/build.ss
@@ -121,7 +121,9 @@
     ;; Windows (ta6nt, MinGW-w64 under MSYS2): the Chez kernel pulls in
     ;; compression, winsock, COM/UUID, and the registry.
     (bld-nt?
-     "-llz4 -lz -lws2_32 -lrpcrt4 -lole32 -luuid -ladvapi32 -luser32 -lshell32 -lm")
+          ;; -static: a single-file exe (no libwinpthread/libgcc/lz4 DLL deps) —
+     ;; required for a distributable binary and for TLS init consistency.
+     "-static -llz4 -lz -lws2_32 -lrpcrt4 -lole32 -luuid -ladvapi32 -luser32 -lshell32 -lm")
     ;; Linux: the Chez kernel pulls in compression (lz4/z), the expression
     ;; editor (ncurses + terminfo), threads, dlopen, libuuid, and clock_gettime.
     (else "-llz4 -lz -lncurses -ltinfo -ldl -lm -lpthread -luuid -lrt")))