diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7c63bff6e0..23222d73c7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -860,8 +860,12 @@ set(ZIG_BUILD_ARGS
 )
 
 add_custom_target(stage3 ALL
-  COMMAND zig2 build compile ${ZIG_BUILD_ARGS}
-  DEPENDS zig2
+  DEPENDS "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/stage3/bin/zig"
+)
+
+add_custom_command(
+  OUTPUT "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/stage3/bin/zig"
+  COMMAND zig2 build --prefix "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/stage3" ${ZIG_BUILD_ARGS}
   COMMENT STATUS "Building stage3"
   WORKING_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}"
 )
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 6cb3e35488..78345ac9e4 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -179,9 +179,6 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     exe.entitlements = entitlements;
     b.installArtifact(exe);
 
-    const compile_step = b.step("compile", "Build the self-hosted compiler");
-    compile_step.dependOn(&exe.step);
-
     test_step.dependOn(&exe.step);
 
     exe.single_threaded = single_threaded;