diff --git a/lib/std/Build/Step/Compile.zig b/lib/std/Build/Step/Compile.zig
index 92b6d0de4a..d6a016f183 100644
--- a/lib/std/Build/Step/Compile.zig
+++ b/lib/std/Build/Step/Compile.zig
@@ -897,44 +897,6 @@ fn make(step: *Step, prog_node: *std.Progress.Node) !void {
     const arena = b.allocator;
     const self = @fieldParentPtr(Compile, "step", step);
 
-    // Convert search prefixes to -I and -L arguments to be added at the end of
-    // each module's configuration.
-    var search_prefix_args: std.ArrayListUnmanaged([]const u8) = .{};
-    for (b.search_prefixes.items) |search_prefix| {
-        var prefix_dir = fs.cwd().openDir(search_prefix, .{}) catch |err| {
-            return step.fail("unable to open prefix directory '{s}': {s}", .{
-                search_prefix, @errorName(err),
-            });
-        };
-        defer prefix_dir.close();
-
-        // Avoid passing -L and -I flags for nonexistent directories.
-        // This prevents a warning, that should probably be upgraded to an error in Zig's
-        // CLI parsing code, when the linker sees an -L directory that does not exist.
-
-        if (prefix_dir.accessZ("lib", .{})) |_| {
-            try search_prefix_args.appendSlice(arena, &.{
-                "-L", try fs.path.join(arena, &.{ search_prefix, "lib" }),
-            });
-        } else |err| switch (err) {
-            error.FileNotFound => {},
-            else => |e| return step.fail("unable to access '{s}/lib' directory: {s}", .{
-                search_prefix, @errorName(e),
-            }),
-        }
-
-        if (prefix_dir.accessZ("include", .{})) |_| {
-            try search_prefix_args.appendSlice(arena, &.{
-                "-I", try fs.path.join(arena, &.{ search_prefix, "include" }),
-            });
-        } else |err| switch (err) {
-            error.FileNotFound => {},
-            else => |e| return step.fail("unable to access '{s}/include' directory: {s}", .{
-                search_prefix, @errorName(e),
-            }),
-        }
-    }
-
     var zig_args = ArrayList([]const u8).init(arena);
     defer zig_args.deinit();
 
@@ -1235,10 +1197,6 @@ fn make(step: *Step, prog_node: *std.Progress.Node) !void {
             if (cli_named_modules.modules.getIndex(module)) |module_cli_index| {
                 const module_cli_name = cli_named_modules.names.keys()[module_cli_index];
                 try module.appendZigProcessFlags(&zig_args, step);
-                // These go after `appendZigProcessFlags` so that
-                // --search-prefix directories are prioritized lower than
-                // per-module settings.
-                try zig_args.appendSlice(search_prefix_args.items);
 
                 // --dep arguments
                 try zig_args.ensureUnusedCapacity(module.import_table.count() * 2);
@@ -1505,6 +1463,42 @@ fn make(step: *Step, prog_node: *std.Progress.Node) !void {
         try zig_args.appendSlice(&[_][]const u8{ "--sysroot", sysroot });
     }
 
+    // -I and -L arguments that appear after the last --mod argument apply to all modules.
+    for (b.search_prefixes.items) |search_prefix| {
+        var prefix_dir = fs.cwd().openDir(search_prefix, .{}) catch |err| {
+            return step.fail("unable to open prefix directory '{s}': {s}", .{
+                search_prefix, @errorName(err),
+            });
+        };
+        defer prefix_dir.close();
+
+        // Avoid passing -L and -I flags for nonexistent directories.
+        // This prevents a warning, that should probably be upgraded to an error in Zig's
+        // CLI parsing code, when the linker sees an -L directory that does not exist.
+
+        if (prefix_dir.accessZ("lib", .{})) |_| {
+            try zig_args.appendSlice(&.{
+                "-L", try fs.path.join(arena, &.{ search_prefix, "lib" }),
+            });
+        } else |err| switch (err) {
+            error.FileNotFound => {},
+            else => |e| return step.fail("unable to access '{s}/lib' directory: {s}", .{
+                search_prefix, @errorName(e),
+            }),
+        }
+
+        if (prefix_dir.accessZ("include", .{})) |_| {
+            try zig_args.appendSlice(&.{
+                "-I", try fs.path.join(arena, &.{ search_prefix, "include" }),
+            });
+        } else |err| switch (err) {
+            error.FileNotFound => {},
+            else => |e| return step.fail("unable to access '{s}/include' directory: {s}", .{
+                search_prefix, @errorName(e),
+            }),
+        }
+    }
+
     if (self.rc_includes != .any) {
         try zig_args.append("-rcincludes");
         try zig_args.append(@tagName(self.rc_includes));
diff --git a/src/Compilation.zig b/src/Compilation.zig
index 11b3328e0e..98f4012a26 100644
--- a/src/Compilation.zig
+++ b/src/Compilation.zig
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ last_update_was_cache_hit: bool = false,
 
 c_source_files: []const CSourceFile,
 rc_source_files: []const RcSourceFile,
+global_cc_argv: []const []const u8,
 cache_parent: *Cache,
 /// Path to own executable for invoking `zig clang`.
 self_exe_path: ?[]const u8,
@@ -1120,6 +1121,7 @@ pub const CreateOptions = struct {
     /// (Windows) PDB output path
     pdb_out_path: ?[]const u8 = null,
     error_limit: ?Compilation.Module.ErrorInt = null,
+    global_cc_argv: []const []const u8 = &.{},
 
     pub const Entry = link.File.OpenOptions.Entry;
 };
@@ -1515,6 +1517,7 @@ pub fn create(gpa: Allocator, arena: Allocator, options: CreateOptions) !*Compil
             .wasi_emulated_libs = options.wasi_emulated_libs,
             .force_undefined_symbols = options.force_undefined_symbols,
             .link_eh_frame_hdr = link_eh_frame_hdr,
+            .global_cc_argv = options.global_cc_argv,
         };
 
         // Prevent some footguns by making the "any" fields of config reflect
@@ -2527,6 +2530,8 @@ fn addNonIncrementalStuffToCacheManifest(
     cache_helpers.addOptionalEmitLoc(&man.hash, comp.emit_llvm_ir);
     cache_helpers.addOptionalEmitLoc(&man.hash, comp.emit_llvm_bc);
 
+    man.hash.addListOfBytes(comp.global_cc_argv);
+
     const opts = comp.cache_use.whole.lf_open_opts;
 
     try man.addOptionalFile(opts.linker_script);
@@ -3941,6 +3946,7 @@ pub fn obtainCObjectCacheManifest(
     // that apply both to @cImport and compiling C objects. No linking stuff here!
     // Also nothing that applies only to compiling .zig code.
     cache_helpers.addModule(&man.hash, owner_mod);
+    man.hash.addListOfBytes(comp.global_cc_argv);
     man.hash.add(comp.config.link_libcpp);
 
     // When libc_installation is null it means that Zig generated this dir list
@@ -5411,6 +5417,7 @@ pub fn addCCArgs(
         }
     }
 
+    try argv.appendSlice(comp.global_cc_argv);
     try argv.appendSlice(mod.cc_argv);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 091e4b2668..4442234bd2 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -3244,6 +3244,10 @@ fn buildOutputType(
         .pdb_out_path = pdb_out_path,
         .error_limit = error_limit,
         .native_system_include_paths = create_module.native_system_include_paths,
+        // Any leftover C compilation args (such as -I) apply globally rather
+        // than to any particular module. This feature can greatly reduce CLI
+        // noise when --search-prefix and --mod are combined.
+        .global_cc_argv = try cc_argv.toOwnedSlice(arena),
     }) catch |err| switch (err) {
         error.LibCUnavailable => {
             const triple_name = try target.zigTriple(arena);
@@ -3421,9 +3425,9 @@ const CreateModule = struct {
     c_source_files: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(Compilation.CSourceFile),
     rc_source_files: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(Compilation.RcSourceFile),
 
-    // e.g. -m3dnow or -mno-outline-atomics. They correspond to std.Target llvm cpu feature names.
-    // This array is populated by zig cc frontend and then has to be converted to zig-style
-    // CPU features.
+    /// e.g. -m3dnow or -mno-outline-atomics. They correspond to std.Target llvm cpu feature names.
+    /// This array is populated by zig cc frontend and then has to be converted to zig-style
+    /// CPU features.
     llvm_m_args: std.ArrayListUnmanaged([]const u8),
     sysroot: ?[]const u8,
     lib_dirs: std.ArrayListUnmanaged([]const u8),