diff --git a/editors/vscode/scripts/package/server.ts b/editors/vscode/scripts/package/server.ts
index 3908d884..ff4dd994 100644
--- a/editors/vscode/scripts/package/server.ts
+++ b/editors/vscode/scripts/package/server.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ import type { PackageContext } from './context';
 import { run } from './process';
 import type { BuildProfile, NativeTargetSpec, ServerMode } from './targets';
 
+const ALPINE_CARGO_TARGETS: Partial<Record<NativeTargetSpec['target'], string>> = {
+  'alpine-arm64': 'aarch64-unknown-linux-musl',
+  'alpine-x64': 'x86_64-unknown-linux-musl',
+};
+
 export function ensureTargetServerBinary(
   context: PackageContext,
   spec: NativeTargetSpec,
@@ -28,7 +33,7 @@ export function ensureTargetServerBinary(
   }
 
   const serverPath = targetServerPath(context, spec);
-  run('cargo', args, context.repoRoot);
+  run('cargo', args, context.repoRoot, cargoXtaskEnvForTarget(spec));
 
   if (!fs.existsSync(serverPath)) {
     throw new Error(`prepared server binary was not found: ${serverPath}`);
@@ -63,3 +68,70 @@ export function cleanRuntimeServerFiles(context: PackageContext): void {
 function targetServerPath(context: PackageContext, spec: NativeTargetSpec): string {
   return path.join(context.vscodeDir, 'server', spec.target, spec.binaryFile);
 }
+
+export function cargoXtaskEnvForTarget(
+  spec: NativeTargetSpec,
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env,
+): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
+  const cargoTarget = ALPINE_CARGO_TARGETS[spec.target];
+  if (!cargoTarget) {
+    return env;
+  }
+
+  let updated = envWithoutCargoBuildTarget(env);
+  const linkerEnvKey = cargoTargetLinkerEnvKey(cargoTarget);
+  if (!optionalEnv(updated, linkerEnvKey)) {
+    updated = {
+      ...updated,
+      [linkerEnvKey]: cargoLinkerForTarget(cargoTarget, updated),
+    };
+  }
+
+  return appendRustFlags(updated, ['-C', 'link-arg=-lc']);
+}
+
+function envWithoutCargoBuildTarget(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
+  const { CARGO_BUILD_TARGET: _cargoBuildTarget, ...updated } = env;
+  return updated;
+}
+
+function cargoTargetLinkerEnvKey(cargoTarget: string): string {
+  return `CARGO_TARGET_${cargoTargetEnvName(cargoTarget)}_LINKER`;
+}
+
+function cargoTargetEnvName(cargoTarget: string): string {
+  return cargoTarget.toUpperCase().replace(/-/g, '_');
+}
+
+function cargoLinkerForTarget(cargoTarget: string, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): string {
+  return (
+    optionalEnv(env, cxxCompilerEnvKey(cargoTarget)) ??
+    optionalEnv(env, 'TARGET_CXX') ??
+    `${cargoTarget}-g++`
+  );
+}
+
+function cxxCompilerEnvKey(cargoTarget: string): string {
+  return `CXX_${cargoTarget.replace(/-/g, '_')}`;
+}
+
+function appendRustFlags(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv, flags: string[]): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
+  const encodedFlags = optionalEnv(env, 'CARGO_ENCODED_RUSTFLAGS');
+  if (encodedFlags) {
+    return {
+      ...env,
+      CARGO_ENCODED_RUSTFLAGS: `${encodedFlags}\x1f${flags.join('\x1f')}`,
+    };
+  }
+
+  const rustFlags = optionalEnv(env, 'RUSTFLAGS');
+  return {
+    ...env,
+    RUSTFLAGS: rustFlags ? `${rustFlags} ${flags.join(' ')}` : flags.join(' '),
+  };
+}
+
+function optionalEnv(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv, name: string): string | undefined {
+  const value = env[name]?.trim();
+  return value ? value : undefined;
+}
diff --git a/editors/vscode/test/package.test.ts b/editors/vscode/test/package.test.ts
index 0f5fce05..00bf65d6 100644
--- a/editors/vscode/test/package.test.ts
+++ b/editors/vscode/test/package.test.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ import {
   stagePackageJsonForTarget,
   stageProfileTraceAssets,
 } from '../scripts/package/manifest';
-import { createPackagePlan } from '../scripts/package/targets';
+import { cargoXtaskEnvForTarget } from '../scripts/package/server';
+import { createPackagePlan, type NativeTargetSpec } from '../scripts/package/targets';
 
 describe('package cli', () => {
   it('keeps the existing debug positional target syntax', () => {
@@ -105,6 +106,43 @@ describe('package staging', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('package server preparation', () => {
+  it('removes inherited Cargo build targets before cargo xtask is built', () => {
+    const baseEnv = { CARGO_BUILD_TARGET: 'x86_64-unknown-linux-musl' };
+    const env = cargoXtaskEnvForTarget(nativeTargetSpec('alpine-x64'), baseEnv);
+
+    assert.equal(env.CARGO_BUILD_TARGET, undefined);
+    assert.equal(
+      env.CARGO_TARGET_X86_64_UNKNOWN_LINUX_MUSL_LINKER,
+      'x86_64-unknown-linux-musl-g++',
+    );
+    assert.equal(env.RUSTFLAGS, '-C link-arg=-lc');
+    assert.equal(baseEnv.CARGO_BUILD_TARGET, 'x86_64-unknown-linux-musl');
+  });
+
+  it('appends Alpine cargo flags to encoded rust flags', () => {
+    const env = cargoXtaskEnvForTarget(nativeTargetSpec('alpine-arm64'), {
+      CARGO_ENCODED_RUSTFLAGS: '-C\x1ftarget-feature=+crt-static',
+      CXX_aarch64_unknown_linux_musl: 'custom-aarch64-g++',
+    });
+
+    assert.equal(env.CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_UNKNOWN_LINUX_MUSL_LINKER, 'custom-aarch64-g++');
+    assert.equal(
+      env.CARGO_ENCODED_RUSTFLAGS,
+      '-C\x1ftarget-feature=+crt-static\x1f-C\x1flink-arg=-lc',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('leaves non-Alpine cargo env untouched', () => {
+    const baseEnv = { RUSTFLAGS: '-Dwarnings' };
+
+    assert.equal(
+      cargoXtaskEnvForTarget(nativeTargetSpec('win32-x64', 'vide.exe'), baseEnv),
+      baseEnv,
+    );
+  });
+});
+
 function temporaryPackageContext(): PackageContext {
   const root = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'vide-package-'));
   return {
@@ -113,6 +151,19 @@ function temporaryPackageContext(): PackageContext {
   };
 }
 
+function nativeTargetSpec(
+  target: NativeTargetSpec['target'],
+  binaryFile = 'vide',
+): NativeTargetSpec {
+  return {
+    kind: 'native',
+    target,
+    binaryFile,
+    isWindows: target.startsWith('win32-'),
+    removeBrowserEntry: true,
+  };
+}
+
 describe('package plan', () => {
   it('models web packages without native server staging', () => {
     const plan = createPackagePlan({
diff --git a/xtask/src/main.rs b/xtask/src/main.rs
index 42313ace..97518e3a 100644
--- a/xtask/src/main.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/main.rs
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ fn run_command(
     cwd: &Path,
     env_updates: &[(String, String)],
 ) -> Result<()> {
-    let mut child = ProcessCommand::new(command_for_host(command));
+    let mut child = ProcessCommand::new(command);
     child.args(args).current_dir(cwd);
     for (key, value) in env_updates {
         child.env(key, value);
@@ -434,10 +434,6 @@ fn run_command(
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn command_for_host(command: &str) -> String {
-    if cfg!(windows) { format!("{command}.cmd") } else { command.to_owned() }
-}
-
 fn workspace_root() -> Result<PathBuf> {
     Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"))
         .parent()