diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index e54ff98..e76cc82 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -842,6 +842,11 @@ HDR
     cmake --build . -j "$JOBS"
 
     [[ -f "bin/${APP_BASENAME}.exe" ]] || { err "Windows build failed"; exit 1; }
+    # Strip the app exe — the Linux and macOS release paths already strip theirs, and even the Windows
+    # helper (dragonx-wallet-rebuild.exe) is stripped, but the main app exe was shipping unstripped
+    # (~5MB of symbols on the full node, ~19MB on the params-heavy lite build). Best-effort.
+    x86_64-w64-mingw32-strip --strip-all "bin/${APP_BASENAME}.exe" 2>/dev/null \
+        || warn "  strip unavailable — shipping unstripped ${APP_BASENAME}.exe"
     info "Binary: $(du -h "bin/${APP_BASENAME}.exe" | cut -f1)"
 
     # A full-node release MUST include the recovery helper — fail loudly, never ship without it.