diff --git a/.changeset/cyan-sloths-move.md b/.changeset/cyan-sloths-move.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b3a6a723
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/cyan-sloths-move.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"ferric-cli": patch
+---
+
+Fixed cargo build release flag
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check.yml b/.github/workflows/check.yml
index aadcd557..01cc1f58 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check.yml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           node-version: lts/jod
       - name: Set up JDK 17
-        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
           java-version: "17"
           distribution: "temurin"
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           node-version: lts/jod
       - name: Set up JDK 17
-        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
           java-version: "17"
           distribution: "temurin"
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 5758c0f0..cf6c2324 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -13752,7 +13752,7 @@
       "name": "@react-native-node-api/ferric-example",
       "version": "0.1.0",
       "devDependencies": {
-        "ferric-cli": "^0.2.0"
+        "ferric-cli": "*"
       }
     },
     "packages/ferric/node_modules/@commander-js/extra-typings": {
diff --git a/packages/ferric-example/package.json b/packages/ferric-example/package.json
index 0e747326..2365f4e5 100644
--- a/packages/ferric-example/package.json
+++ b/packages/ferric-example/package.json
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@
     "bootstrap": "npm run build"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "ferric-cli": "^0.2.0"
+    "ferric-cli": "*"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/ferric/src/cargo.ts b/packages/ferric/src/cargo.ts
index 16d2f38e..a910ffb2 100644
--- a/packages/ferric/src/cargo.ts
+++ b/packages/ferric/src/cargo.ts
@@ -76,7 +76,11 @@ type BuildOptions = {
 
 export async function build(options: BuildOptions) {
   const { target, configuration } = options;
-  await spawn("cargo", ["build", "--target", target], {
+  const args = ["build", "--target", target]
+  if (configuration.toLowerCase() === 'release') {
+    args.push('--release')
+  }
+  await spawn("cargo", args, {
     outputMode: "buffered",
     env: {
       ...process.env,