diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
index 8420190a44..a43e794057 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
@@ -145,32 +145,45 @@ jobs:
           BUNDLE_DIR="build/release/bundle"
           mkdir -p "${BUNDLE_DIR}"
 
-          # Copy the entire pixi/conda environment
+          echo "Copying pixi environment..."
           cp -a .pixi/envs/default/* "${BUNDLE_DIR}/"
+          echo "Original size: $(du -sh ${BUNDLE_DIR} | cut -f1)"
 
-          # Remove unnecessary files to reduce size
+          # Remove unnecessary files to reduce size significantly
+          echo "Removing unnecessary files..."
           rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/include"
           rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/conda-meta"
           rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/doc"
+          rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/man"
+          rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/share/doc"
+          rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/share/man"
           rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/share/gtk-doc"
+          rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/share/info"
           rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/lib/cmake"
-          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.a" -delete
-          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.h" -delete
-          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.cmake" -delete
-          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -path "*/__pycache__/*" -delete
-          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.pyc" -delete
+          rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig"
+          rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/share/pkgconfig"
+
+          # Remove static libraries and dev files
+          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.a" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.la" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.h" -type f -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.hpp" -type f -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.cmake" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -path "*/__pycache__/*" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.pyc" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+          find "${BUNDLE_DIR}" -name "*.pyo" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
 
           # Keep only necessary binaries
           if [ -d "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin" ]; then
             mv "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin" "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin_tmp"
             mkdir "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin"
-            for bin in FreeCAD FreeCADCmd freecad freecadcmd python python3 ccx gmsh dot pip; do
-              [ -f "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin_tmp/${bin}" ] && cp "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin_tmp/${bin}" "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin/" || true
+            for bin in FreeCAD FreeCADCmd freecad freecadcmd python python3 python3.11 ccx gmsh dot pip pyside6-rcc; do
+              [ -f "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin_tmp/${bin}" ] && cp -a "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin_tmp/${bin}" "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin/" || true
             done
             rm -rf "${BUNDLE_DIR}/bin_tmp"
           fi
 
-          echo "Bundle size: $(du -sh ${BUNDLE_DIR} | cut -f1)"
+          echo "Final bundle size: $(du -sh ${BUNDLE_DIR} | cut -f1)"
 
       - name: Build .deb package
         shell: bash
diff --git a/package/debian/build-deb.sh b/package/debian/build-deb.sh
index 9abff691f0..1c6a452fdd 100755
--- a/package/debian/build-deb.sh
+++ b/package/debian/build-deb.sh
@@ -329,9 +329,11 @@ chmod 755 "${STAGING_DIR}/DEBIAN/postrm"
 
 # Build the .deb package
 # --root-owner-group ensures all files are owned by root:root (standard practice)
+# -Zxz with -z1 uses fast compression (large packages can take very long with default settings)
 mkdir -p "${OUTPUT_DIR}"
-echo "Building package..."
-dpkg-deb --build --root-owner-group "${STAGING_DIR}" "${OUTPUT_DIR}/${DEB_NAME}.deb"
+echo "Building package (this may take a few minutes for large packages)..."
+echo "Staging directory size: $(du -sh "${STAGING_DIR}" | cut -f1)"
+dpkg-deb -Zxz -z1 --build --root-owner-group "${STAGING_DIR}" "${OUTPUT_DIR}/${DEB_NAME}.deb"
 
 # Verify the package
 echo "Verifying package..."