diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 662c785dd..054306394 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ CFLAGS_DEV= -g -DDEV
 LDFLAGS+=-L$(TD)/lib
 LDLIBS += -lActonDeps-$(PLATFORM) -lm -lpthread
 
+ifdef CPEDANTIC
+CPEDANTIC=--cpedantic
+endif
+
 # rewrite arm64 to aarch64
 ifeq ($(shell uname -m),arm64)
 ARCH:=aarch64
@@ -326,17 +330,17 @@ dist/depsout/lib/libyyjson.a: dist/deps/libyyjson $(DIST_ZIG)
 ifeq ($(ARCH),x86_64)
 ZIG_ARCH_ARG=-mcpu=x86_64
 endif
-builder/builder: builder/build.zig $(ZIG_DEP) $(DEPS_DIRS)
+builder/builder: builder/build.zig backend/build.zig base/build.zig $(ZIG_DEP) $(DEPS_DIRS)
 	rm -rf builder/zig-cache builder/zig-out
 	(echo 'const root = @import("build.zig");'; tail -n +2 dist/zig/lib/build_runner.zig) > builder/build_runner.zig
 	cd builder && $(ZIG) build-exe build_runner.zig -femit-bin=builder $(ZIG_ARCH_ARG)
 
 .PHONY: base/out/rel/lib/libActon.a base/out/dev/lib/libActon.a
 base/out/rel/lib/libActon.a: $(ACTONC) $(DEPS)
-	cd base && ../dist/bin/actonc build --auto-stub --ccmd
+	cd base && ../dist/bin/actonc build --auto-stub $(CPEDANTIC)
 
 base/out/dev/lib/libActon.a: $(ACTONC) $(DEPS)
-	cd base && ../dist/bin/actonc build --auto-stub --dev --ccmd
+	cd base && ../dist/bin/actonc build --auto-stub --dev $(CPEDANTIC)
 
 base/out/types/__builtin__.ty: $(ACTONC)
 	cd base && ../dist/bin/actonc src/__builtin__.act
diff --git a/base/build.zig b/base/build.zig
index 3a5b58636..0477a0aad 100644
--- a/base/build.zig
+++ b/base/build.zig
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.build.Builder) void {
     print("Acton Base Builder\nBuilding in {s}\n", .{buildroot_path});
     const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});
     const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
+    const cpedantic = b.option(bool, "cpedantic", "") orelse false;
     const use_prebuilt = b.option(bool, "use_prebuilt", "") orelse false;
     const projpath = b.option([]const u8, "projpath", "") orelse "";
     const projpath_outtypes = b.option([]const u8, "projpath_outtypes", "") orelse "";
@@ -120,6 +121,9 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.build.Builder) void {
     file_prefix_map.appendSlice(file_prefix_path_path) catch unreachable;
     file_prefix_map.appendSlice("/=") catch unreachable;
     flags.append(file_prefix_map.items) catch unreachable;
+    if (cpedantic) {
+        flags.append("-Werror") catch unreachable;
+    }
 
     if (optimize == .Debug) {
         print("Debug build\n", .{});
diff --git a/compiler/ActonCompiler.hs b/compiler/ActonCompiler.hs
index 7781c5565..cac80491e 100644
--- a/compiler/ActonCompiler.hs
+++ b/compiler/ActonCompiler.hs
@@ -893,6 +893,7 @@ zigBuild env opts paths tasks binTasks = do
                  if (C.debug opts) then " --verbose " else "" ++
                  " -Dtarget=" ++ (C.target opts) ++
                  " -Doptimize=" ++ (if (C.dev opts) then "Debug" else "ReleaseFast") ++
+                 (if (C.cpedantic opts) then " -Dcpedantic " else " ") ++
                  " -Dprojpath=" ++ projPath paths ++
                  " -Dprojpath_outtypes=" ++ joinPath [ projPath paths, "out", "types" ] ++
                  " -Dsyspath=" ++ sysPath paths ++
@@ -901,7 +902,7 @@ zigBuild env opts paths tasks binTasks = do
                  " -Dsyspath_include=" ++ joinPath [ sysPath paths, "depsout", "include" ] ++
                  " -Dsyspath_lib=" ++ joinPath [ sysPath paths, "depsout", "lib" ] ++
                  " -Dsyspath_libreldev=" ++ joinPath [ sysPath paths, "lib", reldev ] ++
-                 if use_prebuilt then " -Duse_prebuilt" else ""
+                 (if use_prebuilt then " -Duse_prebuilt" else "")
 
     runZig opts zigCmd (Just (projPath paths))
     -- if we are in a temp acton project, copy the outputted binary next to the source file