diff --git a/MODULE.bazel b/MODULE.bazel
index a9031fc515b77ce825f96284f998dd8ec5ce702a..87d30d38adc7720594ee9fe337f71c1fdcb8aab7 100644
--- a/MODULE.bazel
+++ b/MODULE.bazel
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ compile = use_repo_rule("//ape/compile:repository.bzl", "compile")
 compile(
     name = "ape-arm64.macho",
     srcs = ["@ape-m1.c"],
+    args = ["-O"],
     links = {
         "entrypoint": "binary",
     },
diff --git a/ape/compile/repository.bzl b/ape/compile/repository.bzl
index ea8ce19ddc6dd1365d03d9ab2f887761e6729626..a0590e8db8e2930f8dcc6639af3d6db1fdf82eb0 100644
--- a/ape/compile/repository.bzl
+++ b/ape/compile/repository.bzl
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ ATTRS = {
         cfg = "exec",
         default = "@zig",
     ),
+    "args": attr.string_list(
+        doc = "Extra arguments to pass to the compile command.",
+    ),
 }
 
 def implementation(rctx):
@@ -55,6 +58,7 @@ def implementation(rctx):
         "-o",
         rctx.attr.output,
     ]
+    cmd.extend(rctx.attr.args)
     cmd.extend(rctx.attr.srcs)
 
     rctx.watch(rctx.attr.zig)