diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 73815ac2bcf..7c22cdb9b15 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -99,6 +99,9 @@ ifeq ($(USE_JEMALLOC),no)
 	MALLOC=libc
 endif
 
+# Export MALLOC so sub-makes (like unit tests) can see it
+export MALLOC
+
 ifdef SANITIZER
 ifeq ($(SANITIZER),address)
 	MALLOC=libc
@@ -267,8 +270,9 @@ else
 ifeq ($(uname_S),Darwin)
 	FINAL_LDFLAGS+= -Wl,-rpath,$(PREFIX)/lib
 	FINAL_LDFLAGS+= -Wl,-rpath,$(current_dir)/modules/lua
+	FINAL_LDFLAGS+= -Wl,-rpath,@loader_path/../lib
 else
-	FINAL_LDFLAGS+= -Wl,-rpath,$(PREFIX)/lib:$(current_dir)/modules/lua -Wl,--disable-new-dtags
+	FINAL_LDFLAGS+= -Wl,-rpath,$(PREFIX)/lib:$(current_dir)/modules/lua:$$ORIGIN/../lib -Wl,--disable-new-dtags
 endif
 endif
 
@@ -674,18 +678,12 @@ persist-settings: distclean
 .PHONY: persist-settings
 
 # Prerequisites target
-.make-prerequisites:
+# Marker file to track that dependencies have been built
+# Use order-only prerequisite to avoid unnecessary rebuilds
+.make-deps-built:
+	@(cd ../deps && $(MAKE) $(DEPENDENCY_TARGETS))
 	@touch $@
 
-# Clean everything, persist settings and build dependencies if anything changed
-ifneq ($(strip $(PREV_FINAL_CFLAGS)), $(strip $(FINAL_CFLAGS)))
-.make-prerequisites: persist-settings
-endif
-
-ifneq ($(strip $(PREV_FINAL_LDFLAGS)), $(strip $(FINAL_LDFLAGS)))
-.make-prerequisites: persist-settings
-endif
-
 # valkey-server
 $(SERVER_NAME): $(ENGINE_SERVER_OBJ) $(LUA_MODULE)
 	$(SERVER_LD) -o $@ $(ENGINE_SERVER_OBJ) ../deps/libvalkey/lib/libvalkey.a ../deps/hdr_histogram/libhdrhistogram.a ../deps/fpconv/libfpconv.a $(FINAL_LIBS)
@@ -715,7 +713,7 @@ $(RDMA_MODULE_NAME): $(SERVER_NAME)
 	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ rdma.c -shared -fPIC $(RDMA_MODULE_CFLAGS)
 
 # engine_lua.so
-$(LUA_MODULE_NAME): .make-prerequisites
+$(LUA_MODULE_NAME): | .make-deps-built
 	cd modules/lua && $(MAKE) OPTIMIZATION="$(OPTIMIZATION)"
 
 # valkey-cli
@@ -732,10 +730,11 @@ DEP = $(ENGINE_SERVER_OBJ:%.o=%.d) $(ENGINE_CLI_OBJ:%.o=%.d) $(ENGINE_BENCHMARK_
 # Because the jemalloc.h header is generated as a part of the jemalloc build,
 # building it should complete before building any other object. Instead of
 # depending on a single artifact, build all dependencies first.
-%.o: %.c .make-prerequisites
+# Use order-only prerequisite (|) so marker timestamp doesn't trigger rebuilds
+%.o: %.c | .make-deps-built
 	$(SERVER_CC) -MMD -o $@ -c $<
 
-trace/%.o: trace/%.c .make-prerequisites
+trace/%.o: trace/%.c | .make-deps-built
 	$(SERVER_CC) -Itrace -MMD -o $@ -c $<
 
 # The following files are checked in and don't normally need to be rebuilt. They
diff --git a/src/unit/Makefile b/src/unit/Makefile
index 47fcab4fbf8..c989b946523 100644
--- a/src/unit/Makefile
+++ b/src/unit/Makefile
@@ -135,13 +135,13 @@ $(VALKEY_SERVER_WRAP_LIB): $(VALKEY_SERVER_LIB) $(ENGINE_SERVER_WRAP_OBJ) genera
 endif
 
 # Ensure Valkey server library is built
-$(VALKEY_SERVER_LIB): make-prerequisites
+$(VALKEY_SERVER_LIB): make-deps-built
 	cd .. && $(MAKE) libvalkey.a
 
-# Ensure parent prerequisites are built
-.PHONY: make-prerequisites
-make-prerequisites:
-	cd .. && $(MAKE) .make-prerequisites
+# Ensure parent dependencies are built
+.PHONY: make-deps-built
+make-deps-built:
+	cd .. && $(MAKE) .make-deps-built
 
 # Read MALLOC / USE_JEMALLOC setting from parent Makefile
 JEMALLOC_CFLAGS := -DUSE_JEMALLOC -isystem../../deps/jemalloc/include
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ else
 endif
 
 # Generate a new set of wrappers every time our header changes.
-generated_wrappers.cpp: make-prerequisites wrappers.h generate-wrappers.py
+generated_wrappers.cpp: make-deps-built wrappers.h generate-wrappers.py
 	./generate-wrappers.py
 
 generated_wrappers.o: generated_wrappers.cpp