diff --git a/.github/actions/1-setup/action.yml b/.github/actions/1-setup/action.yml
index de1155d760..e92d699a4f 100644
--- a/.github/actions/1-setup/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/1-setup/action.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ runs:
         packages=( \
           git-core cmake g++ \
           libcurl4 libzstd-dev \
-          curl gdb p7zip-full tzdata unzip zip python3-pip \
+          curl gdb p7zip-full zstd tzdata unzip zip python3-pip \
         )
         if [[ $arch == x86_64 ]]; then
           packages+=(g++-multilib libcurl4:i386)
@@ -111,11 +111,11 @@ runs:
           elif [[ '${{ runner.os }}' == macOS ]]; then
             os=osx
           fi
-          curl -fL --retry 3 --max-time 300 -o llvm.tar.xz \
-            https://github.com/ldc-developers/llvm-project/releases/download/$tag/llvm-$version-$os-$arch$assertsSuffix.tar.xz
+          curl -fL --retry 3 --max-time 300 -o llvm.tar.zst \
+            https://github.com/ldc-developers/llvm-project/releases/download/$tag/llvm-$version-$os-$arch$assertsSuffix.tar.zst
           mkdir llvm
-          tar -xf llvm.tar.xz --strip 1 -C llvm
-          rm llvm.tar.xz
+          tar -xf llvm.tar.zst --zstd --strip 1 -C llvm
+          rm llvm.tar.zst
         fi
 
         llvm/bin/llvm-config --version
diff --git a/.github/actions/3-build-cross/action.yml b/.github/actions/3-build-cross/action.yml
index 4f126cb9ec..ba2da18bb9 100644
--- a/.github/actions/3-build-cross/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/3-build-cross/action.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ inputs:
     default: false
   android_ndk_version:
     required: false
-    default: r27c
+    default: r29
   android_api_level:
     required: false
     default: 29
@@ -45,11 +45,11 @@ runs:
           fi
         fi
 
-        curl -fL --retry 3 --max-time 300 -o llvm-cross.tar.xz \
-          https://github.com/ldc-developers/llvm-project/releases/download/$tag/llvm-$version-${{ inputs.os }}-${{ inputs.arch }}$assertsSuffix.tar.xz
+        curl -fL --retry 3 --max-time 300 -o llvm-cross.tar.zst \
+          https://github.com/ldc-developers/llvm-project/releases/download/$tag/llvm-$version-${{ inputs.os }}-${{ inputs.arch }}$assertsSuffix.tar.zst
         mkdir llvm-cross
-        tar -xf llvm-cross.tar.xz --strip 1 -C llvm-cross
-        rm llvm-cross.tar.xz
+        tar -xf llvm-cross.tar.zst --zstd --strip 1 -C llvm-cross
+        rm llvm-cross.tar.zst
 
     - name: Make non-native llvm-config runnable on host
       shell: bash
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ runs:
         mv "android-ndk-$version" android-ndk
         rm android-ndk.zip
 
+        # remove the implicit -fstack-protector-strong
+        sed -i 's|^  " -fstack-protector-strong"$||' android-ndk/build/cmake/flags.cmake
+
         arch='${{ inputs.arch }}'
         apiLevel='${{ inputs.android_api_level }}'
         cmakeFlags="-DTARGET_SYSTEM='Android;Linux;UNIX'"
diff --git a/.github/actions/3-build-cross/android-llvm-config.in b/.github/actions/3-build-cross/android-llvm-config.in
index 6555349156..5f107847f7 100644
--- a/.github/actions/3-build-cross/android-llvm-config.in
+++ b/.github/actions/3-build-cross/android-llvm-config.in
@@ -43,9 +43,9 @@ Typical components:
 version=@LLVM_VERSION@
 prefix=@LLVM_INSTALL_DIR@
 has_rtti=NO
-CPPFLAGS="-I${prefix}/include -D__STDC_CONSTANT_MACROS -D__STDC_FORMAT_MACROS -D__STDC_LIMIT_MACROS"
+CPPFLAGS="-I${prefix}/include -DEXPERIMENTAL_KEY_INSTRUCTIONS -D__STDC_CONSTANT_MACROS -D__STDC_FORMAT_MACROS -D__STDC_LIMIT_MACROS"
 CFLAGS="${CPPFLAGS} ${CFLAGS}"
-CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -std=c++17 -fno-exceptions -funwind-tables"
+CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -std=c++17 --stdlib=libc++ -fno-exceptions -funwind-tables"
 if [ "$has_rtti" != "YES" ]; then CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -fno-rtti"; fi
 LDFLAGS="-L${prefix}/lib"
 LIBFILE="${prefix}/lib/libLLVM-$version.so"
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ handle_args () {
 		cflags) echo "$CFLAGS";;
 		cxxflags) echo "$CXXFLAGS";;
 		ldflags) echo "$LDFLAGS";;
-		system-libs) echo "-lc -ldl -lz -lm";;
+		system-libs) echo "-ldl -lm -lz";;
 		libs) echo "$libs";;
 		libnames) echo "libLLVM-$version.so";;
 		libfiles) echo "$LIBFILE";;
diff --git a/.github/actions/helper-build-ldc/action.yml b/.github/actions/helper-build-ldc/action.yml
index 292888bb7d..7c4461e57b 100644
--- a/.github/actions/helper-build-ldc/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/helper-build-ldc/action.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ runs:
           ${{ inputs.specify_install_dir == 'true' && '-DINCLUDE_INSTALL_DIR="$installDir/import"' || '' }} \
           ${{ inputs.cmake_flags }}
 
-        ninja obj/ldc2.o ${{ inputs.build_targets }}
+        ninja -v obj/ldc2.o ${{ inputs.build_targets }}
 
     # Windows: invoke CMake & ninja in MSVC env
     - if: runner.os == 'Windows'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 44f2c704d7..3ca783b64a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 env:
-  LLVM_VERSION: 21.1.8
+  LLVM_VERSION: f8faf15f
 
 jobs:
   build-native:
@@ -296,6 +296,8 @@ jobs:
             android_x86_arch: x86_64
             extra_cmake_flags: >-
               -DLDC_INSTALL_LLVM_RUNTIME_LIBS_ARCH=aarch64-android
+              -DLDC_WITH_LLD=OFF
+              -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo
 
     name: ${{ matrix.job_name }}
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.host_os }}