diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index ca0be16b5..a8f0678e5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -462,6 +462,7 @@ jobs:
       # Caching
       - name: Cache cargo build
         uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+      - run: cargo build --no-default-features
       - name: cargo build
         run: cargo build --all
 
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 455cf1d83..5f7beb265 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ base64 = "0.13.0"
 glob = "0.3.0"
 cargo_metadata = "0.15.2"
 cargo-options = "0.5.2"
-cargo-zigbuild = "0.14.1"
-cargo-xwin = { version = "0.13.0", default-features = false }
+cargo-zigbuild = { version = "0.14.1", optional = true }
+cargo-xwin = { version = "0.13.0", default-features = false, optional = true }
 cbindgen = { version = "0.24.2", default-features = false }
 uniffi_bindgen = "0.21.0"
 flate2 = "1.0.18"
@@ -88,12 +88,16 @@ rustversion = "1.0.9"
 trycmd = "0.14.0"
 
 [features]
-default = ["log", "upload", "rustls"]
+default = ["cross-compile", "log", "upload", "rustls"]
 upload = ["ureq", "multipart", "rpassword", "configparser", "bytesize"]
 password-storage = ["upload", "keyring"]
 log = ["tracing-subscriber"]
 rustls = ["ureq/tls", "cargo-xwin/rustls-tls"]
 native-tls = ["ureq/native-tls", "native-tls-crate", "cargo-xwin/native-tls"]
+# cross compile using zig or xwin
+cross-compile = ["zig", "xwin"]
+zig = ["cargo-zigbuild"]
+xwin = ["cargo-xwin"]
 # Internal feature to speed up the tests significantly
 faster-tests = []
 # Deprecated features, keep it now for compatibility
diff --git a/src/build_context.rs b/src/build_context.rs
index 86af7d5fb..0b0ba6ae7 100644
--- a/src/build_context.rs
+++ b/src/build_context.rs
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ pub struct BuildContext {
     /// Skip checking the linked libraries for manylinux/musllinux compliance
     pub skip_auditwheel: bool,
     /// When compiling for manylinux, use zig as linker to ensure glibc version compliance
+    #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
     pub zig: bool,
     /// Whether to use the the manylinux/musllinux or use the native linux tag (off)
     pub platform_tag: Vec<PlatformTag>,
diff --git a/src/build_options.rs b/src/build_options.rs
index 1faccafa3..eb47106b0 100644
--- a/src/build_options.rs
+++ b/src/build_options.rs
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ pub struct BuildOptions {
     /// Default to manylinux2014/manylinux_2_17 if you do not specify an `--compatibility`
     ///
     /// Make sure you installed zig with `pip install maturin[zig]`
+    #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
     #[arg(long)]
     pub zig: bool,
 
@@ -598,6 +599,10 @@ impl BuildOptions {
         let skip_auditwheel =
             pyproject.map(|x| x.skip_auditwheel()).unwrap_or_default() || self.skip_auditwheel;
         let platform_tags = if self.platform_tag.is_empty() {
+            #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
+            let use_zig = self.zig;
+            #[cfg(not(feature = "zig"))]
+            let use_zig = false;
             let compatibility = pyproject
                 .and_then(|x| {
                     if x.compatibility().is_some() {
@@ -605,7 +610,7 @@ impl BuildOptions {
                     }
                     x.compatibility()
                 })
-                .or(if self.zig {
+                .or(if use_zig {
                     if target.is_musl_target() {
                         // Zig bundles musl 1.2
                         Some(PlatformTag::Musllinux { x: 1, y: 2 })
@@ -714,6 +719,7 @@ impl BuildOptions {
             release,
             strip,
             skip_auditwheel,
+            #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
             zig: self.zig,
             platform_tag: platform_tags,
             interpreter,
diff --git a/src/compile.rs b/src/compile.rs
index 79a71e804..0a0b23704 100644
--- a/src/compile.rs
+++ b/src/compile.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 use crate::build_context::BridgeModel;
 use crate::target::RUST_1_64_0;
-use crate::{BuildContext, PlatformTag, PythonInterpreter, Target};
+#[cfg(feature = "zig")]
+use crate::PlatformTag;
+use crate::{BuildContext, PythonInterpreter, Target};
 use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Context, Result};
 use fat_macho::FatWriter;
 use fs_err::{self as fs, File};
@@ -305,34 +307,55 @@ fn compile_target(
 
     let target_triple = target.target_triple();
     let mut build_command = if target.is_msvc() && target.cross_compiling() {
-        let mut build = cargo_xwin::Rustc::from(cargo_rustc);
+        #[cfg(feature = "xwin")]
+        {
+            let mut build = cargo_xwin::Rustc::from(cargo_rustc);
 
-        build.target = vec![target_triple.to_string()];
-        build.build_command()?
-    } else {
-        let mut build = cargo_zigbuild::Rustc::from(cargo_rustc);
-        if !context.zig {
-            build.disable_zig_linker = true;
+            build.target = vec![target_triple.to_string()];
+            build.build_command()?
+        }
+        #[cfg(not(feature = "xwin"))]
+        {
             if target.user_specified {
-                build.target = vec![target_triple.to_string()];
+                cargo_rustc.target = vec![target_triple.to_string()];
             }
-        } else {
-            build.enable_zig_ar = true;
-            let zig_triple = if target.is_linux() && !target.is_musl_target() {
-                match context.platform_tag.iter().find(|tag| tag.is_manylinux()) {
-                    Some(PlatformTag::Manylinux { x, y }) => {
-                        format!("{}.{}.{}", target_triple, x, y)
-                    }
-                    _ => target_triple.to_string(),
+            cargo_rustc.command()
+        }
+    } else {
+        #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
+        {
+            let mut build = cargo_zigbuild::Rustc::from(cargo_rustc);
+            if !context.zig {
+                build.disable_zig_linker = true;
+                if target.user_specified {
+                    build.target = vec![target_triple.to_string()];
                 }
             } else {
-                target_triple.to_string()
-            };
-            build.target = vec![zig_triple];
+                build.enable_zig_ar = true;
+                let zig_triple = if target.is_linux() && !target.is_musl_target() {
+                    match context.platform_tag.iter().find(|tag| tag.is_manylinux()) {
+                        Some(PlatformTag::Manylinux { x, y }) => {
+                            format!("{}.{}.{}", target_triple, x, y)
+                        }
+                        _ => target_triple.to_string(),
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    target_triple.to_string()
+                };
+                build.target = vec![zig_triple];
+            }
+            build.build_command()?
+        }
+        #[cfg(not(feature = "zig"))]
+        {
+            if target.user_specified {
+                cargo_rustc.target = vec![target_triple.to_string()];
+            }
+            cargo_rustc.command()
         }
-        build.build_command()?
     };
 
+    #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
     if context.zig {
         // Pass zig command to downstream, eg. python3-dll-a
         if let Ok((zig_cmd, zig_args)) = cargo_zigbuild::Zig::find_zig() {
diff --git a/src/develop.rs b/src/develop.rs
index 99e17ba49..98514792a 100644
--- a/src/develop.rs
+++ b/src/develop.rs
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ pub fn develop(
         bindings,
         out: Some(wheel_dir.path().to_path_buf()),
         skip_auditwheel: false,
+        #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
         zig: false,
         universal2: false,
         cargo: CargoOptions {
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 1e7f64d37..b059a255e 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 //! Run with --help for usage information
 
 use anyhow::{bail, Context, Result};
+#[cfg(feature = "zig")]
 use cargo_zigbuild::Zig;
 use clap::{CommandFactory, Parser, Subcommand};
 use maturin::{
@@ -153,6 +154,7 @@ enum Opt {
         shell: clap_complete_command::Shell,
     },
     /// Zig linker wrapper
+    #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
     #[command(subcommand, hide = true)]
     Zig(Zig),
 }
@@ -278,17 +280,20 @@ fn run() -> Result<()> {
     #[cfg(feature = "log")]
     tracing_subscriber::fmt::init();
 
-    // Allow symlink `maturin` to `ar` to invoke `zig ar`
-    // See https://github.com/messense/cargo-zigbuild/issues/52
-    let mut args = env::args();
-    let program_path = PathBuf::from(args.next().expect("no program path"));
-    let program_name = program_path.file_stem().expect("no program name");
-    if program_name.eq_ignore_ascii_case("ar") {
-        let zig = Zig::Ar {
-            args: args.collect(),
-        };
-        zig.execute()?;
-        return Ok(());
+    #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
+    {
+        // Allow symlink `maturin` to `ar` to invoke `zig ar`
+        // See https://github.com/messense/cargo-zigbuild/issues/52
+        let mut args = env::args();
+        let program_path = PathBuf::from(args.next().expect("no program path"));
+        let program_name = program_path.file_stem().expect("no program name");
+        if program_name.eq_ignore_ascii_case("ar") {
+            let zig = Zig::Ar {
+                args: args.collect(),
+            };
+            zig.execute()?;
+            return Ok(());
+        }
     }
 
     let opt = Opt::parse();
@@ -402,6 +407,7 @@ fn run() -> Result<()> {
         Opt::Completions { shell } => {
             shell.generate(&mut Opt::command(), &mut io::stdout());
         }
+        #[cfg(feature = "zig")]
         Opt::Zig(subcommand) => {
             subcommand
                 .execute()
diff --git a/src/target.rs b/src/target.rs
index 5263f8538..b2d351ceb 100644
--- a/src/target.rs
+++ b/src/target.rs
@@ -779,9 +779,9 @@ pub(crate) fn rustc_macosx_target_version(target: &str) -> (u16, u16) {
             .context("rustc output does not contain llvm-target")?
             .as_str()
             .context("llvm-target is not a string")?;
-        let triple: Triple = llvm_target.parse()?;
-        let (major, minor) = match triple.operating_system {
-            OperatingSystem::MacOSX { major, minor, .. } => (major, minor),
+        let triple = llvm_target.parse::<Triple>();
+        let (major, minor) = match triple.map(|t| t.operating_system) {
+            Ok(OperatingSystem::MacOSX { major, minor, .. }) => (major, minor),
             _ => fallback_version,
         };
         Ok((major, minor))