diff --git a/FLAC/FLAC.vcproj b/FLAC/FLAC.vcproj
index 0192c2d88..5c7a8edbc 100644
--- a/FLAC/FLAC.vcproj
+++ b/FLAC/FLAC.vcproj
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@
 				MinimalRebuild="true"
 				BasicRuntimeChecks="3"
 				RuntimeLibrary="1"
+				EnableFunctionLevelLinking="true"
+				RuntimeTypeInfo="false"
 				UsePrecompiledHeader="0"
 				WarningLevel="3"
 				Detect64BitPortabilityProblems="true"
diff --git a/Makefile.linux b/Makefile.linux
index 43ed51005..d5f8aea78 100644
--- a/Makefile.linux
+++ b/Makefile.linux
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ CXX ?= g++
 CC ?= gcc
 NASM ?= nasm
 ifndef DEBUG
-CFLAGS ?= -pipe -Wall -Wno-unused -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer
+CFLAGS ?= -pipe -Wall -Wno-unused -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -ffunction-sections -fvtable-gc -fno-rtti
 else
 CFLAGS ?= -pipe -Wall -Wno-unused
 endif
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ ZDOOMDEBUG = zdoomd
 ifndef DEBUG
   OBJDIR = $(RELEASEOBJ)
   CFLAGS += -DNDEBUG
-  LDFLAGS += -Wl,-Map=$(ZDOOM).map
+  LDFLAGS += -s -Wl,--gc-sections,-Map=$(ZDOOM).map
   ZDOOMBIN = $(ZDOOM)
 else
   OBJDIR = $(DEBUGOBJ)
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ ifndef RESTART
 	$(OBJDIR)/autozend.o -o $(ZDOOMBIN)
 endif
 
-# include any of the dep files that already exist
-$(foreach dep,$(DEPS),$(if $(wildcard $(dep)),$(eval include $(dep))))
+# include any of the dep files that already exist if we aren't making clean
+$(if !$(findstring clean,$(MAKECMDGOALS)),$(foreach dep,$(DEPS),$(if $(wildcard $(dep)),$(eval include $(dep)))))
 
 # textually substitute in the _dep_ and the _src_ it depends on to create rules
 # for creating dependency files without any existing dependency files
diff --git a/default.cbd b/default.cbd
index f9c9494d9..f89ef8605 100644
--- a/default.cbd
+++ b/default.cbd
@@ -52,10 +52,10 @@ do ifopt debug
   TARGET = "${DEBUGTARGET}"
 else
   OBJDIR = "${RELEASEOBJDIR}"
-  CFLAGS += "-march=${ARCH_TYPE} -mtune=${TUNE_TYPE} -Wall -Wno-unused -O${OPTLEVEL} -fomit-frame-pointer"
+  CFLAGS += "-march=${ARCH_TYPE} -mtune=${TUNE_TYPE} -Wall -Wno-unused -O${OPTLEVEL} -fomit-frame-pointer -ffunction-sections -fvtable-gc -fno-rtti"
   CPPFLAGS += " -DNDEBUG"
   CXXFLAGS = "${CFLAGS}"
-  LDFLAGS += " -Wl,-Map=zdoomgcc.map"
+  LDFLAGS += " -s -Wl,--gc-sections,-Map=zdoomgcc.map"
   TARGET = "${RELEASETARGET}"
 done
 
@@ -446,12 +446,12 @@ if "${EVILCLEAN}"="0" ifexist zdoom.pk3  exit 0
 
 CFLAGS = '-Os -Wall -fomit-frame-pointer'
 
-LDFLAGS = '-lz'
+LDFLAGS = '-s -lz'
 src_paths  tools/makewad
 ${COMPILER} makewad.c ioapi.c zip.c 
 ${LINK} tools/makewad/makewad
 
-LDFLAGS = ''
+LDFLAGS = '-s'
 src_paths  tools/xlatcc
 ${COMPILER} xlat-parse.tab.c gen.c
 ${LINK} tools/xlatcc/xlatcc
diff --git a/zlib/zlib.vcproj b/zlib/zlib.vcproj
index fed06c621..b441dc859 100644
--- a/zlib/zlib.vcproj
+++ b/zlib/zlib.vcproj
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@
 				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32,_DEBUG,_LIB"
 				BasicRuntimeChecks="3"
 				RuntimeLibrary="1"
+				EnableFunctionLevelLinking="true"
+				RuntimeTypeInfo="false"
 				UsePrecompiledHeader="0"
 				PrecompiledHeaderFile=""
 				AssemblerListingLocation=".\Debug/"