diff --git a/.changeset/plenty-cars-cheer.md b/.changeset/plenty-cars-cheer.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d001a7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/plenty-cars-cheer.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"nxjs-runtime": patch
+---
+
+Load `runtime.js` from bytecode
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index c1225cb9..d6d8bc9b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
   build:
     name: Build
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    container: ghcr.io/tootallnate/pacman-packages@sha256:7ab73f3b328fc18e6263b59dc195b149a4ee9cf6a913115e1d31d30baa8845f0
+    container: ghcr.io/tootallnate/pacman-packages@sha256:f2591b6cbdc4cd828a77940bf7e5c12267bb0a9e76f3a82fb4a9d1073e5fb333
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -36,9 +36,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Bundle `runtime.js`
         run: pnpm bundle
 
-      - name: Copy `runtime.js` to RomFS
-        run: mkdir -p ./romfs && cp -v ./packages/runtime/runtime.js* ./romfs/
-
       - name: Build `nxjs.nro`
         run: make V=1
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ee54b858..8e9442e1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ node_modules
 /build
 /romfs
 
+# Generated by `qjsc`
+/source/runtime.c
+
 /?
 /?.*
 .vercel
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c2e8cc17..5bee136b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -89,6 +89,11 @@ CPPFILES	:=	$(foreach dir,$(SOURCES),$(notdir $(wildcard $(dir)/*.cpp)))
 SFILES		:=	$(foreach dir,$(SOURCES),$(notdir $(wildcard $(dir)/*.s)))
 BINFILES	:=	$(foreach dir,$(DATA),$(notdir $(wildcard $(dir)/*.*)))
 
+# Add `runtime.c` to CFILES if necessary (i.e. on CI)
+ifneq ($(filter runtime.c,$(CFILES)),runtime.c)
+	CFILES := $(CFILES) runtime.c
+endif
+
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # use CXX for linking C++ projects, CC for standard C
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -163,7 +168,15 @@ endif
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 all: $(BUILD)
 
-$(BUILD):
+$(SOURCES)/runtime.c: packages/runtime/runtime.js
+	@qjsc -o $(SOURCES)/runtime.c packages/runtime/runtime.js
+	@echo "compiled '$(SOURCES)/runtime.c' with qjsc"
+
+$(ROMFS)/runtime.js.map: packages/runtime/runtime.js.map
+	@mkdir -p $(ROMFS)
+	@cp -v packages/runtime/runtime.js.map $(ROMFS)
+
+$(BUILD): source/runtime.c romfs/runtime.js.map
 	@[ -d $@ ] || mkdir -p $@
 	@$(MAKE) --no-print-directory -C $(BUILD) -f $(CURDIR)/Makefile
 
diff --git a/apps/tests/src/switch.test.ts b/apps/tests/src/switch.test.ts
index bea5f74a..96d3b1f0 100644
--- a/apps/tests/src/switch.test.ts
+++ b/apps/tests/src/switch.test.ts
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ test('`Switch.resolveDns()` rejects with invalid hostname', async () => {
 });
 
 test('`Switch.readFile()` works with string path', async () => {
-	const data = await Switch.readFile('romfs:/runtime.js');
+	const data = await Switch.readFile('romfs:/runtime.js.map');
 	assert.ok(data instanceof ArrayBuffer);
 	assert.ok(data.byteLength > 0);
 });
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index ac51acef..ba2d6235 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ APP="${1-hello-world}"
 
 # Build JS runtime
 pnpm bundle
-mkdir -p romfs
-cp -v ./packages/runtime/runtime.* ./romfs/
 
 # Build packages and example app
 pnpm build --filter "$APP"
diff --git a/source/main.c b/source/main.c
index 82abf585..d9c15423 100644
--- a/source/main.c
+++ b/source/main.c
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@
 
 #define LOG_FILENAME "nxjs-debug.log"
 
+// Defined in runtime.c
+extern const uint32_t qjsc_runtime_size;
+extern const uint8_t qjsc_runtime[];
+
 // Text renderer
 static PrintConsole *print_console = NULL;
 
@@ -685,28 +689,24 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	JS_SetPropertyStr(ctx, global_obj, "$", nx_ctx->init_obj);
 
-	size_t runtime_buffer_size;
-	char *runtime_path = "romfs:/runtime.js";
-	char *runtime_buffer = (char *)read_file(runtime_path, &runtime_buffer_size);
-	if (runtime_buffer == NULL)
+	// Initialize runtime
+	JSValue runtime_init_func, runtime_init_result;
+	runtime_init_func = JS_ReadObject(ctx, qjsc_runtime, qjsc_runtime_size, JS_READ_OBJ_BYTECODE);
+	if (JS_IsException(runtime_init_func))
 	{
-		printf("%s: %s\n", strerror(errno), runtime_path);
+		print_js_error(ctx);
 		nx_ctx->had_error = 1;
 		goto main_loop;
 	}
-
-	JSValue runtime_init_result = JS_Eval(ctx, runtime_buffer, runtime_buffer_size, runtime_path, JS_EVAL_TYPE_GLOBAL);
+	runtime_init_result = JS_EvalFunction(ctx, runtime_init_func);
 	if (JS_IsException(runtime_init_result))
 	{
+		printf("Runtime initialization failed\n");
 		print_js_error(ctx);
 		nx_ctx->had_error = 1;
-	}
-	JS_FreeValue(ctx, runtime_init_result);
-	free(runtime_buffer);
-	if (nx_ctx->had_error)
-	{
 		goto main_loop;
 	}
+	JS_FreeValue(ctx, runtime_init_result);
 
 	// Run the user code
 	JSValue user_code_result = JS_Eval(ctx, user_code, user_code_size, js_path, JS_EVAL_TYPE_MODULE | JS_EVAL_FLAG_COMPILE_ONLY);