diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 3919e24a..54d45dbb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -59,9 +59,15 @@ jobs:
         with:
           submodules: recursive
       - name: Install cargo-dist
-        # We specify bash to get pipefail; otherwise sh won't catch that curl returned non-0
+        # we specify bash to get pipefail; it guards against the `curl` command
+        # failing. otherwise `sh` won't catch that `curl` returned non-0
         shell: bash
-        run: "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.21.1/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh"
+        run: "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.22.1/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh"
+      - name: Cache cargo-dist
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: cargo-dist-cache
+          path: ~/.cargo/bin/cargo-dist
       # sure would be cool if github gave us proper conditionals...
       # so here's a doubly-nested ternary-via-truthiness to try to provide the best possible
       # functionality based on whether this is a pull_request, and whether it's from a fork.
@@ -104,10 +110,12 @@ jobs:
       GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME: target/distrib/${{ join(matrix.targets, '-') }}-dist-manifest.json
     steps:
+      - name: enable windows longpaths
+        run: |
+          git config --global core.longpaths true
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: recursive
-      - uses: swatinem/rust-cache@v2
       - name: Install cargo-dist
         run: ${{ matrix.install_dist }}
       # Get the dist-manifest
@@ -134,7 +142,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           # Parse out what we just built and upload it to scratch storage
           echo "paths<<EOF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          jq --raw-output ".artifacts[]?.path | select( . != null )" dist-manifest.json >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          jq --raw-output ".upload_files[]" dist-manifest.json >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "EOF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
           cp dist-manifest.json "$BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME"
@@ -145,13 +153,12 @@ jobs:
           path: |
             ${{ steps.cargo-dist.outputs.paths }}
             ${{ env.BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME }}
-
     # Build and package all the platform-agnostic(ish) things
   build-global-artifacts:
     needs:
       - plan
       - build-local-artifacts
-    runs-on: "ubuntu-22.04"
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     env:
       GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME: target/distrib/global-dist-manifest.json
@@ -159,9 +166,13 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: recursive
-      - name: Install cargo-dist
-        run: "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.21.1/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh"
-        # Get all the local artifacts for the global tasks to use (for e.g. checksums)
+      - name: Install cached cargo-dist
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: cargo-dist-cache
+          path: ~/.cargo/bin/
+      - run: chmod +x ~/.cargo/bin/cargo-dist
+      # Get all the local artifacts for the global tasks to use (for e.g. checksums)
       - name: Fetch local artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
@@ -176,8 +187,9 @@ jobs:
 
           # Parse out what we just built and upload it to scratch storage
           echo "paths<<EOF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          jq --raw-output ".artifacts[]?.path | select( . != null )" dist-manifest.json >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          jq --raw-output ".upload_files[]" dist-manifest.json >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "EOF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
           cp dist-manifest.json "$BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME"
       - name: "Upload artifacts"
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
@@ -186,7 +198,7 @@ jobs:
           path: |
             ${{ steps.cargo-dist.outputs.paths }}
             ${{ env.BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME }}
-        # Determines if we should publish/announce
+
   host:
     needs:
       - plan
@@ -196,15 +208,19 @@ jobs:
     if: ${{ always() && needs.plan.outputs.publishing == 'true' && (needs.build-global-artifacts.result == 'skipped' || needs.build-global-artifacts.result == 'success') && (needs.build-local-artifacts.result == 'skipped' || needs.build-local-artifacts.result == 'success') }}
     env:
       GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-    runs-on: "ubuntu-22.04"
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
       val: ${{ steps.host.outputs.manifest }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: recursive
-      - name: Install cargo-dist
-        run: "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.21.1/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh"
+      - name: Install cached cargo-dist
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: cargo-dist-cache
+          path: ~/.cargo/bin/
+      - run: chmod +x ~/.cargo/bin/cargo-dist
       # Fetch artifacts from scratch-storage
       - name: Fetch artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
@@ -212,7 +228,6 @@ jobs:
           pattern: artifacts-*
           path: target/distrib/
           merge-multiple: true
-      # This is a harmless no-op for Github Releases, hosting for that happens in "announce"
       - id: host
         shell: bash
         run: |
@@ -226,7 +241,6 @@ jobs:
           # Overwrite the previous copy
           name: artifacts-dist-manifest
           path: dist-manifest.json
-
   # Create a Github Release while uploading all files to it
   upload_artifacts:
     needs:
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 427452f5..fd6cae5b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ resolver = "2"
 # Config for 'cargo dist'
 [workspace.metadata.dist]
 # The preferred cargo-dist version to use in CI (Cargo.toml SemVer syntax)
-cargo-dist-version = "0.21.1"
+cargo-dist-version = "0.22.1"
 # CI backends to support
 ci = "github"
 # Target platforms to build apps for (Rust target-triple syntax)