diff --git a/plugins/examples/hello-workbench/backend/Cargo.toml b/plugins/examples/hello-workbench/backend/Cargo.toml
index 3db2f7cfb6..84228513c5 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/hello-workbench/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/plugins/examples/hello-workbench/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,3 +9,8 @@ license = "Apache-2.0"
 [dependencies]
 dbx-plugin-sdk = { path = "../../../sdk/rust/dbx-plugin-sdk" }
 serde_json = "1"
+
+[profile.release]
+strip = true
+lto = true
+codegen-units = 1
diff --git a/plugins/sdk/cli/templates/rust/backend/Cargo.toml b/plugins/sdk/cli/templates/rust/backend/Cargo.toml
index 301acb9846..c72ef08585 100644
--- a/plugins/sdk/cli/templates/rust/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/plugins/sdk/cli/templates/rust/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,3 +9,11 @@ license = "Apache-2.0"
 [dependencies]
 dbx-plugin-sdk = {{RUST_SDK_DEPENDENCY}}
 serde_json = "1"
+
+# Keep plugin binaries close to the host app's size: default release settings
+# leave ~20MB of symbols and unoptimized generic code in an OpenDAL-sized backend.
+# panic stays "unwind" so the sidecar protocol can report panics as errors.
+[profile.release]
+strip = true
+lto = true
+codegen-units = 1