diff --git a/.github/workflows/rust-release.yml b/.github/workflows/rust-release.yml
index 2d137de6ff..6f090489ce 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/rust-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/rust-release.yml
@@ -107,13 +107,13 @@ jobs:
           echo "Total RAM: ${total_ram}"
           echo "Disk usage:"
           df -h .
-      - name: Install Linux bwrap build dependencies
+      - name: Install Linux build dependencies
         if: ${{ runner.os == 'Linux' }}
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           sudo apt-get update -y
-          sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends pkg-config libcap-dev
+          sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libasound2-dev pkg-config libcap-dev
       - name: Install UBSan runtime (musl)
         if: ${{ matrix.target == 'x86_64-unknown-linux-musl' || matrix.target == 'aarch64-unknown-linux-musl' }}
         shell: bash
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1e44875f21..a0f9dc53c1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ Each GitHub Release contains many executables, but in practice, you likely want
 
 Each archive contains a single entry with the platform baked into the name (e.g., `codex-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl`), so you likely want to rename it to `codex` after extracting it.
 
+On Linux, these prebuilt binaries are the recommended install path and should work on most mainstream desktops with ALSA available. If you build Codex from source on Linux instead, install the ALSA development headers first (for example, `libasound2-dev` on Debian/Ubuntu).
+
 </details>
 
 ### Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan
diff --git a/codex-rs/README.md b/codex-rs/README.md
index 1c93852fe2..c7912a05aa 100644
--- a/codex-rs/README.md
+++ b/codex-rs/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Codex CLI (Rust Implementation)
 
-We provide Codex CLI as a standalone, native executable to ensure a zero-dependency install.
+We provide Codex CLI as a standalone, native executable. For most users, the simplest install path is a prebuilt package or release binary.
 
 ## Installing Codex
 
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ codex
 
 You can also install via Homebrew (`brew install --cask codex`) or download a platform-specific release directly from our [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/openai/codex/releases).
 
+On Linux, the prebuilt release binaries are the recommended path. If you build from source on Linux, install ALSA development headers first (for example, `libasound2-dev` on Debian/Ubuntu).
+
 ## Documentation quickstart
 
 - First run with Codex? Start with [`docs/getting-started.md`](../docs/getting-started.md) (links to the walkthrough for prompts, keyboard shortcuts, and session management).
diff --git a/docs/install.md b/docs/install.md
index b7d4f0711a..8ed59f500e 100644
--- a/docs/install.md
+++ b/docs/install.md
@@ -49,6 +49,15 @@ just test
 cargo test --all-features
 ```
 
+On Linux, building from source currently requires ALSA development headers because local voice support is built with `cpal`. On Debian/Ubuntu, install them with:
+
+```bash
+sudo apt-get update
+sudo apt-get install -y libasound2-dev
+```
+
+If you just want to run Codex on Linux, prefer the prebuilt GitHub Release binaries instead of building from source.
+
 ## Tracing / verbose logging
 
 Codex is written in Rust, so it honors the `RUST_LOG` environment variable to configure its logging behavior.