diff --git a/build.js b/build.js
index a6732b424..4f637373e 100755
--- a/build.js
+++ b/build.js
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
 import fs from 'node:fs';
+import os from 'node:os';
 
 import copy from 'esbuild-plugin-copy';
-import esbuild from "esbuild";
 
 import { cockpitCompressPlugin } from './pkg/lib/esbuild-compress-plugin.js';
 import { cockpitPoEsbuildPlugin } from './pkg/lib/cockpit-po-plugin.js';
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ import { eslintPlugin } from './pkg/lib/esbuild-eslint-plugin.js';
 import { stylelintPlugin } from './pkg/lib/esbuild-stylelint-plugin.js';
 import { esbuildStylesPlugins } from './pkg/lib/esbuild-common.js';
 
+const useWasm = os.arch() !== 'x64';
+const esbuild = (await import(useWasm ? 'esbuild-wasm' : 'esbuild'));
+
 const production = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production';
 const watchMode = process.env.ESBUILD_WATCH === "true" || false;
 // linters dominate the build time, so disable them for production builds by default, but enable in watch mode
diff --git a/node_modules b/node_modules
index 8ae4d6251..a7b7b139b 160000
--- a/node_modules
+++ b/node_modules
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 8ae4d6251770efdf033649ec40c23b22396da772
+Subproject commit a7b7b139b2af4a006842fe006ab82e8285e6a4e9
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a7bb94a90..c7a99f3a4 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -17,10 +17,11 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "argparse": "^2.0.1",
     "chrome-remote-interface": "^0.32.1",
-    "esbuild": "0.17.10",
+    "esbuild": "^0.17.16",
     "esbuild-plugin-copy": "^2.0.2",
     "esbuild-plugin-replace": "^1.3.0",
     "esbuild-sass-plugin": "2.6.0",
+    "esbuild-wasm": "^0.17.16",
     "eslint": "^8.29.0",
     "eslint-config-standard": "^17.0.0",
     "eslint-config-standard-jsx": "^11.0.0",