diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-linux.yml b/.github/workflows/build-linux.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..634f454
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-linux.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+name: build-linux
+
+# Builds a single self-contained libmpv.so for Linux (x86_64) from mpv source
+# pinned to a release tag. Every dependency is built static and linked into
+# the one .so; only glibc/pthread/dl/m and the system zlib stay external, so
+# the artifact has no runtime dependency closure to ship (unlike mpv's own
+# shared-lib CI build).
+#
+# Linux is the easiest of the three platforms: a single native build on an
+# ubuntu runner, no cross-compile, no lipo. The only Linux-specific work is the
+# font stack: libass (a hard mpv dependency) needs fontconfig (-> expat) where
+# macOS/Windows use CoreText/DirectWrite.
+#
+# Pinned to mpv v0.41.0 - the version whose client API (131077) the jlibmpv
+# JNA bindings are validated against. Bump the ref here for a libmpv update.
+# The build recipe (dependency versions, static flags) lives in
+# ci/build-libmpv-linux.sh in this repository.
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+env:
+  MPV_REF: v0.41.0
+  TARGET: x86_64-linux
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    env:
+      CCACHE_BASEDIR: ${{ github.workspace }}
+      CCACHE_DIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/.ccache
+      CCACHE_MAXSIZE: 500M
+    steps:
+      - name: Check out mpv-natives (build scripts)
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 1
+
+      - name: Check out mpv (pinned tag)
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: mpv-player/mpv
+          ref: ${{ env.MPV_REF }}
+          path: mpv
+          fetch-depth: 1
+
+      - name: Get time
+        id: get_time
+        run: echo "timestamp=$(date +%s%N)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Restore ccache
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
+        with:
+          path: ${{ env.CCACHE_DIR }}
+          key: ${{ env.TARGET }}-${{ steps.get_time.outputs.timestamp }}
+          restore-keys: ${{ env.TARGET }}-
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
+            ccache nasm ninja-build pkgconf cmake autoconf automake libtool
+          python3 -m pip install meson
+
+      # Run the vendored build script from inside the mpv source tree, so the
+      # native build writes linux_prefix/ and the meson build next to mpv's
+      # meson.build and produces the self-contained .so in mpv/artifact/.
+      - name: Build self-contained libmpv
+        working-directory: mpv
+        run: bash "${{ github.workspace }}/ci/build-libmpv-linux.sh"
+
+      - name: Print meson log on failure
+        if: failure()
+        run: cat mpv/linux_build/meson-logs/meson-log.txt
+
+      - name: Collect artifact
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p artifact-libmpv
+          cp -pv mpv/artifact/libmpv.so artifact-libmpv/
+          echo "=== contents ==="
+          ls -l artifact-libmpv
+
+      - name: Checksums
+        run: |
+          cd artifact-libmpv
+          sha256sum libmpv.so > checksums.txt
+          cat checksums.txt
+
+      - name: Artifact name
+        id: artifact
+        run: |
+          VER=$(cat mpv/MPV_VERSION | tr -d '[:space:]')
+          echo "name=mpv-natives-linux-x86_64-mpv-$VER" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "version=$VER" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      # upload-artifact zips the directory itself, so handing it the folder
+      # (not a pre-zipped file) yields a single-level archive without the
+      # double-zip wrapper.
+      - name: Upload artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: ${{ steps.artifact.outputs.name }}
+          path: artifact-libmpv
+
+      - name: Save ccache
+        uses: actions/cache/save@v4
+        if: always()
+        with:
+          path: ${{ env.CCACHE_DIR }}
+          key: ${{ env.TARGET }}-${{ steps.get_time.outputs.timestamp }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-macos.yml b/.github/workflows/build-macos.yml
index 7532d71..01d52bb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-macos.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-macos.yml
@@ -88,7 +88,6 @@ jobs:
             mpv/artifact-x86_64/libmpv.2.dylib \
             -output artifact-libmpv/libmpv.dylib
           lipo -info artifact-libmpv/libmpv.dylib
-          cp -pv mpv/mpvrender.h mpv/mpv/client.h mpv/ebml_types.h artifact-libmpv/ 2>/dev/null || true
           sha256sum artifact-libmpv/libmpv.dylib > artifact-libmpv/checksums.txt
           cat artifact-libmpv/checksums.txt
           ls -l artifact-libmpv
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/build-windows.yml
index 9f89a5c..6eb6c0a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-windows.yml
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           mkdir -p artifact-libmpv
           cp -pv mpv/artifact/libmpv-*.dll artifact-libmpv/
-          cp -pv mpv/artifact/*.h artifact-libmpv/ 2>/dev/null || true
           echo "=== contents ==="
           ls -l artifact-libmpv
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2624eec..9fb1d4f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ here, as versioned GitHub release assets.
   `MPV_REF` in the workflows.
 - **Build source:** the mpv source tree is checked out at that tag by
   GitHub Actions and built with the vendored scripts in `ci/`
-  (`build-libmpv-mingw64.sh`, `build-libmpv-macos.sh`). No mpv source or
-  third-party binaries are stored in this repository.
+  (`build-libmpv-mingw64.sh`, `build-libmpv-macos.sh`, `build-libmpv-linux.sh`).
+  No mpv source or third-party binaries are stored in this repository.
 
 ## Releases
 
@@ -27,19 +27,25 @@ single file) and a `checksums.txt` (SHA-256) for verification.
 |---|---|
 | `mpv-natives-windows-x86_64-mpv-<ver>.zip` | `libmpv-2.dll` (all dependencies statically linked, mingw64 build) |
 | `mpv-natives-macos-universal-mpv-<ver>.zip` | `libmpv.dylib` (universal arm64 + x86_64, all dependencies statically linked) |
+| `mpv-natives-linux-x86_64-mpv-<ver>.zip` | `libmpv.so` (all dependencies statically linked, native x86_64 build) |
 
-The Windows DLL is fully self-contained: every dependency (ffmpeg, libass,
-libplacebo, harfbuzz, freetype, fribidi, …) is statically linked into
-`libmpv-2.dll` together with a static C/C++ runtime. It depends only on
-Windows system libraries, so there is no DLL closure to extract alongside it.
+Each native is fully self-contained: every dependency (ffmpeg, libass,
+libplacebo, harfbuzz, freetype, fribidi, …) is statically linked into the
+single library together with the C/C++ runtime where needed. The library
+depends only on the platform's system libraries, so there is no dependency
+closure to extract alongside it — jlibmpv loads it at runtime via JNA and
+never compiles against it, so no public headers are shipped.
 
-Linux users can normally use the distribution package (`apt install libmpv1`)
-instead; a self-built Linux artifact is planned only if needed.
+On Linux the self-built `libmpv.so` additionally removes the need for the
+distribution package (`libmpv1`), which lags behind in codec support (dav1d/
+AV1, x264/x265): the pinned ffmpeg 8.0.1 guarantees the full codec set on any
+recent glibc distribution.
 
 ## How to use with jlibmpv
 
 1. Download the release asset for your platform and extract it.
-2. Point jlibmpv at the extracted `libmpv-2.dll` / `libmpv.dylib`:
+2. Point jlibmpv at the extracted native library — `libmpv-2.dll` (Windows),
+   `libmpv.dylib` (macOS) or `libmpv.so` (Linux):
    `-Dmpv.libmpv.path=/path/to/extracted/libmpv-2.dll`.
 
 ## Building
diff --git a/ci/build-libmpv-linux.sh b/ci/build-libmpv-linux.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3508a72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/build-libmpv-linux.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,311 @@
+#!/bin/bash -e
+set -e
+# (The shebang -e is not honored when the workflow invokes us via `bash file`,
+# so set -e is repeated here to guarantee fail-fast regardless of caller.)
+#
+# Build a single self-contained libmpv.so for Linux x86_64 (native, no cross
+# file, no lipo - the easiest of the three platforms). The workflow runs it on
+# an ubuntu runner and uploads the result.
+#
+# Recipe: every dependency is built STATIC and linked into the one .so (same
+# approach as ci/build-libmpv-mingw64.sh and ci/build-libmpv-macos.sh). glibc,
+# libpthread, libdl, libm, libiconv and zlib are provided by the distro and
+# linked dynamically - the resulting .so depends only on the system libraries.
+#
+# Differences vs macOS/Windows (Linux-only):
+#   - libass is a hard mpv dependency and needs a font provider. macOS uses
+#     CoreText, Windows uses DirectWrite, Linux uses fontconfig - so fontconfig
+#     (and its XML backend, expat) are additional deps here. harfbuzz and
+#     freetype are built without the fontconfig provider so the only font
+#     stack is the one we link in.
+#   - gl is the plain GL render-API support (no X11/Wayland context backend),
+#     which jlibmpv's externally supplied OpenGL context (JOGL) consumes via
+#     the mpv render API. No vo is built at all (cplayer=false).
+#   - alsa is the audio output (no PulseAudio/JACK/OSS).
+#
+# All third-party sources are pinned to the latest stable tag that existed on
+# the mpv v0.41.0 release date (2025-12-21), so a rebuild reproduces the same
+# binary instead of drifting to git HEAD.
+
+prefix_dir=$PWD/linux_prefix
+mkdir -p "$prefix_dir"
+
+wget="wget -nc --progress=bar:force"
+
+export CC=gcc
+export CXX=g++
+export AR=ar
+export NM=nm
+export RANLIB=ranlib
+
+export CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -Wall"
+export LDFLAGS=""
+
+# Prefix for the static deps we build ourselves, added additively so the
+# system pkg-config files (zlib, ...) are still visible.
+export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$prefix_dir/lib/pkgconfig${PKG_CONFIG_PATH:+:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH}"
+
+# --- Pinned dependency versions -------------------------------------------
+# Latest stable tag on or before the mpv v0.41.0 release (2025-12-21).
+FFMPEG_VER=n8.0.1
+DAV1D_VER=1.5.2
+LIBPLACEBO_VER=v7.351.0
+LIBASS_VER=0.17.4
+LCMS2_VER=lcms2.17
+FREETYPE_VER=2.14.1
+FRIBIDI_VER=1.0.16
+HARFBUZZ_VER=12.2.0
+FONTCONFIG_VER=2.16.2
+EXPAT_VER=R_2_7_3
+ALSA_VER=v1.2.15
+
+# Static everywhere: every dependency becomes a .a archive that gets linked
+# into the single libmpv.so. (mpv's own script ships shared libs instead.)
+commonflags="--disable-shared --enable-static"
+
+function builddir {
+    [ -d "$1/builddir" ] && rm -rf "$1/builddir"
+    mkdir -p "$1/builddir"
+    pushd "$1/builddir"
+}
+
+function makeplusinstall {
+    if [ -f build.ninja ]; then
+        ninja
+        ninja install
+    else
+        make -j$(nproc)
+        make install
+    fi
+}
+
+function gettar {
+    local name="${1##*/}"
+    [ -d "${name%%.*}" ] && return 0
+    $wget "$1"
+    tar -xaf "$name"
+}
+
+# Clone a git dependency at a pinned tag (shallow, tag-checked-out).
+# Submodules are fetched shallow too: libplacebo needs its bundled `glad`.
+function gitpin {
+    local url=$1 dest=$2 tag=$3
+    [ -d "$dest" ] || git clone --depth=1 --branch "$tag" \
+        --recurse-submodules --shallow-submodules "$url" "$dest"
+    pushd "$dest"
+    git checkout --quiet "$tag"
+    popd
+}
+
+function build_if_missing {
+    local name=${1//-/_}
+    local mark_var=_${name}_mark
+    local mark_file=$prefix_dir/${!mark_var}
+    [ -e "$mark_file" ] && return 0
+    echo "::group::Building $1"
+    _$name
+    echo "::endgroup::"
+    if [ ! -e "$mark_file" ]; then
+        echo "Error: Build of $1 completed but $mark_file was not created."
+        return 2
+    fi
+}
+
+## mpv's dependencies (all static; glibc/zlib/libiconv come from the system)
+
+_expat () {
+    gitpin https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat.git expat "$EXPAT_VER"
+    # The tag places the CMake project one level down (expat/expat/).
+    pushd expat/expat
+    cmake -S . -B build \
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
+        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$prefix_dir" \
+        -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF \
+        -DBUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF -DBUILD_TESTS=OFF -DBUILD_TOOLS=OFF
+    cmake --build build -j$(nproc)
+    cmake --install build
+    popd
+}
+_expat_mark=lib/libexpat.a
+
+_alsa () {
+    gitpin https://github.com/alsa-project/alsa-lib.git alsa-lib "$ALSA_VER"
+    builddir alsa-lib
+    # alsa-lib ships autotools inputs but no generated configure; generate it
+    # in the source tree (we build out-of-tree from ../).
+    ( cd .. && autoreconf -fi )
+    ../configure --prefix="$prefix_dir" $commonflags
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_alsa_mark=lib/libasound.a
+
+_fontconfig () {
+    gitpin https://github.com/fontconfig/fontconfig.git fontconfig "$FONTCONFIG_VER"
+    builddir fontconfig
+    # expat is the XML backend (our static build); no tests/tools/nls. freetype
+    # resolves to our own static build via PKG_CONFIG_PATH (we link it into
+    # libmpv, not fc's system one).
+    meson setup .. --buildtype release -Dprefix="$prefix_dir" \
+        -Dxml-backend=expat -Dtests=disabled -Dtools=disabled -Dnls=disabled \
+        -Ddefault_library=static
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_fontconfig_mark=lib/libfontconfig.a
+
+_dav1d () {
+    gitpin https://code.videolan.org/videolan/dav1d.git dav1d "$DAV1D_VER"
+    builddir dav1d
+    meson setup .. --buildtype release -Dprefix="$prefix_dir" \
+        -Denable_{tools,tests}=false -Ddefault_library=static
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_dav1d_mark=lib/libdav1d.a
+
+_lcms2 () {
+    gitpin https://github.com/mm2/Little-CMS.git lcms2 "$LCMS2_VER"
+    builddir lcms2
+    meson setup .. --buildtype release -Dprefix="$prefix_dir" \
+        -Dtests=disabled -Dutils=false -Ddefault_library=static
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_lcms2_mark=lib/liblcms2.a
+
+_ffmpeg () {
+    gitpin https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg.git ffmpeg "$FFMPEG_VER"
+    builddir ffmpeg
+    args=(
+        --prefix="$prefix_dir" --pkg-config=pkg-config --target-os=linux
+        --enable-gpl $commonflags
+        --disable-{doc,programs}
+        --enable-muxer=spdif --enable-encoder=mjpeg,png --enable-libdav1d
+    )
+    ../configure "${args[@]}"
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_ffmpeg_mark=lib/libavcodec.a
+
+_freetype () {
+    gettar "https://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-${FREETYPE_VER}.tar.xz"
+    builddir freetype-${FREETYPE_VER}
+    # zlib stays (system lib); every other third-party provider is disabled.
+    # harfbuzz off: we link our own static harfbuzz into libmpv, not FT's hook.
+    meson setup .. --buildtype release -Dprefix="$prefix_dir" \
+        -Dzlib=enabled -Dbrotli=disabled -Dbzip2=disabled -Dpng=disabled \
+        -Dharfbuzz=disabled -Ddefault_library=static
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_freetype_mark=lib/libfreetype.a
+
+_fribidi () {
+    gettar "https://github.com/fribidi/fribidi/releases/download/v${FRIBIDI_VER}/fribidi-${FRIBIDI_VER}.tar.xz"
+    builddir fribidi-${FRIBIDI_VER}
+    meson setup .. --buildtype release -Dprefix="$prefix_dir" \
+        -D{tests,docs}=false -Ddefault_library=static
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_fribidi_mark=lib/libfribidi.a
+
+_harfbuzz () {
+    gettar "https://github.com/harfbuzz/harfbuzz/releases/download/${HARFBUZZ_VER}/harfbuzz-${HARFBUZZ_VER}.tar.xz"
+    builddir harfbuzz-${HARFBUZZ_VER}
+    # icu off (an extra dep; harfbuzz shapes fine with built-in unicode data).
+    # No freetype backend (matches macOS/Windows; the freetype_min_version in
+    # harfbuzz is not needed - libass drives freetype itself for font loading).
+    meson setup .. --buildtype release -Dprefix="$prefix_dir" \
+        -Dtests=disabled -Dutilities=disabled -Dicu=disabled \
+        -Dfreetype=disabled -Ddefault_library=static
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_harfbuzz_mark=lib/libharfbuzz.a
+
+_libass () {
+    gitpin https://github.com/libass/libass.git libass "$LIBASS_VER"
+    builddir libass
+    # fontconfig is the Linux font provider (system framework equivalent);
+    # freetype and fribidi are auto-detected and resolve to our own static
+    # builds via PKG_CONFIG_PATH. asm off for determinism.
+    meson setup .. --buildtype release -Dprefix="$prefix_dir" \
+        -Dfontconfig=enabled -Dasm=disabled -Dlibunibreak=disabled \
+        -Ddefault_library=static
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_libass_mark=lib/libass.a
+
+_libplacebo () {
+    gitpin https://code.videolan.org/videolan/libplacebo.git libplacebo "$LIBPLACEBO_VER"
+    builddir libplacebo
+    # opengl enabled (the only renderer jlibmpv uses); vulkan/d3d11 off;
+    # lcms/xxhash off. GL is resolved at runtime by libplacebo's glad loader,
+    # so no libGL link is required.
+    meson setup .. --buildtype release -Dprefix="$prefix_dir" \
+        -Ddemos=false -Dopengl=enabled -Dd3d11=disabled \
+        -Dvulkan=disabled -Dlcms=disabled -Dxxhash=disabled \
+        -Ddefault_library=static
+    makeplusinstall
+    popd
+}
+_libplacebo_mark=lib/libplacebo.a
+
+# Group A: no intra-prefix deps (freetype is built with harfbuzz off, so it
+# needs nothing we build here - only system zlib).
+for x in expat alsa freetype fribidi dav1d lcms2; do
+    build_if_missing $x
+done
+# Group B: depend on group A (fontconfig/libass need freetype2.pc, libass
+# needs harfbuzz+fontconfig+fribidi, ffmpeg needs dav1d+lcms2).
+for x in ffmpeg fontconfig harfbuzz libass libplacebo; do
+    build_if_missing $x
+done
+
+## mpv
+
+build=linux_build
+rm -rf $build
+
+# libmpv itself is the ONE shared object (default_library=shared), linked
+# against the static dependency archives built above. No CLI player, no tests,
+# no lua/javascript, no vulkan. plain-gl is the OpenGL render-API support
+# (no X11/Wayland context backend - jlibmpv supplies the GL context via JOGL).
+# alsa is the audio output.
+meson setup $build \
+  --buildtype release -Dstrip=true \
+  -Ddefault_library=shared \
+  -Dlibmpv=true \
+  -Dcplayer=false \
+  -Dtests=false \
+  -Dlua=disabled \
+  -Djavascript=disabled \
+  -Dshaderc=disabled \
+  -Dspirv-cross=disabled \
+  -Dvulkan=disabled \
+  -Dgl=enabled -Dplain-gl=enabled \
+  -Dgl-x11=disabled -Degl=disabled -Ddrm=disabled -Dwayland=disabled \
+  -Dalsa=enabled -Dpulse=disabled -Djack=disabled -Doss-audio=disabled \
+  -Dx11=disabled -Dx11-clipboard=disabled
+
+meson compile -C $build
+
+## Collect the self-contained .so
+
+mkdir -p artifact
+# meson produces libmpv.so -> libmpv.so.2 -> libmpv.so.2.0.0; -type f keeps
+# only the real (versioned) object, skipping the two symlinks.
+LIBMPV_SO=$(find $build -maxdepth 1 -type f -name 'libmpv.so*' | sort -V | tail -n 1)
+[ -n "$LIBMPV_SO" ] || { echo "ERROR: libmpv.so not found in $build"; ls -l $build; exit 1; }
+# jlibmpv loads libmpv.so (no version suffix), so copy the versioned object
+# under the versionless name.
+cp -pv "$LIBMPV_SO" artifact/libmpv.so
+
+echo "=== artifact contents ==="
+ls -l artifact
+echo "=== libmpv.so dynamic dependencies (should be system libs only) ==="
+ldd artifact/libmpv.so || true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ci/build-libmpv-macos.sh b/ci/build-libmpv-macos.sh
index acb2bbe..0451042 100644
--- a/ci/build-libmpv-macos.sh
+++ b/ci/build-libmpv-macos.sh
@@ -285,7 +285,6 @@ mkdir -p artifact-$ARCH
 LIBMPV_DYLIB=$(find $build -maxdepth 1 -name "libmpv.2.dylib" | head -n 1)
 [ -n "$LIBMPV_DYLIB" ] || { echo "ERROR: libmpv dylib not found in $build"; ls -l $build; exit 1; }
 cp -pv "$LIBMPV_DYLIB" artifact-$ARCH/
-cp -pv "$build"/*.h artifact-$ARCH/ 2>/dev/null || true
 
 echo "=== artifact-$ARCH contents ==="
 ls -l artifact-$ARCH
diff --git a/ci/build-libmpv-mingw64.sh b/ci/build-libmpv-mingw64.sh
index f48b02a..a6c0bbb 100644
--- a/ci/build-libmpv-mingw64.sh
+++ b/ci/build-libmpv-mingw64.sh
@@ -301,9 +301,10 @@ cp -pv "$LIBMPV_DLL" artifact/
 # distributable native we strip them out (~130 MB) so only the code/data
 # sections remain.
 "$TARGET-strip" --strip-all "artifact/$(basename "$LIBMPV_DLL")"
-# import library, for native linkers that want it (jlibmpv uses JNA, optional)
-cp -pv "$build"/libmpv*.dll.a artifact/ 2>/dev/null || true
-cp -pv "$build"/*.h artifact/ 2>/dev/null || true
+# The artifact is the single self-contained DLL only. No public headers
+# (jlibmpv loads it via JNA at runtime and never compiles against it) and no
+# import library - keeping it a single binary stays consistent with the
+# macOS build (one libmpv.dylib) and the Linux build (one libmpv.so).
 
 echo "=== artifact contents ==="
 ls -l artifact