diff --git a/.drone.jsonnet b/.drone.jsonnet
index 15cc443f6..34d36293f 100644
--- a/.drone.jsonnet
+++ b/.drone.jsonnet
@@ -278,7 +278,13 @@ local mac_builder(name,
         // basic system headers.  WTF apple:
         'export SDKROOT="$(xcrun --sdk macosx --show-sdk-path)"',
         'ulimit -n 1024',  // because macos sets ulimit to 256 for some reason yeah idk
-        './contrib/mac.sh ' + ci_mirror_opts + (if build_type == 'Debug' then ' -DWARN_DEPRECATED=OFF ' else '') + codesign,
+        './contrib/mac-configure.sh ' + ci_mirror_opts + (if build_type == 'Debug' then ' -DWARN_DEPRECATED=OFF ' else '') + codesign,
+        'cd build-mac',
+        // We can't use the 'package' target here because making a .dmg requires an active logged in
+        // macos gui to invoke Finder to invoke the partitioning tool to create a partitioned (!)
+        // disk image.  Most likely the GUI is required because if you lose sight of how pretty the
+        // surface of macOS is you might see how ugly the insides are.
+        'ninja -j' + jobs + ' assemble_gui',
       ] + extra_cmds,
     },
   ],
diff --git a/contrib/ci/drone-static-upload.sh b/contrib/ci/drone-static-upload.sh
index 4eb4921b5..460d001c2 100755
--- a/contrib/ci/drone-static-upload.sh
+++ b/contrib/ci/drone-static-upload.sh
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ elif [ -e build-docs ]; then
     cp -av build-docs/docs/mkdocs.yml build-docs/docs/markdown "$base"
     tar cJvf "$archive" "$base"
 elif [ -e build-mac ]; then
-    archive="$base.dmg"
-    mv build-mac/Lokinet*.dmg "$archive"
+    archive="$base.tar.xz"
+    mv build-mac/Lokinet*/ "$base"
+    tar cJvf "$archive" "$base"
 else
     cp -av daemon/lokinet daemon/lokinet-vpn "$base"
     cp -av ../contrib/bootstrap/mainnet.signed "$base/bootstrap.signed"
diff --git a/contrib/mac-configure.sh b/contrib/mac-configure.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..fa45a960b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/mac-configure.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+set -x
+
+if ! [ -f LICENSE ] || ! [ -d llarp ]; then
+    echo "You need to run this as ./contrib/mac.sh from the top-level lokinet project directory" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+mkdir -p build-mac
+cd build-mac
+cmake \
+      -G Ninja \
+      -DBUILD_STATIC_DEPS=ON \
+      -DBUILD_LIBLOKINET=OFF \
+      -DWITH_TESTS=OFF \
+      -DWITH_BOOTSTRAP=OFF \
+      -DNATIVE_BUILD=OFF \
+      -DWITH_LTO=ON \
+      -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
+      -DMACOS_SYSTEM_EXTENSION=ON \
+      -DCODESIGN=ON \
+      -DBUILD_PACKAGE=ON \
+      "$@" \
+      ..
+
+echo "cmake build configured in build-mac"
diff --git a/contrib/mac.sh b/contrib/mac.sh
index 70bf4d090..5455457e1 100755
--- a/contrib/mac.sh
+++ b/contrib/mac.sh
@@ -11,27 +11,14 @@ set -e
 set -x
 
 if ! [ -f LICENSE ] || ! [ -d llarp ]; then
-    echo "You need to run this as ./contrib/mac.sh from the top-level lokinet project directory"
+    echo "You need to run this as ./contrib/mac.sh from the top-level lokinet project directory" >&2
+    exit 1
 fi
 
-mkdir -p build-mac
-cd build-mac
-cmake \
-      -G Ninja \
-      -DBUILD_STATIC_DEPS=ON \
-      -DBUILD_LIBLOKINET=OFF \
-      -DWITH_TESTS=OFF \
-      -DWITH_BOOTSTRAP=OFF \
-      -DNATIVE_BUILD=OFF \
-      -DWITH_LTO=ON \
-      -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
-      -DMACOS_SYSTEM_EXTENSION=ON \
-      -DCODESIGN=ON \
-      -DBUILD_PACKAGE=ON \
-      "$@" \
-      ..
-ninja -j1 package
+./contrib/mac-configure.sh "$@"
 
+cd build-mac
+ninja -j${JOBS:-1} package
 cd ..
 
 echo -e "Build complete, your app is here:\n"