diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e804a9b2..9281dc69 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -70,10 +70,10 @@ jobs:
         run: zig build test-leaks
 
       - name: Coverage
-        run: zig build test-coverage
+        run: zig build test-coverage -Duse-llvm=true -Dcoverage-threshold=85
 
       - name: Valgrind leak checks
-        run: zig build test-valgrind
+        run: zig build test-valgrind -Duse-llvm=true
 
       - name: API docs
         run: zig build docs
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index d2dc0205..5eec6b5a 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});
     const test_filter = b.option([]const u8, "test-filter", "Run only tests whose names contain this text.");
     const test_filters: []const []const u8 = if (test_filter) |filter| &.{filter} else &.{};
+    // The self-hosted x86_64 backend (default on Linux since Zig 0.15) emits DWARF
+    // that kcov v43 cannot parse, producing empty coverage reports. Opt into the
+    // LLVM backend with -Duse-llvm=true for the coverage and valgrind CI steps.
+    // See ziglang/zig#24463 and #25368.
+    const use_llvm = b.option(bool, "use-llvm", "Build test binaries with the LLVM backend (needed for kcov coverage on Zig 0.16+).");
     const coverage_threshold = b.option(u8, "coverage-threshold", "Minimum line coverage percent required by test-coverage.") orelse 100;
     const yaml_test_suite_dir = b.option(
         []const u8,
@@ -52,6 +57,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const unit_tests = b.addTest(.{
         .root_module = yaml_unit_mod,
         .filters = test_filters,
+        .use_llvm = use_llvm,
     });
     const run_unit_tests = b.addRunArtifact(unit_tests);
     const unit_step = b.step("test-unit", "Run library unit tests");
@@ -92,6 +98,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
             .optimize = optimize,
             .imports = unit_root.imports,
             .filters = test_filters,
+            .use_llvm = use_llvm,
         });
         focused_unit_coverage_artifacts[index] = focused_tests.compile;
         unit_step.dependOn(&focused_tests.run.step);
@@ -115,6 +122,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const conformance_tests = b.addTest(.{
         .root_module = conformance_mod,
         .filters = test_filters,
+        .use_llvm = use_llvm,
     });
     const run_conformance_tests = b.addRunArtifact(conformance_tests);
     const conformance_step = b.step("test-conformance", "Run yaml-test-suite conformance tests");
@@ -139,6 +147,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const direct_conformance_tests = b.addTest(.{
         .root_module = direct_conformance_mod,
         .filters = test_filters,
+        .use_llvm = use_llvm,
     });
     const run_direct_conformance_tests = b.addRunArtifact(direct_conformance_tests);
     const direct_conformance_step = b.step("test-direct-conformance", "Run yaml-test-suite directly through scanner and parser layers");
@@ -185,6 +194,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .optimize = optimize,
         .imports = &.{.{ .name = "yaml_event_parser", .module = event_parser_mod }},
         .filters = test_filters,
+        .use_llvm = use_llvm,
     });
     unit_step.dependOn(&parser_tokens_unit_tests.run.step);
     focused_unit_coverage_artifacts[focused_unit_roots.len] = parser_tokens_unit_tests.compile;
@@ -205,6 +215,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
             .target = target,
             .optimize = optimize,
             .filters = test_filters,
+            .use_llvm = use_llvm,
         });
         structure_step.dependOn(&run_structure_tests.step);
     }
@@ -219,6 +230,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const stress_tests = b.addTest(.{
         .root_module = stress_mod,
         .filters = test_filters,
+        .use_llvm = use_llvm,
     });
     const run_stress_tests = b.addRunArtifact(stress_tests);
     const stress_step = b.step("test-stress", "Run generated stress and limit tests");
@@ -234,6 +246,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const allocation_tests = b.addTest(.{
         .root_module = allocation_mod,
         .filters = test_filters,
+        .use_llvm = use_llvm,
     });
     const run_allocation_tests = b.addRunArtifact(allocation_tests);
     const allocation_step = b.step("test-allocation", "Run allocator failure and cleanup tests");
diff --git a/tests/structure/ci_workflow_test.zig b/tests/structure/ci_workflow_test.zig
index 0f550d5f..84c322fb 100644
--- a/tests/structure/ci_workflow_test.zig
+++ b/tests/structure/ci_workflow_test.zig
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ test "structure: CI workflow runs required AGENTS checks" {
         "zig build test-stress",
         "zig build test-allocation",
         "zig build test-leaks",
-        "zig build test-coverage",
-        "zig build test-valgrind",
+        "zig build test-coverage -Duse-llvm=true",
+        "zig build test-valgrind -Duse-llvm=true",
         "zig build docs",
         "zig build conformance-report",
     };
diff --git a/tools/build_steps.zig b/tools/build_steps.zig
index 754a99ee..fddd234b 100644
--- a/tools/build_steps.zig
+++ b/tools/build_steps.zig
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ pub const TestRootOptions = struct {
     optimize: std.builtin.OptimizeMode,
     imports: []const std.Build.Module.Import = &.{},
     filters: []const []const u8 = &.{},
+    use_llvm: ?bool = null,
 };
 
 pub const TestArtifacts = struct {
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ pub fn addTestRunAndArtifact(b: *std.Build, options: TestRootOptions) TestRunAnd
     const tests = b.addTest(.{
         .root_module = module,
         .filters = options.filters,
+        .use_llvm = options.use_llvm,
     });
     return .{
         .compile = tests,
@@ -114,8 +116,6 @@ pub fn addCoverageStep(b: *std.Build, artifacts: TestArtifacts, options: Coverag
         kcov,
         "--merge",
         "--dump-summary",
-        "--include-path=src",
-        "--exclude-path=tests,vendor,.zig-cache,zig-out",
         b.pathJoin(&.{ coverage_root, "merged" }),
     });
 
@@ -193,12 +193,17 @@ fn addCoverageCommand(
     output_dir: []const u8,
     artifact: *std.Build.Step.Compile,
 ) *std.Build.Step.Run {
+    // --include-pattern/--exclude-pattern are substring matches against the full
+    // source path recorded in DWARF; --include-path/--exclude-path require a
+    // path-component match that breaks under containerised CI checkouts.
+    // --collect-only defers reporting to the merge step, where one summary is
+    // produced from all artifacts together.
     const command = b.addSystemCommand(&.{
         kcov,
+        "--collect-only",
         "--clean",
-        "--dump-summary",
-        "--include-path=src",
-        "--exclude-path=tests,vendor,.zig-cache,zig-out",
+        "--include-pattern=/src/",
+        "--exclude-pattern=/tests/,/vendor/,/.zig-cache/,/zig-out/",
         output_dir,
     });
     command.addArtifactArg(artifact);