diff --git a/.github/workflows/desktop-build.yml b/.github/workflows/desktop-build.yml
index 7e31fed66..77cba2455 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/desktop-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/desktop-build.yml
@@ -702,8 +702,11 @@ jobs:
       CCACHE_DIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/.cache/
       CCACHE_SIZE: ${{ matrix.ccache_size || '700M' }}
       PERSIST_CCACHE: ${{ matrix.persist_ccache || 'true' }}
-      # MSVC has no -g level, so the Windows leg does not ask for one.
-      COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL: ${{ matrix.os != 'Windows' && github.ref_type != 'tag' && '1' || '' }}
+      # MSVC has no -g level, so there is nothing to ask for on Windows: level 0 is the one
+      # value with a meaning there, and it drops /Z7 rather than lowering a level. Pull-request
+      # builds carry no debug information, which is most of what a compiler cache stores; a
+      # tag is the build whose binary is shipped and symbolicated, so it keeps the full set.
+      COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL: ${{ github.ref_type != 'tag' && '0' || '' }}
 
     # Shared with build-vcpkg-nightly so the two leg sets run the same steps.
     steps: &vcpkg-steps
@@ -877,6 +880,21 @@ jobs:
           WITH_CRASH_REPORTING: ${{ matrix.type == 'Release' && 'ON' || '' }}
         run: .ci/compile.sh --server --test --vcpkg
 
+      # What the compiler cache has to hold for this leg. ccache stores the objects it
+      # compiles, so their total is the working set a bound has to fit, and the cache
+      # directory shows what this build actually wrote. Debug information dominates both,
+      # which is why the level above is reported next to them.
+      - name: "Report compiler cache footprint"
+        if: always()
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          echo "=== ccache directory"
+          du -sh "$CCACHE_DIR" 2>/dev/null || echo "(none)"
+          echo "=== objects and archives"
+          find build -type f \( -name '*.o' -o -name '*.obj' -o -name '*.a' -o -name '*.lib' \) -exec du -k {} + 2>/dev/null \
+            | awk '{n++; s+=$1} END {printf "%d files, %.2f GB\n", n, s/1048576}'
+          echo "=== debug info level in use: '${COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL}'"
+
       - name: "Install sentry-cli"
         if: needs.configure.outputs.tag != null && matrix.make_package == '1'
         # Same as the Linux leg above: the install downloads from Sentry's registry, so a
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1edfef8e0..71f195385 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -279,7 +279,14 @@ set(COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL
 )
 if(NOT COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL STREQUAL "")
   if(MSVC)
-    message(WARNING "COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL is ignored on MSVC")
+    # MSVC has no -g level, so /Z7 is either there or it is not. Level 0 is the only value
+    # that means something here: without /Z7 the objects carry no debug information, which is
+    # what a cache that has to fit a bound holds. Anything else is the full debug info.
+    if(COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL STREQUAL "0")
+      string(REPLACE " /Z7" "" CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}")
+    else()
+      message(WARNING "COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL is ignored on MSVC except 0")
+    endif()
   else()
     string(APPEND CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG " -g${COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL}")
     string(APPEND CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE " -g${COCKATRICE_DEBUG_INFO_LEVEL}")