diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index aec1a34..79615c0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ wxwidgets-clean/
 /tests/apps/standalone/*/*.wasm
 /tests/apps/kicad/*.js
 /tests/apps/kicad/*.wasm
+/tests/apps/kicad/*.tar.gz
 !tests/apps/kicad/pcbnew.html
 /temp/
 *.log
diff --git a/docker/build.sh b/docker/build.sh
index 65574f9..fe6464a 100755
--- a/docker/build.sh
+++ b/docker/build.sh
@@ -21,10 +21,15 @@ fi
 docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d
 
 # Sync source code to container volume (fixes macOS Docker timestamp issues)
-# This ensures timestamps are consistent within the container filesystem
+# rsync -a preserves host timestamps, but make needs container timestamps to
+# correctly detect changes against cached object files. We touch transferred
+# files to set their mtime to container's current time.
 echo "Syncing source code to container..."
 docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec kicad-wasm-builder \
-    rsync -a --delete --exclude='build-wasm' --exclude='output' /workspace-host/ /workspace/
+    bash -c 'rsync -ai --delete --exclude="build-wasm" --exclude="output" /workspace-host/ /workspace/ | \
+        grep "^>f" | \
+        sed "s/^[^ ]* //" | \
+        while read f; do touch "/workspace/$f" 2>/dev/null; done'
 
 # Run build command (without asyncify - handled on host due to memory requirements)
 docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec kicad-wasm-builder \
@@ -34,7 +39,10 @@ docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec kicad-wasm-builder \
 # Note: pcbnew.wasm.debug.wasm contains DWARF debug info (generated with -gseparate-dwarf)
 echo "Copying build output to ./output/..."
 docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec kicad-wasm-builder \
-    bash -c "mkdir -p /workspace/output && cp /workspace/build-wasm/kicad-pcbnew/pcbnew/pcbnew.{js,wasm,wasm.debug.wasm,wasm.map,worker.js} /workspace/output/ 2>/dev/null || cp /workspace/build-wasm/kicad-pcbnew/pcbnew/pcbnew.{js,wasm} /workspace/output/"
+    bash -c "mkdir -p /workspace/output && \
+        cp /workspace/build-wasm/kicad-pcbnew/pcbnew/pcbnew.{js,wasm,wasm.debug.wasm,wasm.map,worker.js} /workspace/output/ 2>/dev/null || \
+        cp /workspace/build-wasm/kicad-pcbnew/pcbnew/pcbnew.{js,wasm} /workspace/output/; \
+        cp /workspace/build-wasm/kicad-pcbnew/resources/images.tar.gz /workspace/output/ 2>/dev/null || true"
 
 # Inject dynCall shims into pcbnew.js
 # This fixes "dynCall_* is not defined" errors in Emscripten 4.x
diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/entrypoint.sh
index c4b2d05..f8f4c40 100755
--- a/docker/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -7,12 +7,16 @@ source /emsdk/emsdk_env.sh 2>/dev/null
 # Sync source from host to workspace volume
 # This fixes macOS Docker timestamp issues with bind mounts
 # (autoconf sanity checks fail when timestamps appear inconsistent)
+# Touch transferred files to set container timestamps for correct make detection
 if [[ -d /workspace-host ]]; then
     echo "Syncing source code to container volume..."
-    rsync -a --delete \
+    rsync -ai --delete \
         --exclude='build-wasm' \
         --exclude='output' \
-        /workspace-host/ /workspace/
+        /workspace-host/ /workspace/ | \
+        grep "^>f" | \
+        sed "s/^[^ ]* //" | \
+        while read f; do touch "/workspace/$f" 2>/dev/null; done
     echo "Sync complete."
 fi
 
diff --git a/kicad b/kicad
index 2532a46..279f2f1 160000
--- a/kicad
+++ b/kicad
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 2532a4682eb4a6a862d8bdf7baf700f58c4cc5fe
+Subproject commit 279f2f1a84dc07a831496334a12373d5454f1d38
diff --git a/scripts/kicad/build-pcbnew.sh b/scripts/kicad/build-pcbnew.sh
index 4b8c583..aa69fee 100755
--- a/scripts/kicad/build-pcbnew.sh
+++ b/scripts/kicad/build-pcbnew.sh
@@ -306,6 +306,11 @@ fi
 log_info "Building pcbnew..."
 emmake make -j${JOBS} pcbnew
 
+# Step 8.1: Build bitmap resources (images.tar.gz)
+# This creates the icon archive that KiCad loads at runtime
+log_info "Building bitmap resources..."
+emmake make bitmap_archive_build
+
 # Step 9: Create stamp file
 create_stamp "${KICAD_STAMP}"
 log_info "KiCad PCBnew build complete!"
diff --git a/tests/apps/kicad/pcbnew.html b/tests/apps/kicad/pcbnew.html
index f1004f0..c3ea906 100644
--- a/tests/apps/kicad/pcbnew.html
+++ b/tests/apps/kicad/pcbnew.html
@@ -105,9 +105,43 @@
       document.getElementById('status').style.display = 'none';
     };
 
+    // Pre-fetched resource data (fetched before pcbnew.js loads)
+    var resourceData = null;
+
+    // Start fetching images.tar.gz immediately (runs in parallel with WASM loading)
+    fetch('images.tar.gz')
+      .then(function(response) {
+        if (!response.ok) throw new Error('HTTP ' + response.status);
+        return response.arrayBuffer();
+      })
+      .then(function(buffer) {
+        resourceData = new Uint8Array(buffer);
+        console.log('[KICAD] Prefetched images.tar.gz (' + resourceData.length + ' bytes)');
+      })
+      .catch(function(err) {
+        console.warn('[KICAD] Could not prefetch images.tar.gz:', err.message);
+      });
+
+    // Write pre-fetched resources to FS (called in preRun after FS is available)
+    var writeResources = function() {
+      // Create directory structure matching KiCad's compiled-in KICAD_DATA path
+      // This path is baked in during CMake configuration
+      var resourcePath = '/workspace/build-wasm/sysroot/share/kicad/resources';
+      FS.mkdirTree(resourcePath);
+
+      // Write pre-fetched data if available
+      if (resourceData) {
+        FS.writeFile(resourcePath + '/images.tar.gz', resourceData);
+        console.log('[KICAD] Wrote images.tar.gz to ' + resourcePath);
+      } else {
+        console.warn('[KICAD] images.tar.gz not ready yet (WASM loaded faster than fetch)');
+      }
+    };
+
     var Module = {
       thisProgram: '/usr/bin/pcbnew',  // Fake absolute path for argv[0] (KiCad DEBUG check)
-      preRun: [createCanvas],
+
+      preRun: [createCanvas, writeResources],
       postRun: [],
 
       print: function(text) {
diff --git a/tests/scripts/setup-kicad-wasm.sh b/tests/scripts/setup-kicad-wasm.sh
index b87ab98..06179bf 100755
--- a/tests/scripts/setup-kicad-wasm.sh
+++ b/tests/scripts/setup-kicad-wasm.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ if [ -f "$OUTPUT_DIR/pcbnew.js" ] && [ -f "$OUTPUT_DIR/pcbnew.wasm" ]; then
     cp "$OUTPUT_DIR/pcbnew.wasm.map" "$KICAD_TEST/" 2>/dev/null || true
     # Worker file for pthreads (optional)
     cp "$OUTPUT_DIR/pcbnew.worker.js" "$KICAD_TEST/" 2>/dev/null || true
+    # Bitmap resources for KiCad icons (optional)
+    cp "$OUTPUT_DIR/images.tar.gz" "$KICAD_TEST/" 2>/dev/null || true
 else
     echo "Output directory not found, copying from Docker build..."
     docker compose -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/docker/docker-compose.yml" cp \
@@ -34,6 +36,9 @@ else
     # Worker file for pthreads (optional)
     docker compose -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/docker/docker-compose.yml" cp \
       kicad-wasm-builder:/workspace/build-wasm/kicad-pcbnew/pcbnew/pcbnew.worker.js "$KICAD_TEST/" 2>/dev/null || true
+    # Bitmap resources for KiCad icons (optional)
+    docker compose -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/docker/docker-compose.yml" cp \
+      kicad-wasm-builder:/workspace/build-wasm/kicad-pcbnew/resources/images.tar.gz "$KICAD_TEST/" 2>/dev/null || true
 fi
 
 # wxWidgets WASM JavaScript glue code (defines JS functions called from WASM)