diff --git a/.ci/scripts/test_llava.sh b/.ci/scripts/test_llava.sh
index 60589c96d47..7876c287176 100644
--- a/.ci/scripts/test_llava.sh
+++ b/.ci/scripts/test_llava.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 set -exu
 # shellcheck source=/dev/null
 
+BUILD_TYPE=${1:-Debug}
+
+echo "Building with BUILD_TYPE: $BUILD_TYPE"
+
 if [[ -z "${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE:-}" ]]; then
   PYTHON_EXECUTABLE=python3
 fi
@@ -15,7 +19,7 @@ fi
 cmake_install_executorch_libraries() {
     cmake                                               \
         -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=cmake-out                \
-        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug                        \
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD_TYPE}                \
         -DEXECUTORCH_BUILD_EXTENSION_MODULE=ON          \
         -DEXECUTORCH_BUILD_EXTENSION_DATA_LOADER=ON     \
         -DEXECUTORCH_BUILD_KERNELS_CUSTOM=ON            \
@@ -27,7 +31,7 @@ cmake_install_executorch_libraries() {
         -Bcmake-out .
 
 
-    cmake --build cmake-out -j9 --target install --config Debug
+    cmake --build cmake-out -j9 --target install --config ${BUILD_TYPE}
 }
 
 cmake_build_llava_runner() {
@@ -36,7 +40,7 @@ cmake_build_llava_runner() {
 
     cmake                                       \
         -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=cmake-out        \
-        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug                \
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD_TYPE}         \
         -DEXECUTORCH_BUILD_KERNELS_CUSTOM=ON    \
         -DEXECUTORCH_BUILD_KERNELS_OPTIMIZED=ON \
         -DEXECUTORCH_BUILD_XNNPACK=ON           \
@@ -45,7 +49,7 @@ cmake_build_llava_runner() {
         ${dir}
 
 
-    cmake --build cmake-out/${dir} -j9 --config Debug
+    cmake --build cmake-out/${dir} -j9 --config ${BUILD_TYPE}
 }
 
 # only export the one without custom op for now since it's
diff --git a/.github/workflows/trunk.yml b/.github/workflows/trunk.yml
index 9c45406fa80..7a6aad15505 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/trunk.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/trunk.yml
@@ -270,6 +270,34 @@ jobs:
         # Test llama2
         PYTHON_EXECUTABLE=python ${CONDA_RUN} bash .ci/scripts/test_llama.sh stories110M "${BUILD_TOOL}" "${DTYPE}" "${MODE}"
 
+  test-llava-runner-macos:
+    name: test-llava-runner-macos
+    uses: pytorch/test-infra/.github/workflows/macos_job.yml@main
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+    with:
+      runner: macos-m1-stable
+      python-version: '3.11'
+      submodules: 'true'
+      ref: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.pull_request.head.sha || github.sha }}
+      timeout: 900
+      script: |
+        # The generic Linux job chooses to use base env, not the one setup by the image
+        CONDA_ENV=$(conda env list --json | jq -r ".envs | .[-1]")
+        conda activate "${CONDA_ENV}"
+
+        PYTHON_EXECUTABLE=python bash .ci/scripts/setup-macos.sh "cmake"
+
+        # install Llava requirements
+        bash examples/models/llama2/install_requirements.sh
+        bash examples/models/llava/install_requirements.sh
+
+        # run python unittest
+        python -m unittest examples.models.llava.test.test_llava
+
+        # run e2e (export, tokenizer and runner)
+        PYTHON_EXECUTABLE=python bash .ci/scripts/test_llava.sh Release
+
   test-qnn-model:
     name: test-qnn-model
     uses: pytorch/test-infra/.github/workflows/linux_job.yml@main
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4f4ad1ddf8d..d25113a03ab 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -786,8 +786,12 @@ if(EXECUTORCH_BUILD_EXECUTOR_RUNNER)
   endif()
 
   add_executable(executor_runner ${_executor_runner__srcs})
-  if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Release" AND NOT APPLE)
-    target_link_options(executor_runner PRIVATE "LINKER:--gc-sections")
+  if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Release")
+    if(APPLE)
+      target_link_options(executor_runner PRIVATE "LINKER:-dead_strip")
+    else()
+      target_link_options(executor_runner PRIVATE "LINKER:--gc-sections")
+    endif()
   endif()
   target_link_libraries(executor_runner ${_executor_runner_libs})
   target_compile_options(executor_runner PUBLIC ${_common_compile_options})
diff --git a/examples/models/llava/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/models/llava/CMakeLists.txt
index 9bb9d9cf9d6..a1a6fc8c939 100644
--- a/examples/models/llava/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/models/llava/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -203,7 +203,11 @@ endif()
 
 add_executable(llava_main ${_srcs})
 if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Release")
-  target_link_options(llava_main PRIVATE "LINKER:--gc-sections,-s")
+  if(APPLE)
+    target_link_options(llava_main PRIVATE "LINKER:-dead_strip,-s")
+  else()
+    target_link_options(llava_main PRIVATE "LINKER:--gc-sections,-s")
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 target_include_directories(llava_main PUBLIC ${_common_include_directories})