diff --git a/.github/workflows/static.yaml b/.github/workflows/static.yaml
index a6ed634c32..976def3140 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/static.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/static.yaml
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ jobs:
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.mercure
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.mercure
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.vulcain
+          "${BINARY}" php-cli -r "echo 'Sanity check passed';"
         env:
           BINARY: ./frankenphp-linux-${{ matrix.platform == 'linux/amd64' && 'x86_64' || 'aarch64' }}${{ matrix.debug && '-debug' || '' }}${{ matrix.mimalloc && '-mimalloc' || '' }}
 
@@ -277,6 +278,7 @@ jobs:
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.mercure
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.mercure
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.vulcain
+          "${BINARY}" php-cli -r "echo 'Sanity check passed';"
         env:
           BINARY: ./frankenphp-linux-${{ matrix.platform == 'linux/amd64' && 'x86_64' || 'aarch64' }}-gnu
 
@@ -393,5 +395,6 @@ jobs:
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.mercure
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.mercure
           "${BINARY}" list-modules | grep http.handlers.vulcain
+          "${BINARY}" php-cli -r "echo 'Sanity check passed';"
         env:
           BINARY: dist/frankenphp-mac-${{ matrix.platform }}
diff --git a/caddy/php-cli.go b/caddy/php-cli.go
index 3e75e20fdd..0a0172cd3e 100644
--- a/caddy/php-cli.go
+++ b/caddy/php-cli.go
@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ func init() {
 		Long: `
 Executes a PHP script similarly to the CLI SAPI.`,
 		CobraFunc: func(cmd *cobra.Command) {
-			cmd.DisableFlagParsing = true
+			cmd.Flags().StringP("code", "r", "", "Execute PHP code directly without <php ... ?> tags")
 			cmd.RunE = caddycmd.WrapCommandFuncForCobra(cmdPHPCLI)
 		},
 	})
 }
 
-func cmdPHPCLI(caddycmd.Flags) (int, error) {
+func cmdPHPCLI(fs caddycmd.Flags) (int, error) {
 	args := os.Args[2:]
 	if len(args) < 1 {
 		return 1, errors.New("the path to the PHP script is required")
@@ -37,7 +37,13 @@ func cmdPHPCLI(caddycmd.Flags) (int, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	status := frankenphp.ExecuteScriptCLI(args[0], args)
+	var status int
+	if evalCode := fs.String("code"); evalCode != "" {
+		status = frankenphp.ExecutePHPCode(evalCode)
+	} else {
+		status = frankenphp.ExecuteScriptCLI(args[0], args)
+	}
+
 	os.Exit(status)
 
 	return status, nil
diff --git a/frankenphp.c b/frankenphp.c
index af116437d0..551bd53ed6 100644
--- a/frankenphp.c
+++ b/frankenphp.c
@@ -1108,6 +1108,7 @@ static void sapi_cli_register_variables(zval *track_vars_array) /* {{{ */
 
 static void *execute_script_cli(void *arg) {
   void *exit_status;
+  bool eval = (bool)arg;
 
   /*
    * The SAPI name "cli" is hardcoded into too many programs... let's usurp it.
@@ -1120,11 +1121,16 @@ static void *execute_script_cli(void *arg) {
 
   cli_register_file_handles(false);
   zend_first_try {
-    zend_file_handle file_handle;
-    zend_stream_init_filename(&file_handle, cli_script);
+    if (eval) {
+      /* evaluate the cli_script as literal PHP code (php-cli -r "...") */
+      zend_eval_string_ex(cli_script, NULL, "Command line code", 1);
+    } else {
+      zend_file_handle file_handle;
+      zend_stream_init_filename(&file_handle, cli_script);
 
-    CG(skip_shebang) = 1;
-    php_execute_script(&file_handle);
+      CG(skip_shebang) = 1;
+      php_execute_script(&file_handle);
+    }
   }
   zend_end_try();
 
@@ -1135,7 +1141,8 @@ static void *execute_script_cli(void *arg) {
   return exit_status;
 }
 
-int frankenphp_execute_script_cli(char *script, int argc, char **argv) {
+int frankenphp_execute_script_cli(char *script, int argc, char **argv,
+                                  bool eval) {
   pthread_t thread;
   int err;
   void *exit_status;
@@ -1148,7 +1155,7 @@ int frankenphp_execute_script_cli(char *script, int argc, char **argv) {
    * Start the script in a dedicated thread to prevent conflicts between Go and
    * PHP signal handlers
    */
-  err = pthread_create(&thread, NULL, execute_script_cli, NULL);
+  err = pthread_create(&thread, NULL, execute_script_cli, (void *)eval);
   if (err != 0) {
     return err;
   }
diff --git a/frankenphp.go b/frankenphp.go
index 17caea1c9b..216071c5a5 100644
--- a/frankenphp.go
+++ b/frankenphp.go
@@ -635,7 +635,13 @@ func ExecuteScriptCLI(script string, args []string) int {
 	argc, argv := convertArgs(args)
 	defer freeArgs(argv)
 
-	return int(C.frankenphp_execute_script_cli(cScript, argc, (**C.char)(unsafe.Pointer(&argv[0]))))
+	return int(C.frankenphp_execute_script_cli(cScript, argc, (**C.char)(unsafe.Pointer(&argv[0])), false))
+}
+
+func ExecutePHPCode(phpCode string) int {
+	cCode := C.CString(phpCode)
+	defer C.free(unsafe.Pointer(cCode))
+	return int(C.frankenphp_execute_script_cli(cCode, 0, nil, true))
 }
 
 func convertArgs(args []string) (C.int, []*C.char) {
diff --git a/frankenphp.h b/frankenphp.h
index 7839bcf7e0..6636bfbf02 100644
--- a/frankenphp.h
+++ b/frankenphp.h
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ int frankenphp_update_server_context(bool is_worker_request,
 int frankenphp_request_startup();
 int frankenphp_execute_script(char *file_name);
 
-int frankenphp_execute_script_cli(char *script, int argc, char **argv);
+int frankenphp_execute_script_cli(char *script, int argc, char **argv,
+                                  bool eval);
 
 void frankenphp_register_variables_from_request_info(
     zval *track_vars_array, zend_string *content_type,
diff --git a/frankenphp_test.go b/frankenphp_test.go
index 59312c9045..e6caa42711 100644
--- a/frankenphp_test.go
+++ b/frankenphp_test.go
@@ -790,6 +790,19 @@ func TestExecuteScriptCLI(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, stdoutStderrStr, "From the CLI")
 }
 
+func TestExecuteCLICode(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, err := os.Stat("internal/testcli/testcli"); err != nil {
+		t.Skip("internal/testcli/testcli has not been compiled, run `cd internal/testcli/ && go build`")
+	}
+
+	cmd := exec.Command("internal/testcli/testcli", "-r", "echo 'Hello World';")
+	stdoutStderr, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	stdoutStderrStr := string(stdoutStderr)
+	assert.Equal(t, stdoutStderrStr, `Hello World`)
+}
+
 func ExampleServeHTTP() {
 	if err := frankenphp.Init(); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
diff --git a/internal/testcli/main.go b/internal/testcli/main.go
index 47a4ca1862..c03c836c4d 100644
--- a/internal/testcli/main.go
+++ b/internal/testcli/main.go
@@ -13,5 +13,9 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
+	if len(os.Args) == 3 && os.Args[1] == "-r" {
+		os.Exit(frankenphp.ExecutePHPCode(os.Args[2]))
+	}
+
 	os.Exit(frankenphp.ExecuteScriptCLI(os.Args[1], os.Args))
 }
diff --git a/static-builder-gnu.Dockerfile b/static-builder-gnu.Dockerfile
index 120126bb0c..9288a62018 100644
--- a/static-builder-gnu.Dockerfile
+++ b/static-builder-gnu.Dockerfile
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ ENV CC='/opt/rh/devtoolset-10/root/usr/bin/gcc'
 ENV CXX='/opt/rh/devtoolset-10/root/usr/bin/g++'
 ENV AR='/opt/rh/devtoolset-10/root/usr/bin/ar'
 ENV LD='/opt/rh/devtoolset-10/root/usr/bin/ld'
-ENV SPC_DEFAULT_C_FLAGS='-fPIE -fPIC -O3 -march=native'
+ENV SPC_DEFAULT_C_FLAGS='-fPIE -fPIC -O3'
 ENV SPC_LIBC='glibc'
 ENV SPC_CMD_VAR_PHP_MAKE_EXTRA_LDFLAGS_PROGRAM='-Wl,-O3 -pie'
 ENV SPC_CMD_VAR_PHP_MAKE_EXTRA_LIBS='-ldl -lpthread -lm -lresolv -lutil -lrt'
diff --git a/static-builder-musl.Dockerfile b/static-builder-musl.Dockerfile
index e122862b27..3f7ab48327 100644
--- a/static-builder-musl.Dockerfile
+++ b/static-builder-musl.Dockerfile
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ RUN go mod graph | awk '{if ($1 !~ "@") print $2}' | xargs go get
 WORKDIR /go/src/app
 COPY --link . ./
 
-ENV SPC_DEFAULT_C_FLAGS='-fPIE -fPIC -O3 -march=native'
+ENV SPC_DEFAULT_C_FLAGS='-fPIE -fPIC -O3'
 ENV SPC_LIBC='musl'
 ENV SPC_CMD_VAR_PHP_MAKE_EXTRA_LDFLAGS_PROGRAM='-Wl,-O3 -pie'