diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-automation.yaml b/.github/workflows/release-automation.yaml
index fcb0a269..9c312323 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-automation.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-automation.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: "WyriHaximus/github-action-get-previous-tag@04e8485ecb6487243907e330d522ff60f02283ce" # v1.4.0
   generate-artifacts:
     needs: get-latest-tag
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
     env:
       # Set during setup.
       RELEASE_TAG: ${{ needs.get-latest-tag.outputs.tag }}
@@ -43,22 +43,29 @@ jobs:
           export release_tag=${{ env.RELEASE_TAG }}
           export release_version=${release_tag/v/} # Remove v from tag name
           echo "DYNAMIC_BINARY_NAME=finch-daemon-${release_version}-linux-amd64.tar.gz" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "STATIC_BINARY_NAME=finch-daemon-${release_version}-linux-amd64-static.tar.gz" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
           mkdir release
       - name: Install Go licenses
         run: go install github.com/google/go-licenses@latest
       - name: Create Third Party Licences File
         run: make licenses
+      - name: setup static dependecies
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install libc6-dev -f
       - name: Create release binaries
         run: make RELEASE_TAG=${{ env.RELEASE_TAG }} release
       - name: Verify Release version
         run: |
-          mkdir output
-          tar -xzf release/${{ env.DYNAMIC_BINARY_NAME }} -C ./output
-          BINARY_VERSION=$(./output/finch-daemon --version | grep -oP '\d+\.\d+\.\d+')
+          mkdir -p output/static output/dynamic
+          tar -xzf release/${{ env.DYNAMIC_BINARY_NAME }} -C ./output/dynamic
+          tar -xzf release/${{ env.STATIC_BINARY_NAME }} -C ./output/static
+          DYNAMIC_BINARY_VERSION=$(./output/dynamic/finch-daemon --version | grep -oP '\d+\.\d+\.\d+')
+          STATIC_BINARY_VERSION=$(./output/static/finch-daemon --version | grep -oP '\d+\.\d+\.\d+')
           export release_tag=${{ env.RELEASE_TAG }}
           export release_version=${release_tag/v/}
-          if ["$BINARY_VERSION" != "$release_version"]; then
+          if ["$STATIC_BINARY_VERSION" != "$release_version"] || ["$DYNAMIC_BINARY_VERSION" != "$release_version"]; then
             echo "Version mismatch"
             exit 1
           fi
@@ -98,3 +105,5 @@ jobs:
           files: |
             ${{ needs.generate-artifacts.outputs.dynamic_binary_name }}
             ${{ needs.generate-artifacts.outputs.dynamic_binary_name }}.sha256sum
+            ${{ needs.generate-artifacts.outputs.static_binary_name }}
+            ${{ needs.generate-artifacts.outputs.static_binary_name }}.sha256sum
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e81e4146..e6b14b2b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -13,17 +13,30 @@ BINDIR ?= $(PREFIX)/bin
 
 BINARY = $(addprefix bin/,finch-daemon)
 
+PACKAGE := github.com/runfinch/finch-daemon
+VERSION := $(shell git describe --match 'v[0-9]*' --dirty='.modified' --always --tags)
+GITCOMMIT := $(shell git rev-parse HEAD)$(shell if ! git diff --no-ext-diff --quiet --exit-code; then echo .m; fi)
+
 ifndef GODEBUG
 	EXTRA_LDFLAGS += -s -w
 endif
 
+LDFLAGS_BASE := -X $(PACKAGE)/version.Version=$(VERSION) -X $(PACKAGE)/version.GitCommit=$(GITCOMMIT) $(EXTRA_LDFLAGS)
+
 .PHONY: build
 build:
-	$(eval PACKAGE := github.com/runfinch/finch-daemon)
-	$(eval VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --match 'v[0-9]*' --dirty='.modified' --always --tags))
-	$(eval GITCOMMIT := $(shell git rev-parse HEAD)$(shell if ! git diff --no-ext-diff --quiet --exit-code; then echo .m; fi))
-	$(eval LDFLAGS := "-X $(PACKAGE)/version.Version=$(VERSION) -X $(PACKAGE)/version.GitCommit=$(GITCOMMIT) $(EXTRA_LDFLAGS)")
-	GOOS=linux go build -ldflags $(LDFLAGS) -v -o $(BINARY) $(PACKAGE)/cmd/finch-daemon
+ifeq ($(STATIC),)
+	@echo "Building Dynamic Binary"
+	CGO_ENABLED=1 GOOS=linux go build \
+		-ldflags "$(LDFLAGS_BASE)" \
+		-v -o $(BINARY) $(PACKAGE)/cmd/finch-daemon
+else
+	@echo "Building Static Binary"
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build \
+		-tags netgo \
+		-ldflags "$(LDFLAGS_BASE) -extldflags '-static'" \
+		-v -o $(BINARY) $(PACKAGE)/cmd/finch-daemon
+endif
 
 clean:
 	@rm -f $(BINARIES)
diff --git a/cmd/finch-daemon/main.go b/cmd/finch-daemon/main.go
index 9b376596..afdc12dc 100644
--- a/cmd/finch-daemon/main.go
+++ b/cmd/finch-daemon/main.go
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ import (
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
+	// #nosec
+	// register HTTP handler for /debug/pprof on the DefaultServeMux.
+	_ "net/http/pprof"
+
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd"
 	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/pkg/api/types"
 	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/pkg/config"
@@ -47,9 +51,10 @@ const (
 )
 
 type DaemonOptions struct {
-	debug       bool
-	socketAddr  string
-	socketOwner int
+	debug        bool
+	socketAddr   string
+	socketOwner  int
+	debugAddress string
 }
 
 var options = new(DaemonOptions)
@@ -65,6 +70,7 @@ func main() {
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringVar(&options.socketAddr, "socket-addr", defaultFinchAddr, "server listening Unix socket address")
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&options.debug, "debug", false, "turn on debug log level")
 	rootCmd.Flags().IntVar(&options.socketOwner, "socket-owner", -1, "Uid and Gid of the server socket")
+	rootCmd.Flags().StringVar(&options.debugAddress, "debug-addr", "", "")
 	if err := rootCmd.Execute(); err != nil {
 		log.Printf("got error: %v", err)
 		log.Fatal(err)
@@ -99,6 +105,24 @@ func run(options *DaemonOptions) error {
 	if err := os.Chown(options.socketAddr, options.socketOwner, options.socketOwner); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to chown the finch-daemon socket: %w", err)
 	}
+
+	if options.debugAddress != "" {
+		logger.Infof("Serving debugging endpoint on %q", options.debugAddress)
+		go func() {
+			debugListener, err := net.Listen("tcp", options.debugAddress)
+			if err != nil {
+				logger.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			debugServer := &http.Server{
+				Handler:           http.DefaultServeMux,
+				ReadHeaderTimeout: 5 * time.Second,
+			}
+			if err := debugServer.Serve(debugListener); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, http.ErrServerClosed) {
+				logger.Fatal(err)
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
 	server := &http.Server{
 		Handler:           r,
 		ReadHeaderTimeout: 5 * time.Minute,
diff --git a/docs/debug.md b/docs/debug.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb5f9320
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/debug.md
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# Debugging the finch daemon
+
+This document outlines where to find/access logs and how to configure profiling tools for finch daemon.
+
+## Logs
+
+Logs are the first place to check when you suspect a problem with finch-daemon. If `finch-daemon` was started via `systemd` then you can obtain logs using `journalctl`:
+
+```shell
+sudo journalctl -u finch
+```
+
+> **Note**
+> The command above assumes that you have used the unit file definition [finch.service](../finch.service) we have provided. If you have created your own unit file for `finch-daemon` and replace `finch-daemon` with the one you have made. Amazon Linux distributions of Finch also use the name `finch` for the finch-daemon service.
+
+If you have started `finch-daemon` manually, logs will either be emitted to stderr/stdout.
+
+## CPU Profiling
+
+We can use Golangs `pprof` tool to profile the daemon. To enable profiling you must set the `--debug-addr` CLI parameter when invoking `finch-daemon`:
+
+```shell
+./finch-daemon --debug-addr localhost:6060
+```
+
+> **Note**
+> Similarly to adding the command line option for a local run of finch-daemon, any systemd service file can also be modified to include the `--debug-addr` option.
+
+
+Once you have configured the debug address you can send a `GET` to the `/debug/pprof/profile` endpoint to receive a CPU profile of the daemon. You can specify an optional argument `seconds` to limit the results to a certain time span:
+
+```shell
+curl http://localhost:6060/debug/pprof/profile?seconds=40 > out.pprof
+```
+
+You can use the `pprof` tool provided by the Go CLI to visualize the data within a web browser:
+
+```shell
+go tool pprof -http=:8080 out.pprof
+```
+
+For more information on pprof, [see its documentation here](https://pkg.go.dev/net/http/pprof).
diff --git a/scripts/create-releases.sh b/scripts/create-releases.sh
index d5d1bf9f..93c164d8 100755
--- a/scripts/create-releases.sh
+++ b/scripts/create-releases.sh
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ fi
 
 release_version=${1/v/} # Remove v from tag name
 dynamic_binary_name=finch-daemon-${release_version}-linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz
+static_binary_name=finch-daemon-${release_version}-linux-${ARCH}-static.tar.gz
 
 make build
 cp "$LICENSE_FILE" "${OUT_DIR}"
@@ -62,6 +63,14 @@ tar -czvf "$RELEASE_DIR"/"$dynamic_binary_name" -- *
 popd
 rm -rf "{$OUT_DIR:?}"/*
 
+STATIC=1 make build
+cp "$LICENSE_FILE" "${OUT_DIR}"
+pushd "$OUT_DIR"
+tar -czvf "$RELEASE_DIR"/"$static_binary_name" -- *
+popd
+rm -rf "{$OUT_DIR:?}"/*
+
 pushd "$RELEASE_DIR"
 sha256sum "$dynamic_binary_name" > "$RELEASE_DIR"/"$dynamic_binary_name".sha256sum
+sha256sum "$static_binary_name" > "$RELEASE_DIR"/"$static_binary_name".sha256sum
 popd
diff --git a/scripts/verify-release-artifacts.sh b/scripts/verify-release-artifacts.sh
index f194e4d4..d90a9d35 100755
--- a/scripts/verify-release-artifacts.sh
+++ b/scripts/verify-release-artifacts.sh
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ release_tag=$1
 release_version=${release_tag/v/} 
 
 pushd "$release_dir" || exit 1
-tarballs=("finch-daemon-${release_version}-linux-${arch}.tar.gz")
+tarballs=("finch-daemon-${release_version}-linux-${arch}.tar.gz" "finch-daemon-${release_version}-linux-${arch}-static.tar.gz")
 expected_contents=("finch-daemon" "THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES")
 release_is_valid=true