diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 8f07dd34e4..b637b104aa 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ members = [
 ]
 
 [features]
-default = ["ghemoji", "regex-fancy", "trace-libgit", "vendor-openssl"]
+default = ["ghemoji", "regex-fancy", "trace-libgit"]
 ghemoji = ["gh-emoji"]
 # regex-* features are mutually exclusive.
 regex-fancy = ["syntect/regex-fancy", "two-face/syntect-fancy"]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3bc78817ab..62f5cb657a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -47,19 +47,19 @@ release-linux-musl: build-linux-musl-release
 	tar -C ./target/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/release/ -czvf ./release/gitui-linux-x86_64.tar.gz ./gitui
 
 build-apple-x86-debug:
-	cargo build --target=x86_64-apple-darwin
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --target=x86_64-apple-darwin
 
 build-apple-x86-release:
-	cargo build --release --target=x86_64-apple-darwin --locked
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --release --target=x86_64-apple-darwin --locked
 
 build-linux-musl-debug:
-	cargo build --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
 
 build-linux-musl-release:
-	cargo build --release --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-musl --locked
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --release --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-musl --locked
 
 test-linux-musl:
-	cargo test --workspace --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
+	cargo test --features vendor-openssl --workspace --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
 
 release-linux-arm: build-linux-arm-release
 	mkdir -p release
@@ -73,14 +73,14 @@ release-linux-arm: build-linux-arm-release
 	tar -C ./target/arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf/release/ -czvf ./release/gitui-linux-arm.tar.gz ./gitui
 
 build-linux-arm-debug:
-	cargo build --target=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
-	cargo build --target=armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
-	cargo build --target=arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --target=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --target=armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --target=arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
 
 build-linux-arm-release:
-	cargo build --release --target=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --locked
-	cargo build --release --target=armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf --locked
-	cargo build --release --target=arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf --locked
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --release --target=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --locked
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --release --target=armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf --locked
+	cargo build --features vendor-openssl --release --target=arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf --locked
 
 test:
 	cargo test --workspace
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f97b708148..040d9c2453 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -223,9 +223,12 @@ see [NIGHTLIES.md](./NIGHTLIES.md)
 - Minimum supported `rust`/`cargo` version: `1.82`
   - See [Install Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install)
 
-- To build openssl dependency (see https://docs.rs/openssl/latest/openssl/)
-  - perl >= 5.12 (strawberry perl works for windows https://strawberryperl.com/)
-  - a c compiler (msvc, gcc or clang, cargo will find it)
+- TLS/SSL support uses platform-native libraries:
+  - **Windows**: Uses WinHTTP/Schannel (built-in, no additional setup needed)
+  - **macOS**: Uses SecureTransport (built-in, no additional setup needed)
+  - **Linux**: Requires system OpenSSL development libraries (e.g., `libssl-dev` on Debian/Ubuntu, `openssl-devel` on Fedora)
+
+- A C compiler is required to build native dependencies (msvc on Windows, gcc or clang on Unix)
 
 - To run the complete test suite python is required (and it must be invocable as `python`)