diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yaml b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
index 296ad29b38..135bf7b500 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ jobs:
           clang-format --version
           cd test && make style_check
 
-  ubuntu:
+  build-error-check-on-32bit:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     if: >
       (github.event_name == 'push') ||
@@ -53,10 +53,28 @@ jobs:
         - arch_flags: -m32
           arch_suffix: :i386
           name: (32-bit)
-        - arch_flags:
-          arch_suffix:
-          name: (64-bit)
-    name: ubuntu ${{ matrix.config.name }}
+    steps:
+      - name: checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: install libraries
+        run: |
+          sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y libc6-dev${{ matrix.config.arch_suffix }} libstdc++-13-dev${{ matrix.config.arch_suffix }} \
+            libssl-dev${{ matrix.config.arch_suffix }} libcurl4-openssl-dev${{ matrix.config.arch_suffix }} \
+            zlib1g-dev${{ matrix.config.arch_suffix }} libbrotli-dev${{ matrix.config.arch_suffix }} \
+            libzstd-dev${{ matrix.config.arch_suffix }}
+      - name: build and run tests (expect failure)
+        run: cd test && make test EXTRA_CXXFLAGS="${{ matrix.config.arch_flags }}"
+        continue-on-error: true
+
+  ubuntu:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: >
+      (github.event_name == 'push') ||
+      (github.event_name == 'pull_request'  &&
+       github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name != github.event.pull_request.base.repo.full_name) ||
+      (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event.inputs.test_linux == 'true')
     steps:
       - name: checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
diff --git a/httplib.h b/httplib.h
index ec8349e109..eaea3d85ae 100644
--- a/httplib.h
+++ b/httplib.h
@@ -10,6 +10,21 @@
 
 #define CPPHTTPLIB_VERSION "0.22.0"
 
+/*
+ * Platform compatibility check
+ */
+
+#if defined(_WIN32) && !defined(_WIN64)
+#error                                                                         \
+    "cpp-httplib doesn't support 32-bit Windows. Please use a 64-bit compiler."
+#elif defined(__SIZEOF_POINTER__) && __SIZEOF_POINTER__ < 8
+#error                                                                         \
+    "cpp-httplib doesn't support 32-bit platforms. Please use a 64-bit compiler."
+#elif defined(__SIZEOF_SIZE_T__) && __SIZEOF_SIZE_T__ < 8
+#error                                                                         \
+    "cpp-httplib doesn't support platforms where size_t is less than 64 bits."
+#endif
+
 /*
  * Configuration
  */
@@ -177,11 +192,7 @@
 
 #pragma comment(lib, "ws2_32.lib")
 
-#ifdef _WIN64
 using ssize_t = __int64;
-#else
-using ssize_t = long;
-#endif
 #endif // _MSC_VER
 
 #ifndef S_ISREG
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index ae8ca314ca..28af5a233a 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -16,11 +16,12 @@ project(
   meson_version: '>=0.62.0'
 )
 
+cxx = meson.get_compiler('cpp')
+
 # Check just in case downstream decides to edit the source
 # and add a project version
 version = meson.project_version()
 if version == 'undefined'
-  cxx = meson.get_compiler('cpp')
   version = cxx.get_define('CPPHTTPLIB_VERSION',
     prefix: '#include <httplib.h>',
     include_directories: include_directories('.')).strip('"')
@@ -65,6 +66,21 @@ if brotli_found_all
   args += '-DCPPHTTPLIB_BROTLI_SUPPORT'
 endif
 
+async_ns_opt = get_option('cpp-httplib_non_blocking_getaddrinfo')
+
+if host_machine.system() == 'windows'
+  async_ns_dep = cxx.find_library('ws2_32', required: async_ns_opt)
+elif host_machine.system() == 'darwin'
+  async_ns_dep = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: ['CFNetwork'], required: async_ns_opt)
+else
+  async_ns_dep = cxx.find_library('anl', required: async_ns_opt)
+endif
+
+if async_ns_dep.found()
+  deps += async_ns_dep
+  args += '-DCPPHTTPLIB_USE_NON_BLOCKING_GETADDRINFO'
+endif
+
 cpp_httplib_dep = dependency('', required: false)
 
 if get_option('cpp-httplib_compile')
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index e15847d42f..cdb552224f 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -6,5 +6,6 @@ option('cpp-httplib_openssl', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Enab
 option('cpp-httplib_zlib',    type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Enable zlib support')
 option('cpp-httplib_brotli',  type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Enable Brotli support')
 option('cpp-httplib_macosx_keychain', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Enable loading certs from the Keychain on Apple devices')
+option('cpp-httplib_non_blocking_getaddrinfo', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Enable asynchronous name lookup')
 option('cpp-httplib_compile', type: 'boolean', value: false,  description: 'Split the header into a compilable header & source file (requires python3)')
 option('cpp-httplib_test',    type: 'boolean', value: false,  description: 'Build tests')