diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2c90ad7..da37e1b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ## Unreleased
 
 - changed: Update sqlite to `3.53.4`.
+- added: `EXQLITE_EXTRA_SRC` build variable to statically compile SQLite extensions (e.g. sqlite-vec) into the NIF, for targets where `load_extension` is unavailable (iOS) or undesirable.
 
 ## v0.39.0
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c750b91..3349d56 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -54,6 +54,20 @@ ARCHIVE_NAME = $(PREFIX)/sqlite3_nif.a
 
 OBJ = $(SRC:c_src/%.c=$(BUILD)/%.o)
 
+# Statically compile additional C sources (for example SQLite extensions such
+# as sqlite-vec or spellfix1) into the NIF. Space-separated list of file paths.
+# Pair with EXQLITE_SYSTEM_CFLAGS to define SQLITE_EXTRA_INIT so the extension
+# registers itself on every connection - see "Statically compiling SQLite3
+# extensions" in the README. Only meaningful when compiling the bundled SQLite
+# (ignored under EXQLITE_USE_SYSTEM, where linking is the system library's job).
+ifneq ($(EXQLITE_EXTRA_SRC),)
+ifeq ($(EXQLITE_USE_SYSTEM),)
+	EXTRA_OBJ = $(addprefix $(BUILD)/extra_,$(notdir $(EXQLITE_EXTRA_SRC:.c=.o)))
+	OBJ += $(EXTRA_OBJ)
+	vpath %.c $(sort $(dir $(EXQLITE_EXTRA_SRC)))
+endif
+endif
+
 ifneq ($(CROSSCOMPILE),)
 	ifeq ($(CROSSCOMPILE), Android)
 		CFLAGS:=$(filter-out -O2,$(CFLAGS))
@@ -144,6 +158,10 @@ $(BUILD)/%.o: c_src/%.c
 	@echo " CC $(notdir $@)"
 	$(CC) -c $(ERL_CFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -MMD -MP -o $@ $<
 
+$(BUILD)/extra_%.o: %.c
+	@echo " CC $(notdir $@)"
+	$(CC) -c $(ERL_CFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -MMD -MP -o $@ $<
+
 # Include dependency files for automatic header tracking
 -include $(OBJ:.o=.d)
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2b9d433..72ba711 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -235,6 +235,55 @@ See [Exqlite.Connection.connect/1](https://hexdocs.pm/exqlite/Exqlite.Connection
 for more information. When using extensions for SQLite3, they must be compiled
 for the environment you are targeting.
 
+### Statically compiling SQLite3 extensions
+
+Run-time loading covers most cases, but some targets forbid `load_extension`
+entirely (iOS refuses dynamic code loading; some hardened Linux deployments
+disable it), and shipping one `.so` per architecture is its own maintenance
+burden. For those cases the build supports compiling extension sources
+directly into the NIF:
+
+```elixir
+config :exqlite,
+  force_build: true,
+  make_env: %{
+    "EXQLITE_EXTRA_SRC" => "/path/to/sqlite-vec.c /path/to/vec_init_shim.c",
+    "EXQLITE_SYSTEM_CFLAGS" => "-DSQLITE_CORE=1 -DSQLITE_EXTRA_INIT=exqlite_vec_init"
+  }
+```
+
+where the shim registers the extension for every future connection via
+[`SQLITE_EXTRA_INIT`](https://sqlite.org/compile.html#extra_init) and
+`sqlite3_auto_extension`:
+
+```c
+/* vec_init_shim.c */
+#include "sqlite3.h"
+#include "sqlite-vec.h"
+
+int exqlite_vec_init(const char *unused) {
+  (void)unused;
+  return sqlite3_auto_extension((void (*)(void))sqlite3_vec_init);
+}
+```
+
+```elixir
+{:ok, conn} = Exqlite.Sqlite3.open(":memory:")
+{:ok, stmt} = Exqlite.Sqlite3.prepare(conn, "SELECT vec_distance_cosine(vec_f32('[1,0]'), vec_f32('[0,1]'))")
+{:row, [1.0]} = Exqlite.Sqlite3.step(conn, stmt)
+```
+
+Notes:
+
+- `-DSQLITE_CORE=1` makes the extension compile against the core API instead
+  of the loadable-extension shim.
+- Only applies when compiling the bundled SQLite (it is ignored under
+  `EXQLITE_USE_SYSTEM`), and requires `force_build: true` so a precompiled
+  NIF is not fetched instead.
+- Extra sources are looked up by basename, so two files with the same
+  basename in different directories will collide.
+- POSIX make only for now (`Makefile.win` does not implement it).
+
 ## Why SQLite3
 
 I needed an Ecto3 adapter to store time series data for a personal project. I