diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 78d0b1ab7a..cf6582a782 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -171,3 +171,26 @@ Once changes to Ben.Demystifier have been merged into the main branch then, the
 should be updated from the main branch and the `modules/make-internal.sh` script run again (if necessary). This repo 
 should reference the most recent commit on the `internal` branch of Ben.Demystifier then (functionally identical to the
 main branch - the only difference being the changes to member visibility).
+
+## Local Sentry Cocoa SDK checkout
+
+By default, `Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa` downloads a pre-built Sentry Cocoa SDK from
+GitHub Releases. The version is specified in `modules/sentry-cocoa.properties`.
+
+If you want to build an unreleased Sentry Cocoa SDK version from source instead,
+replace the pre-built SDK with [getsentry/sentry-cocoa](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-cocoa/)
+by cloning it into the `modules/sentry-cocoa` directory:
+
+```sh
+$ rm -rf modules/sentry-cocoa
+$ gh repo clone getsentry/sentry-cocoa modules/sentry-cocoa
+$ dotnet build ... # uses modules/sentry-cocoa as is
+```
+
+To switch back to the pre-built SDK, delete the `modules/sentry-cocoa` directory
+and let the next build download the pre-built SDK again:
+
+```sh
+$ rm -rf modules/sentry-cocoa
+$ dotnet build ... # downloads pre-built Cocoa SDK into modules/sentry-cocoa
+```
diff --git a/scripts/build-sentry-cocoa.sh b/scripts/build-sentry-cocoa.sh
index 95247e281f..55dbdbde6e 100755
--- a/scripts/build-sentry-cocoa.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-sentry-cocoa.sh
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ xcodebuild archive -project Sentry.xcodeproj \
     -archivePath ./Carthage/output-ios.xcarchive \
     SKIP_INSTALL=NO \
     BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION=YES
+./scripts/remove-architectures.sh ./Carthage/output-ios.xcarchive arm64e
 xcodebuild archive -project Sentry.xcodeproj \
     -scheme Sentry \
     -configuration Release \
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ xcodebuild archive -project Sentry.xcodeproj \
     -archivePath ./Carthage/output-maccatalyst.xcarchive \
     SKIP_INSTALL=NO \
     BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION=YES
+./scripts/remove-architectures.sh ./Carthage/output-maccatalyst.xcarchive arm64e
 xcodebuild -create-xcframework \
     -framework ./Carthage/output-maccatalyst.xcarchive/Products/Library/Frameworks/Sentry.framework \
     -output ./Carthage/Build-maccatalyst/Sentry.xcframework
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ find Carthage/Build-ios/Sentry.xcframework/ios-arm64 -name '*.h' -exec cp {} Car
 find Carthage/Build* \( -name Headers -o -name PrivateHeaders -o -name Modules \) -exec rm -rf {} +
 rm -rf Carthage/output-*
 
-cp ../../.git/modules/modules/sentry-cocoa/HEAD Carthage/.built-from-sha
+cp .git/HEAD Carthage/.built-from-sha
 echo ""
 
 popd >/dev/null
diff --git a/scripts/generate-cocoa-bindings.ps1 b/scripts/generate-cocoa-bindings.ps1
index eb1295808e..f91b32f4c7 100644
--- a/scripts/generate-cocoa-bindings.ps1
+++ b/scripts/generate-cocoa-bindings.ps1
@@ -4,7 +4,19 @@ Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
 $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
 
 $RootPath = (Get-Item $PSScriptRoot).Parent.FullName
-$CocoaSdkPath = "$RootPath/modules/sentry-cocoa/Sentry.framework"
+$CocoaSdkPath = "$RootPath/modules/sentry-cocoa"
+if (Test-Path "$CocoaSdkPath/.git")
+{
+    # Cocoa SDK cloned to modules/sentry-cocoa for local development
+    $HeadersPath = "$CocoaSdkPath/Carthage/Headers"
+    $PrivateHeadersPath = "$CocoaSdkPath/Carthage/Headers"
+}
+else
+{
+    # Cocoa SDK downloaded from GitHub releases and extracted into modules/sentry-cocoa
+    $HeadersPath = "$CocoaSdkPath/Sentry.framework/Headers"
+    $PrivateHeadersPath = "$CocoaSdkPath/Sentry.framework/PrivateHeaders"
+}
 $BindingsPath = "$RootPath/src/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa"
 $BackupPath = "$BindingsPath/obj/_unpatched"
 
@@ -101,7 +113,7 @@ Write-Output "iPhoneSdkVersion: $iPhoneSdkVersion"
 # ...instead of:
 #     `#import "SomeHeader.h"`
 # This causes sharpie to fail resolve those headers
-$filesToPatch = Get-ChildItem -Path "$CocoaSdkPath/Headers" -Filter *.h -Recurse | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FullName
+$filesToPatch = Get-ChildItem -Path "$HeadersPath" -Filter *.h -Recurse | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FullName
 foreach ($file in $filesToPatch)
 {
     if (Test-Path $file)
@@ -116,7 +128,7 @@ foreach ($file in $filesToPatch)
         Write-Host "File not found: $file"
     }
 }
-$privateHeaderFile = "$CocoaSdkPath/PrivateHeaders/PrivatesHeader.h"
+$privateHeaderFile = "$PrivateHeadersPath/PrivatesHeader.h"
 if (Test-Path $privateHeaderFile)
 {
     $content = Get-Content -Path $privateHeaderFile -Raw
@@ -134,8 +146,8 @@ else
 Write-Output 'Generating bindings with Objective Sharpie.'
 sharpie bind -sdk $iPhoneSdkVersion `
     -scope "$CocoaSdkPath" `
-    "$CocoaSdkPath/Headers/Sentry.h" `
-    "$CocoaSdkPath/PrivateHeaders/PrivateSentrySDKOnly.h" `
+    "$HeadersPath/Sentry.h" `
+    "$PrivateHeadersPath/PrivateSentrySDKOnly.h" `
     -o $BindingsPath `
     -c -Wno-objc-property-no-attribute
 
diff --git a/src/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa.csproj b/src/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa.csproj
index 98e6fde2d2..860b0f2db4 100644
--- a/src/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa.csproj
+++ b/src/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa.csproj
@@ -12,10 +12,17 @@
     <SentryCocoaProperties>$([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText("$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)../../modules/sentry-cocoa.properties"))</SentryCocoaProperties>
     <SentryCocoaVersion>$([System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex]::Match($(SentryCocoaProperties), 'version\s*=\s*([^\s]+)').Groups[1].Value)</SentryCocoaVersion>
     <SentryCocoaFramework>$(SentryCocoaCache)Sentry-$(SentryCocoaVersion).xcframework</SentryCocoaFramework>
+    <SentryCocoaBindingInputs>../../modules/sentry-cocoa.properties;../../scripts/generate-cocoa-bindings.ps1</SentryCocoaBindingInputs>
     <!-- SentrySpan.g.cs: error CS0108: 'ISentrySpan.Serialize()' hides inherited member 'ISentrySerializable.Serialize()'. Use the new keyword if hiding was intended -->
     <NoWarn>$(NoWarn);CS0108</NoWarn>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <!-- Override values for local Cocoa SDK builds -->
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="Exists('$(SentryCocoaCache).git')">
+    <SentryCocoaFramework>$(SentryCocoaCache)Carthage\Build-$(TargetPlatformIdentifier)\Sentry.xcframework</SentryCocoaFramework>
+    <SentryCocoaBindingInputs>../../scripts/generate-cocoa-bindings.ps1;../../modules/sentry-cocoa/Carthage/.built-from-sha</SentryCocoaBindingInputs>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <!-- Build empty assemblies when not on macOS, to pass the solution build. -->
   <ItemGroup Condition="!$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX'))">
     <Compile Remove="*" />
@@ -52,8 +59,8 @@
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <!-- Downloads and sets up the Cocoa SDK: dotnet msbuild /t:setupCocoaSDK src/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa/Sentry.Bindings.Cocoa.csproj -->
-  <Target Name="_SetupCocoaSDK"
-          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX')) And !Exists('$(SentryCocoaFramework)')">
+  <Target Name="_DownloadCocoaSDK"
+          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX')) And !Exists('$(SentryCocoaCache).git') And !Exists('$(SentryCocoaFramework)')">
 
     <Message Importance="High" Text="Setting up the Cocoa SDK version '$(SentryCocoaVersion)'." />
 
@@ -84,14 +91,28 @@
           SkipUnchangedFiles="true" />
   </Target>
 
+  <!-- Build the Sentry Cocoa SDK from source -->
+  <Target Name="_BuildCocoaSDK"
+          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX')) And Exists('$(SentryCocoaCache).git')"
+          Inputs="..\..\modules\sentry-cocoa\.git\HEAD;..\..\scripts\build-sentry-cocoa.sh" Outputs="..\..\modules\sentry-cocoa\Carthage\.built-from-sha">
+
+    <Message Importance="High" Text="Building the Cocoa SDK from source." />
+    <Exec Command="bash ../../scripts/build-sentry-cocoa.sh" IgnoreStandardErrorWarningFormat="true" />
+  </Target>
+
+  <!-- Choose between download and build -->
+  <Target Name="_SetupCocoaSDK"
+          DependsOnTargets="_DownloadCocoaSDK;_BuildCocoaSDK"
+          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX'))" />
+
   <!-- Setup exactly once: https://learn.microsoft.com/visualstudio/msbuild/run-target-exactly-once -->
   <Target Name="SetupCocoaSDKBeforeOuterBuild" DependsOnTargets="_SetupCocoaSDK"
-          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX')) And !Exists('$(SentryCocoaFramework)')"
+          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX'))"
           BeforeTargets="DispatchToInnerBuilds" />
 
   <Target Name="SetupCocoaSDK"
           BeforeTargets="BeforeBuild"
-          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX')) And !Exists('$(SentryCocoaFramework)')">
+          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX'))">
     <!-- Setup exactly once: https://learn.microsoft.com/visualstudio/msbuild/run-target-exactly-once -->
     <MSBuild Projects="$(MSBuildProjectFullPath)" Targets="_SetupCocoaSDK" RemoveProperties="TargetFramework" />
   </Target>
@@ -102,8 +123,8 @@
 
   <!-- Generate bindings -->
   <Target Name="_GenerateSentryCocoaBindings" AfterTargets="SetupCocoaSDK"
-          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX')) and Exists('$(SentryCocoaFrameworkHeaders)')"
-          Inputs="../../modules/sentry-cocoa.properties;../../scripts/generate-cocoa-bindings.ps1"
+          Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX'))"
+          Inputs="$(SentryCocoaBindingInputs)"
           Outputs="ApiDefinitions.cs;StructsAndEnums.cs">
     <MSBuild Projects="$(MSBuildProjectFile)" Targets="_InnerGenerateSentryCocoaBindings" Properties="TargetFramework=once" />
   </Target>