diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 923823d52..14750a24f 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub(crate) build_cpu_limit: Option<u32>,
     pub(crate) build_default_memory_limit: Option<usize>,
     pub(crate) include_default_targets: bool,
+    #[allow(dead_code)]
     pub(crate) disable_memory_limit: bool,
 
     // automatic rebuild configuration
diff --git a/src/docbuilder/rustwide_builder.rs b/src/docbuilder/rustwide_builder.rs
index 0b215ee34..c7c2d0ee3 100644
--- a/src/docbuilder/rustwide_builder.rs
+++ b/src/docbuilder/rustwide_builder.rs
@@ -299,10 +299,34 @@ impl RustwideBuilder {
     }
 
     pub fn add_essential_files(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
+        // Check if toolchain is available, install if needed
+        match self.detect_rustc_version() {
+            Ok(_) => {
+                info!("Toolchain is already installed");
+            }
+            Err(err) => {
+                // Check if the error is specifically due to missing toolchain
+                let err_msg = err.to_string();
+                if err_msg.contains("No such file or directory")
+                    || err_msg.contains("command not found")
+                    || err_msg.contains("not installed")
+                {
+                    info!("Installing nightly toolchain because it was not found");
+                    self.update_toolchain()?;
+                } else {
+                    // Don't try to install the toolchain if some other error occurred
+                    return Err(anyhow!(
+                        "Failed to detect rustc version: {}\n\nThis might indicate the nightly toolchain is not properly installed. Please run 'cratesfyi build update-toolchain' first.",
+                        err
+                    ));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         let rustc_version = self.rustc_version()?;
         let parsed_rustc_version = parse_rustc_version(&rustc_version)?;
 
-        info!("building a dummy crate to get essential files");
+        info!("building a dummy crate to get essential files for {rustc_version}");
 
         let limits = self.get_limits(DUMMY_CRATE_NAME)?;
 
@@ -2100,4 +2124,68 @@ mod tests {
 
         Ok(())
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_add_essential_files_with_toolchain() {
+        wrapper(|env: &TestEnvironment| {
+            let mut builder = RustwideBuilder::init(env).unwrap();
+
+            builder.update_toolchain()?;
+
+            // Should not fail on missing toolchain
+            match builder.add_essential_files() {
+                Ok(_) => println!("add_essential_files succeeded with toolchain"),
+                Err(err) => {
+                    let error_message = err.to_string();
+                    let is_toolchain_error = error_message.contains("toolchain")
+                        && (error_message.contains("not found")
+                            || error_message.contains("not installed")
+                            || error_message.contains("missing")
+                            || error_message.contains("invalid toolchain"));
+
+                    assert!(
+                        !is_toolchain_error,
+                        "Should not fail due to missing toolchain, but got: {error_message}"
+                    );
+                    println!("add_essential_files failed for expected reason: {error_message}");
+                }
+            }
+
+            Ok(())
+        })
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_add_essential_files_without_toolchain() {
+        wrapper(|env: &TestEnvironment| {
+            let mut builder = RustwideBuilder::init(env).unwrap();
+
+            // First: Set an invalid toolchain
+            env.runtime().block_on(async {
+                let mut conn = env.async_db().await.async_conn().await;
+                crate::utils::set_config(
+                    &mut conn,
+                    crate::utils::ConfigName::Toolchain,
+                    "invalid-toolchain-name!@#",
+                )
+                .await
+            })?;
+
+            // Should fail on missing toolchain
+            match builder.add_essential_files() {
+                Ok(_) => panic!("add_essential_files should fail when toolchain is missing"),
+                Err(e) => {
+                    let error_message = e.to_string();
+                    println!("add_essential_files correctly failed with: {error_message}");
+
+                    assert!(
+                        !error_message.contains("success"),
+                        "Should not succeed when toolchain is missing"
+                    );
+                }
+            }
+
+            Ok(())
+        })
+    }
 }