diff --git a/dep/msvc/vsprops/QtCompile.props b/dep/msvc/vsprops/QtCompile.props
index ccdd91241..93139b21e 100644
--- a/dep/msvc/vsprops/QtCompile.props
+++ b/dep/msvc/vsprops/QtCompile.props
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
     <QtToolOutDir>$(IntDir)</QtToolOutDir>
     <QtMocOutPrefix>$(QtToolOutDir)moc_</QtMocOutPrefix>
     <QtTsOutDir>$(BinaryOutputDir)translations\</QtTsOutDir>
+    <QtRccOutDir>$(BinaryOutputDir)resources\</QtRccOutDir>
     <QtDebugSuffix>d</QtDebugSuffix>
     <QtLibSuffix Condition="$(Configuration.Contains(Debug))">$(QtDebugSuffix)</QtLibSuffix>
     <QtPluginFolder>QtPlugins</QtPluginFolder>
@@ -41,18 +42,18 @@
     <ResFiles Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\**\*.qrc" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <Target Name="QtResource"
-    BeforeTargets="ClCompile"
+    AfterTargets="Build"
     Inputs="@(ResFiles)"
     Condition="'@(QtResource)'!=''"
-    Outputs="@(ResFiles->'$(QtToolOutDir)qrc_%(Filename).cpp')">
+    Outputs="@(ResFiles->'$(QtRccOutDir)%(Filename).rcc')">
     <Message Text="rcc %(ResFiles.Filename)" Importance="High" />
     <Error Condition="!$(DSQTDIRValid)" Text="Qt directory non-existent (download/extract the zip)" />
-    <MakeDir Directories="$(QtToolOutDir)" />
-    <Exec Command="&quot;$(QtHostBinDir)rcc.exe&quot; &quot;%(ResFiles.FullPath)&quot; -o &quot;$(QtToolOutDir)qrc_%(ResFiles.Filename).cpp&quot;" />
+    <MakeDir Directories="$(QtRccOutDir)" />
+    <Exec Command="&quot;$(QtHostBinDir)rcc.exe&quot; -binary -no-compress &quot;%(ResFiles.FullPath)&quot; -o &quot;$(QtRccOutDir)%(ResFiles.Filename).rcc&quot;" />
   </Target>
 
   <Target Name="QtResourceClean">
-    <Delete Files="@(ResFiles->'$(QtToolOutDir)qrc_%(Filename).cpp')" />
+    <Delete Files="@(ResFiles->'$(QtRccOutDir)%(Filename).rcc')" />
   </Target>
 
   <!--Passes all .ui files to uic and puts output in the build directory-->
diff --git a/src/duckstation-qt/CMakeLists.txt b/src/duckstation-qt/CMakeLists.txt
index f4ee00202..74500cb2c 100644
--- a/src/duckstation-qt/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/duckstation-qt/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,11 +3,9 @@ find_package(Qt6 6.7.2 COMPONENTS Core Gui Widgets LinguistTools REQUIRED)
 include(CopyBaseTranslations)
 
 set(CMAKE_AUTOMOC ON)
-set(CMAKE_AUTORCC ON)
 set(CMAKE_AUTOUIC ON)
 
 set(SRCS
-  resources/resources.qrc
   aboutdialog.cpp
   aboutdialog.h
   aboutdialog.ui
@@ -253,6 +251,20 @@ elseif(APPLE)
   set_source_files_properties("${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/DuckStation.icns" PROPERTIES MACOSX_PACKAGE_LOCATION Resources)
 endif()
 
+# Compile qrc to a binary file.
+if(NOT APPLE)
+  set(RCC_FILE "${CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/resources/duckstation-qt.rcc")
+  qt_add_binary_resources(duckstation-qt-rcc resources/duckstation-qt.qrc DESTINATION ${RCC_FILE} OPTIONS -no-compress)
+  add_dependencies(duckstation-qt duckstation-qt-rcc)
+else()
+  set(RCC_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/duckstation-qt.rcc")
+  qt_add_binary_resources(duckstation-qt-rcc resources/duckstation-qt.qrc DESTINATION ${RCC_FILE} OPTIONS -no-compress)
+  add_dependencies(duckstation-qt duckstation-qt-rcc)
+  target_sources(duckstation-qt PRIVATE ${RCC_FILE})
+  set_source_files_properties(${RCC_FILE} PROPERTIES MACOSX_PACKAGE_LOCATION Resources)
+endif()
+
+
 # Translation setup.
 qt_add_lrelease(duckstation-qt TS_FILES ${TS_FILES} QM_FILES_OUTPUT_VARIABLE QM_FILES)
 if(NOT APPLE)
diff --git a/src/duckstation-qt/duckstation-qt.vcxproj b/src/duckstation-qt/duckstation-qt.vcxproj
index 8f05fc0b9..6e1d5a3f7 100644
--- a/src/duckstation-qt/duckstation-qt.vcxproj
+++ b/src/duckstation-qt/duckstation-qt.vcxproj
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@
     </QtUi>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <QtResource Include="resources\resources.qrc">
+    <QtResource Include="resources\duckstation-qt.qrc">
       <FileType>Document</FileType>
     </QtResource>
   </ItemGroup>
@@ -259,7 +259,6 @@
     <ClCompile Include="$(IntDir)moc_qtprogresscallback.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="$(IntDir)moc_settingswindow.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="$(IntDir)moc_setupwizarddialog.cpp" />
-    <ClCompile Include="$(IntDir)qrc_resources.cpp" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Natvis Include="qt5.natvis" />
diff --git a/src/duckstation-qt/duckstation-qt.vcxproj.filters b/src/duckstation-qt/duckstation-qt.vcxproj.filters
index c4459a40b..5c9708a41 100644
--- a/src/duckstation-qt/duckstation-qt.vcxproj.filters
+++ b/src/duckstation-qt/duckstation-qt.vcxproj.filters
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
     <ClCompile Include="advancedsettingswidget.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="aboutdialog.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="memorycardsettingswidget.cpp" />
-    <ClCompile Include="$(IntDir)qrc_resources.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="inputbindingdialog.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="gamelistmodel.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="autoupdaterdialog.cpp" />
@@ -300,7 +299,7 @@
     <Image Include="duckstation-qt.ico" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <QtResource Include="resources\resources.qrc">
+    <QtResource Include="resources\duckstation-qt.qrc">
       <Filter>resources</Filter>
     </QtResource>
   </ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/duckstation-qt/qthost.cpp b/src/duckstation-qt/qthost.cpp
index 307170a1b..09fc65fd6 100644
--- a/src/duckstation-qt/qthost.cpp
+++ b/src/duckstation-qt/qthost.cpp
@@ -479,10 +479,12 @@ bool QtHost::SetCriticalFolders()
   CrashHandler::SetWriteDirectory(EmuFolders::DataRoot);
 
   // the resources directory should exist, bail out if not
-  if (!FileSystem::DirectoryExists(EmuFolders::Resources.c_str()))
+  const std::string rcc_path = Path::Combine(EmuFolders::Resources, "duckstation-qt.rcc");
+  if (!FileSystem::DirectoryExists(EmuFolders::Resources.c_str()) || !FileSystem::FileExists(rcc_path.c_str()) ||
+      !QResource::registerResource(QString::fromStdString(rcc_path)))
   {
     QMessageBox::critical(nullptr, QStringLiteral("Error"),
-                          QStringLiteral("Resources directory is missing, your installation is incomplete."));
+                          QStringLiteral("Resources are missing, your installation is incomplete."));
     return false;
   }
 
@@ -2415,7 +2417,7 @@ bool QtHost::ParseCommandLineParametersAndInitializeConfig(QApplication& app,
   }
 
   // To do anything useful, we need the config initialized.
-  if (!QtHost::InitializeConfig(std::move(settings_filename)))
+  if (!InitializeConfig(std::move(settings_filename)))
   {
     // NOTE: No point translating this, because no config means the language won't be loaded anyway.
     QMessageBox::critical(nullptr, QStringLiteral("Error"), QStringLiteral("Failed to initialize config."));
diff --git a/src/duckstation-qt/resources/resources.qrc b/src/duckstation-qt/resources/duckstation-qt.qrc
similarity index 100%
rename from src/duckstation-qt/resources/resources.qrc
rename to src/duckstation-qt/resources/duckstation-qt.qrc