diff --git a/tmux-thumbs.tmux b/tmux-thumbs.tmux
index f02127e..ece336d 100755
--- a/tmux-thumbs.tmux
+++ b/tmux-thumbs.tmux
@@ -7,3 +7,9 @@ THUMBS_KEY=$(tmux show-option -gqv @thumbs-key)
 THUMBS_KEY=${THUMBS_KEY:-$DEFAULT_THUMBS_KEY}
 
 tmux bind-key "$THUMBS_KEY" run-shell -b "${CURRENT_DIR}/tmux-thumbs.sh"
+
+BINARY="${CURRENT_DIR}/target/release/thumbs"
+
+if [ ! -f "$BINARY" ]; then
+  cd "${CURRENT_DIR}" && cargo build --release
+fi