diff --git a/crates/build/src/build.rs b/crates/build/src/build.rs
index 37ee7392ac..03858133e3 100644
--- a/crates/build/src/build.rs
+++ b/crates/build/src/build.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
 use anyhow::Result;
 use cargo_metadata::camino::Utf8PathBuf;
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ pub fn execute_build_program(
 }
 
 /// Internal helper function to build the program with or without arguments.
-pub(crate) fn build_program_internal(path: &str, args: Option<BuildArgs>) {
+pub(crate) fn build_program_internal(path: impl AsRef<Path>, args: Option<BuildArgs>) {
     // Get the root package name and metadata.
-    let program_dir = std::path::Path::new(path);
+    let program_dir = path.as_ref().to_path_buf();
     let metadata_file = program_dir.join("Cargo.toml");
     let mut metadata_cmd = cargo_metadata::MetadataCommand::new();
     let metadata = metadata_cmd.manifest_path(metadata_file).exec().unwrap();
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ pub(crate) fn build_program_internal(path: &str, args: Option<BuildArgs>) {
     }
 
     // Activate the build command if the dependencies change.
-    cargo_rerun_if_changed(&metadata, program_dir);
+    cargo_rerun_if_changed(&metadata, &program_dir);
 
     // Check if RUSTC_WORKSPACE_WRAPPER is set to clippy-driver (i.e. if `cargo clippy` is the
     // current compiler). If so, don't execute `cargo prove build` because it breaks
diff --git a/crates/build/src/lib.rs b/crates/build/src/lib.rs
index 1dbbec1347..d90c153033 100644
--- a/crates/build/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/build/src/lib.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ mod utils;
 use build::build_program_internal;
 pub use build::{execute_build_program, generate_elf_paths};
 
+use std::path::Path;
+
 use clap::Parser;
 
 const BUILD_TARGET: &str = "riscv32im-succinct-zkvm-elf";
@@ -104,13 +106,19 @@ impl Default for BuildArgs {
 ///
 /// # Arguments
 ///
-/// * `path` - A string slice that holds the path to the program directory.
+/// * `path` - A path to the guest program directory, if not absolute, assumed to be relative to
+///            the caller manifest directory.
 ///
 /// This function is useful for automatically rebuilding the program during development
 /// when changes are made to the source code or its dependencies.
 ///
 /// Set the `SP1_SKIP_PROGRAM_BUILD` environment variable to `true` to skip building the program.
-pub fn build_program(path: &str) {
+///
+///
+/// ## Note: Using this function without an absolute path is not recommended.
+/// Try using the `build_program_from_path!` macro instead.
+#[deprecated(note = "Please use `build_program_from_path!` macro instead.")]
+pub fn build_program(path: impl AsRef<Path>) {
     build_program_internal(path, None)
 }
 
@@ -119,14 +127,63 @@ pub fn build_program(path: &str) {
 ///
 /// # Arguments
 ///
-/// * `path` - A string slice that holds the path to the program directory.
+/// * `path` - A path to the guest program directory.
+///
 /// * `args` - A [`BuildArgs`] struct that contains various build configuration options.
 ///
 /// Set the `SP1_SKIP_PROGRAM_BUILD` environment variable to `true` to skip building the program.
-pub fn build_program_with_args(path: &str, args: BuildArgs) {
+///
+/// ## Note: Using this function without an absolute path is not recommended.
+/// Try using the `build_program_from_path!` macro instead.
+#[deprecated(note = "Please use `build_program_from_path!` macro instead.")]
+pub fn build_program_with_args(path: impl AsRef<Path>, args: BuildArgs) {
     build_program_internal(path, Some(args))
 }
 
+/// Builds the program with the given arguments if the program at path, or one of its dependencies,
+///
+/// ### Note:
+/// This function is only exposed to support the `build_program_from_path!` macro.
+/// It is not recommended to use this function directly.
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub fn build_program_with_maybe_args(path: impl AsRef<Path>, args: Option<BuildArgs>) {
+    build_program_internal(path, args)
+}
+
+/// Build a program at the given path.
+///
+/// # Arguments
+/// * `path` - A path to the guest program directory, if not absolute, assumed to be relative to
+///           the callers manifest directory.
+///
+///   `args` - A [`BuildArgs`] struct that contains various build configuration options.
+///            If not provided, the default options are used.
+#[macro_export]
+macro_rules! build_program_from_path {
+    ($path:expr, $args:expr) => {
+        // Scope to avoid polluting the macro namespace.
+        {
+            // Inline this crates manifest path at compile time.
+            const MANIFEST: &str = std::env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR");
+
+            // Adjust the path to be relative to the manifest directory, unless its absolute.
+            fn ___adjust_path(p: impl AsRef<::std::path::Path>) -> ::std::path::PathBuf {
+                let p = p.as_ref();
+                if p.is_absolute() {
+                    p.to_path_buf()
+                } else {
+                    ::std::path::Path::new(MANIFEST).join(p)
+                }
+            }
+
+            ::sp1_build::build_program_with_maybe_args(___adjust_path($path), $args)
+        }
+    };
+    ($path:expr) => {
+        ::sp1_build::build_program_from_path!($path, None)
+    };
+}
+
 /// Returns the raw ELF bytes by the zkVM program target name.
 ///
 /// Note that this only works when using `sp1_build::build_program` or
diff --git a/examples/Cargo.lock b/examples/Cargo.lock
index 53dd96cfd5..eae6798d95 100644
--- a/examples/Cargo.lock
+++ b/examples/Cargo.lock
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "alloy-sol-types",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tracing",
 ]
 
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "auto_impl",
  "futures-utils-wasm",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "auto_impl",
  "elliptic-curve",
  "k256",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "k256",
  "rand 0.8.5",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1155,7 +1155,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "semver 1.0.23",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1377,6 +1377,15 @@ version = "2.4.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "19d374276b40fb8bbdee95aef7c7fa6b5316ec764510eb64b8dd0e2ed0d7e7f5"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-channel"
+version = "0.5.13"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "33480d6946193aa8033910124896ca395333cae7e2d1113d1fef6c3272217df2"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crossbeam-deque"
 version = "0.8.5"
@@ -1834,7 +1843,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand_core 0.6.4",
  "serde",
  "sha2 0.9.9",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "zeroize",
 ]
 
@@ -3846,7 +3855,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "879952a81a83930934cbf1786752d6dedc3b1f29e8f8fb2ad1d0a36f377cf442"
 dependencies = [
  "memchr",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "ucd-trie",
 ]
 
@@ -4106,7 +4115,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustc-hash 2.0.0",
  "rustls",
  "socket2",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tokio",
  "tracing",
 ]
@@ -4123,7 +4132,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustc-hash 2.0.0",
  "rustls",
  "slab",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tinyvec",
  "tracing",
 ]
@@ -4289,7 +4298,7 @@ checksum = "ba009ff324d1fc1b900bd1fdb31564febe58a8ccc8a6fdbb93b543d33b13ca43"
 dependencies = [
  "getrandom",
  "libredox",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4407,7 +4416,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "http",
  "reqwest",
  "serde",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tower-service",
 ]
 
@@ -4420,7 +4429,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "reth-execution-errors",
  "reth-primitives",
  "reth-storage-errors",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4514,7 +4523,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "reth-execution-errors",
  "reth-fs-util",
  "reth-storage-errors",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4598,7 +4607,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "reth-revm",
  "revm",
  "revm-primitives",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tracing",
 ]
 
@@ -4637,7 +4646,7 @@ source = "git+https://github.com/sp1-patches/reth?tag=rsp-20240830#260c7ed2c9374
 dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4649,7 +4658,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "alloy-rlp",
  "enr",
  "serde_with",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "url",
 ]
 
@@ -4706,7 +4715,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "reth-trie-common",
  "revm-primitives",
  "serde",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4741,7 +4750,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "modular-bitfield",
  "reth-codecs",
  "serde",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -5090,7 +5099,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rlp",
  "rsp-primitives",
  "serde",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -5713,7 +5722,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "sp1-stark",
  "strum",
  "strum_macros",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tiny-keccak",
  "tracing",
  "typenum",
@@ -5758,7 +5767,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "strum",
  "strum_macros",
  "tempfile",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-forest",
  "tracing-subscriber",
@@ -5888,8 +5897,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "sp1-recursion-core",
  "sp1-recursion-gnark-ffi",
  "sp1-stark",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tracing",
+ "tracing-appender",
  "tracing-subscriber",
 ]
 
@@ -5973,7 +5983,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "sp1-primitives",
  "sp1-stark",
  "static_assertions",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tracing",
  "vec_map",
  "zkhash",
@@ -6046,7 +6056,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "strum",
  "strum_macros",
  "tempfile",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tokio",
  "tracing",
  "twirp-rs",
@@ -6093,7 +6103,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "lazy_static",
  "sha2 0.10.8",
  "substrate-bn-succinct",
- "thiserror-no-std",
+ "thiserror 2.0.3",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -6488,7 +6498,16 @@ version = "1.0.68"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "02dd99dc800bbb97186339685293e1cc5d9df1f8fae2d0aecd9ff1c77efea892"
 dependencies = [
- "thiserror-impl",
+ "thiserror-impl 1.0.68",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror"
+version = "2.0.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c006c85c7651b3cf2ada4584faa36773bd07bac24acfb39f3c431b36d7e667aa"
+dependencies = [
+ "thiserror-impl 2.0.3",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -6502,6 +6521,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.87",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror-impl"
+version = "2.0.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f077553d607adc1caf65430528a576c757a71ed73944b66ebb58ef2bbd243568"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.87",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "thiserror-impl-no-std"
 version = "2.0.2"
@@ -6729,6 +6759,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing-core",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tracing-appender"
+version = "0.2.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3566e8ce28cc0a3fe42519fc80e6b4c943cc4c8cef275620eb8dac2d3d4e06cf"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-channel",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
+ "time",
+ "tracing-subscriber",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tracing-attributes"
 version = "0.1.27"
@@ -6758,7 +6800,7 @@ checksum = "ee40835db14ddd1e3ba414292272eddde9dad04d3d4b65509656414d1c42592f"
 dependencies = [
  "ansi_term",
  "smallvec",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-subscriber",
 ]
@@ -6814,7 +6856,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "reqwest",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
- "thiserror",
+ "thiserror 1.0.68",
  "tokio",
  "tower",
  "url",
diff --git a/examples/aggregation/script/build.rs b/examples/aggregation/script/build.rs
index 7e10aecc5a..0afcda6871 100644
--- a/examples/aggregation/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/aggregation/script/build.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
-    sp1_build::build_program("../../fibonacci/program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../../fibonacci/program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/bls12381/script/build.rs b/examples/bls12381/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/bls12381/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/bls12381/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/bn254/script/build.rs b/examples/bn254/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/bn254/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/bn254/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/chess/script/build.rs b/examples/chess/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/chess/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/chess/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/cycle-tracking/script/build.rs b/examples/cycle-tracking/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/cycle-tracking/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/cycle-tracking/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/fibonacci/script/build.rs b/examples/fibonacci/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/fibonacci/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/fibonacci/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/groth16/script/build.rs b/examples/groth16/script/build.rs
index 7e10aecc5a..0afcda6871 100644
--- a/examples/groth16/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/groth16/script/build.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
-    sp1_build::build_program("../../fibonacci/program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../../fibonacci/program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/io/script/build.rs b/examples/io/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/io/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/io/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/is-prime/script/build.rs b/examples/is-prime/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/is-prime/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/is-prime/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/json/script/build.rs b/examples/json/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/json/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/json/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/patch-testing/script/build.rs b/examples/patch-testing/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/patch-testing/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/patch-testing/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/regex/script/build.rs b/examples/regex/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/regex/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/regex/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/rsa/script/build.rs b/examples/rsa/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/rsa/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/rsa/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/rsp/script/build.rs b/examples/rsp/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/rsp/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/rsp/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/ssz-withdrawals/script/build.rs b/examples/ssz-withdrawals/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/ssz-withdrawals/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/ssz-withdrawals/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }
diff --git a/examples/tendermint/script/build.rs b/examples/tendermint/script/build.rs
index 7ecab5512f..a5fdee8011 100644
--- a/examples/tendermint/script/build.rs
+++ b/examples/tendermint/script/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 fn main() {
-    sp1_build::build_program("../program");
+    sp1_build::build_program_from_path!("../program");
 }