diff --git a/crates/proof-of-sql/Cargo.toml b/crates/proof-of-sql/Cargo.toml
index 31814624e..5347f1573 100644
--- a/crates/proof-of-sql/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/proof-of-sql/Cargo.toml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ derive_more = { workspace = true }
 indexmap = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
 itertools = { workspace = true }
 lazy_static = { workspace = true }
-merlin = { workspace = true }
+merlin = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 num-traits = { workspace = true }
 num-bigint = { workspace = true, default-features = false }
 postcard = { workspace = true, features = ["alloc"] }
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ blitzar = { workspace = true }
 clap = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"] }
 criterion = { workspace = true, features = ["html_reports"] }
 # forge-script = { workspace = true }
+merlin = { workspace = true }
 opentelemetry = { workspace = true }
 opentelemetry-jaeger = { workspace = true }
 rand = { workspace = true, default-features = false }
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ development = ["arrow-csv"]
 [features]
 default = ["arrow", "blitzar", "rayon"]
 arrow = ["dep:arrow"]
+blitzar = ["dep:blitzar", "dep:merlin"]
 test = ["dep:rand"]
 
 [lints]
diff --git a/crates/proof-of-sql/src/base/proof/mod.rs b/crates/proof-of-sql/src/base/proof/mod.rs
index 041f3220f..4c03150ca 100644
--- a/crates/proof-of-sql/src/base/proof/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/proof-of-sql/src/base/proof/mod.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ mod error;
 pub use error::ProofError;
 
 /// Contains an extension trait for `merlin::Transcript`, which is used to construct a proof.
+#[cfg(any(test, feature = "blitzar"))]
 mod merlin_transcript_core;
 
 mod transcript;