diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index b438949a..3d66e9a6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ jobs:
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
       date: ${{ inputs.date }}
-      node_type: cpu8
+      node_type: cpu4
       script: ci/build_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
       package-name: cugraph-pyg
       package-type: python
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
index a124fd6e..14789b3b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ jobs:
       # This selects "ARCH=amd64 + the latest supported Python + CUDA".
       matrix_filter: map(select(.ARCH == "amd64")) | group_by(.CUDA_VER|split(".")|map(tonumber)|.[0]) | map(max_by([(.PY_VER|split(".")|map(tonumber)), (.CUDA_VER|split(".")|map(tonumber))]))
       build_type: pull-request
-      node_type: cpu8
+      node_type: cpu4
       script: ci/build_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
       package-name: cugraph-pyg
       package-type: python
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel.sh b/ci/build_wheel.sh
index 6f0d78dd..48d72fe1 100755
--- a/ci/build_wheel.sh
+++ b/ci/build_wheel.sh
@@ -48,9 +48,17 @@ RAPIDS_PIP_WHEEL_ARGS=(
   -v
   --no-deps
   --disable-pip-version-check
-  --build-constraint="${PIP_CONSTRAINT}"
 )
 
+# Only use --build-constraint when build isolation is enabled.
+#
+# Passing '--build-constraint' and '--no-build-isolation` together results in an error from 'pip',
+# but we want to keep environment variable PIP_CONSTRAINT set unconditionally.
+# PIP_NO_BUILD_ISOLATION=0 means "add --no-build-isolation" (ref: https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/5735)
+if [[ "${PIP_NO_BUILD_ISOLATION:-}" != "0" ]]; then
+    RAPIDS_PIP_WHEEL_ARGS+=(--build-constraint="${PIP_CONSTRAINT}")
+fi
+
 # unset PIP_CONSTRAINT (set by rapids-init-pip)... it doesn't affect builds as of pip 25.3, and
 # results in an error from 'pip wheel' when set and --build-constraint is also passed
 unset PIP_CONSTRAINT
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh b/ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh
index 5a027ebc..64e46f5b 100755
--- a/ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh
+++ b/ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2024-2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2024-2026, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 set -euo pipefail
@@ -8,7 +8,29 @@ source rapids-init-pip
 
 package_dir="python/libwholegraph"
 
+rapids-logger "Generating build requirements"
+matrix_selectors="cuda=${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION%.*};arch=$(arch);py=${RAPIDS_PY_VERSION};cuda_suffixed=true"
+
+rapids-dependency-file-generator \
+  --output requirements \
+  --file-key "py_build_libwholegraph" \
+  --file-key "py_rapids_build_libwholegraph" \
+  --matrix "${matrix_selectors}" \
+| tee /tmp/requirements-build.txt
+
+rapids-logger "Installing build requirements"
+rapids-pip-retry install \
+    -v \
+    --prefer-binary \
+    -r /tmp/requirements-build.txt
+
+rapids-logger "Done installing build requirements"
+
 export SKBUILD_CMAKE_ARGS="-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON;-DCMAKE_MESSAGE_LOG_LEVEL=VERBOSE"
 
+# build with '--no-build-isolation', for better sccache hit rate
+# 0 really means "add --no-build-isolation" (ref: https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/5735)
+export PIP_NO_BUILD_ISOLATION=0
+
 ./ci/build_wheel.sh libwholegraph ${package_dir} cpp
 ./ci/validate_wheel.sh ${package_dir} "${RAPIDS_WHEEL_BLD_OUTPUT_DIR}"
diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index 369c7c87..860d2fe6 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ dependencies:
           - libcusparse-dev
   common_build:
     common:
-      - output_types: [conda, pyproject]
+      - output_types: [conda, pyproject, requirements]
         packages:
           - &cmake_ver cmake>=3.30.4
           - ninja