diff --git a/demos/bunny/wasmmark/build.zig b/demos/bunny/wasmmark/build.zig
index 4d425ae0..8b95316a 100644
--- a/demos/bunny/wasmmark/build.zig
+++ b/demos/bunny/wasmmark/build.zig
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 
+const tic80_reserved_memory = 96 * 1024;
+const tic80_stack_size = 8 * 1024;
+
 pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});
     const target = b.resolveTargetQuery(.{ .cpu_arch = .wasm32, .os_tag = .freestanding });
@@ -13,14 +16,12 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     exe.rdynamic = true;
     exe.entry = .disabled;
     exe.import_memory = true;
-    exe.stack_size = 8192;
+    // TIC-80 reserves the first 96 KiB of linear memory, so reserve that space
+    // inside the stack region and leave 8 KiB of actual stack above it.
+    exe.stack_size = tic80_reserved_memory + tic80_stack_size;
     exe.initial_memory = 65536 * 4;
     exe.max_memory = 65536 * 4;
     exe.export_table = true;
 
-    // all the memory below 96kb is reserved for TIC and memory mapped I/O
-    // so our own usage must start above the 96kb mark
-    exe.global_base = 96 * 1024;
-
     b.installArtifact(exe);
 }
diff --git a/demos/wasm/build.zig b/demos/wasm/build.zig
index 4d425ae0..8b95316a 100644
--- a/demos/wasm/build.zig
+++ b/demos/wasm/build.zig
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 
+const tic80_reserved_memory = 96 * 1024;
+const tic80_stack_size = 8 * 1024;
+
 pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});
     const target = b.resolveTargetQuery(.{ .cpu_arch = .wasm32, .os_tag = .freestanding });
@@ -13,14 +16,12 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     exe.rdynamic = true;
     exe.entry = .disabled;
     exe.import_memory = true;
-    exe.stack_size = 8192;
+    // TIC-80 reserves the first 96 KiB of linear memory, so reserve that space
+    // inside the stack region and leave 8 KiB of actual stack above it.
+    exe.stack_size = tic80_reserved_memory + tic80_stack_size;
     exe.initial_memory = 65536 * 4;
     exe.max_memory = 65536 * 4;
     exe.export_table = true;
 
-    // all the memory below 96kb is reserved for TIC and memory mapped I/O
-    // so our own usage must start above the 96kb mark
-    exe.global_base = 96 * 1024;
-
     b.installArtifact(exe);
 }
diff --git a/templates/c/Makefile b/templates/c/Makefile
index f941b1ec..49ea3727 100644
--- a/templates/c/Makefile
+++ b/templates/c/Makefile
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@ else
 endif
 
 # Linker flags
-LDFLAGS = -Wl,-zstack-size=8192,--no-entry,--import-memory -mexec-model=reactor \
-	-Wl,--initial-memory=262144,--max-memory=262144,--global-base=98304
+# TIC-80 reserves the first 96 KiB of linear memory, so reserve that space
+# inside the stack region and leave 8 KiB of actual stack above it.
+LDFLAGS = -Wl,-zstack-size=106496,--stack-first,--no-entry,--import-memory -mexec-model=reactor \
+	-Wl,--initial-memory=262144,--max-memory=262144
 ifeq ($(DEBUG), 1)
 	LDFLAGS += -Wl,--export-all,--no-gc-sections
 else
diff --git a/templates/c/README.md b/templates/c/README.md
index 32a00fd8..6680ab39 100644
--- a/templates/c/README.md
+++ b/templates/c/README.md
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 Define the environment variable WASI_SDK_PATH; e.g., if you installed WASI
 into ```$HOME/wasi-sdk```, then ```export WASI_SDK_PATH=$HOME/wasi-sdk```.
 
+The default linker settings reserve TIC-80's first 96 KiB of linear memory by using a stack-first layout with `96 KiB + 8 KiB` of configured stack.
+
 Edit ```src/main.c``` to implement your game. You are of course free to
 organize your code in more than one C source file.
 
@@ -48,4 +50,4 @@ You can then run your cartridge as follows:
 The script ```buildcart.sh``` does the above steps as a convenience.
 
 ## Additional Notes
-TIC-80 API functions that merely duplicate standard library functionality are not imported. Please use the `memcpy` and `memset` functions provided by the C standard library instead.
\ No newline at end of file
+TIC-80 API functions that merely duplicate standard library functionality are not imported. Please use the `memcpy` and `memset` functions provided by the C standard library instead.
diff --git a/templates/d/README.md b/templates/d/README.md
index d4d5c4d1..eae373f8 100644
--- a/templates/d/README.md
+++ b/templates/d/README.md
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ drwxr-xr-x  3 pierce pierce 4096 Apr 24 16:19 share/
 Define the environment variable WASI_SDK_PATH; e.g., if you installed WASI
 libc into ```$HOME/wasi-sdk/share/wasi-sysroot```, then ```export WASI_SDK_PATH=$HOME/wasi-sdk```.
 
+The default linker settings reserve TIC-80's first 96 KiB of linear memory by using a stack-first layout with `96 KiB + 8 KiB` of configured stack.
+
 Edit ```src/main.d``` to implement your game. You are of course free to
 organize your code in more than one D source file.
 
diff --git a/templates/d/dub.json b/templates/d/dub.json
index eb1a3824..7c38b600 100644
--- a/templates/d/dub.json
+++ b/templates/d/dub.json
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
         "--strip-all",
         "--allow-undefined",
         "--stack-first",
+        "-zstack-size=106496",
+        "--import-memory",
+        "--initial-memory=262144",
+        "--max-memory=262144",
         "--no-entry"
       ]
     },
@@ -25,6 +29,10 @@
         "--strip-all",
         "--allow-undefined",
         "--stack-first",
+        "-zstack-size=106496",
+        "--import-memory",
+        "--initial-memory=262144",
+        "--max-memory=262144",
         "--no-entry",
         "$WASI_SDK_PATH/share/wasi-sysroot/lib/wasm32-wasi/libc.a"
       ]
diff --git a/templates/nim/README.md b/templates/nim/README.md
index f6052b5d..c7987ee1 100644
--- a/templates/nim/README.md
+++ b/templates/nim/README.md
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 This is a Nim / TIC-80 starter template. To build wasm binary and import it into
 the 'cart.tic' file, ensure you have a Nim compiler, Wasi-SDK and Tic-80 on your system and run:
 
+The linker settings reserve TIC-80's first 96 KiB of linear memory by using a stack-first layout with `96 KiB + 8 KiB` of configured stack.
+
 ```
 nimble buildcart
 ```
diff --git a/templates/nim/config.nims b/templates/nim/config.nims
index b45316f7..05950b92 100644
--- a/templates/nim/config.nims
+++ b/templates/nim/config.nims
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ switch("clang.linkerexe", wasi / "bin" / "clang")
 
 switch("passC", "--sysroot=" & (wasi / "share" / "wasi-sysroot"))
 
-switch("passL", "-Wl,-zstack-size=8192,--no-entry,--import-memory -mexec-model=reactor -Wl,--initial-memory=262144,--max-memory=262144,--global-base=98304")
+# TIC-80 reserves the first 96 KiB of linear memory, so reserve that space
+# inside the stack region and leave 8 KiB of actual stack above it.
+switch("passL", "-Wl,-zstack-size=106496,--stack-first,--no-entry,--import-memory -mexec-model=reactor -Wl,--initial-memory=262144,--max-memory=262144")
 
 when not defined(release):
   switch("assertions", "off")
diff --git a/templates/rust/.cargo/config.toml b/templates/rust/.cargo/config.toml
index d10ae703..6aa9e2f2 100644
--- a/templates/rust/.cargo/config.toml
+++ b/templates/rust/.cargo/config.toml
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ target = "wasm32-unknown-unknown"
 
 [target.wasm32-unknown-unknown]
 rustflags = [
+    # TIC-80 reserves the first 96 KiB of linear memory, so reserve that space
+    # inside the stack region and leave 8 KiB of actual stack above it.
+    "-C", "link-arg=--stack-first",
     "-C", "link-arg=--import-memory",
     "-C", "link-arg=--initial-memory=262144",
     "-C", "link-arg=--max-memory=262144",
diff --git a/templates/rust/README.md b/templates/rust/README.md
index 8e36b0b4..d05b3615 100644
--- a/templates/rust/README.md
+++ b/templates/rust/README.md
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 ## Important Note
 Don't access TIC-80's I/O memory by dereferencing raw pointers. The optimiser will ruin attempts to do this, because Rust has no equivalent to C's `volatile` for direct access. Instead, use [`std::ptr::read_volatile`](https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/ptr/fn.read_volatile.html) and [`std::ptr::write_volatile`](https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/ptr/fn.write_volatile.html), or just use the standard TIC-80 `peek`/`poke`.
 
+This template also reserves TIC-80's first 96 KiB of linear memory by forcing a stack-first layout and inflating the configured stack size to `96 KiB + 8 KiB`.
+
 This is a Rust / TIC-80 starter template. Before using it, make sure you have installed the `wasm32-unknown-unknown` target using rustup:
 ```
 rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown
diff --git a/templates/zig/README.md b/templates/zig/README.md
index cff70d73..95f25387 100644
--- a/templates/zig/README.md
+++ b/templates/zig/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 This is a ZIG / TIC-80 starter template. To build it, ensure you have the latest development release (`0.14.0-dev.1421+f87dd43c1` or newer), then run:
 
+The build reserves TIC-80's first 96 KiB of linear memory by folding that space into the configured stack size and leaving 8 KiB of actual stack above it.
+
 ```
 zig build --release=small
 ```
diff --git a/templates/zig/build.zig b/templates/zig/build.zig
index 4d425ae0..8b95316a 100644
--- a/templates/zig/build.zig
+++ b/templates/zig/build.zig
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 
+const tic80_reserved_memory = 96 * 1024;
+const tic80_stack_size = 8 * 1024;
+
 pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});
     const target = b.resolveTargetQuery(.{ .cpu_arch = .wasm32, .os_tag = .freestanding });
@@ -13,14 +16,12 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     exe.rdynamic = true;
     exe.entry = .disabled;
     exe.import_memory = true;
-    exe.stack_size = 8192;
+    // TIC-80 reserves the first 96 KiB of linear memory, so reserve that space
+    // inside the stack region and leave 8 KiB of actual stack above it.
+    exe.stack_size = tic80_reserved_memory + tic80_stack_size;
     exe.initial_memory = 65536 * 4;
     exe.max_memory = 65536 * 4;
     exe.export_table = true;
 
-    // all the memory below 96kb is reserved for TIC and memory mapped I/O
-    // so our own usage must start above the 96kb mark
-    exe.global_base = 96 * 1024;
-
     b.installArtifact(exe);
 }