diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index d8e7993683c..b94d4d2bf92 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ build --host_cxxopt=-std=c++17
 # copy-on-write semantics of std::strings of the older ABI.
 build --cxxopt=-D_GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI=0
 
-build --workspace_status_command=/proc/self/cwd/tools/gen_status_stamp.sh
+build --workspace_status_command=tools/gen_status_stamp.sh
 
 build --experimental_repo_remote_exec
 
@@ -96,7 +96,17 @@ build --define=use_tensorflow_io=1
 
 # TensorFlow Decision Forests does not use Absl concurrency primitives on MacOs.
 # Reason: TensorFlow/ABSL ODR violation (b/214189609) # copybara:strip
-build:macos --define std_synchronization_primitives=1
+# DISABLED for native macOS build due to C++20 std::latch compatibility issues
+# build:macos --define std_synchronization_primitives=1
+
+# macOS-specific build configuration for native compilation
+build:macos --cxxopt=-mmacosx-version-min=10.13
+build:macos --cxxopt=-faligned-allocation
+build:macos --host_cxxopt=-mmacosx-version-min=10.13
+build:macos --host_cxxopt=-faligned-allocation
+# Disable C++ modules to avoid indirect dependency issues
+build:macos --features=-use_module_maps
+build:macos --features=-layering_check
 
 # Taken from https://github.com/openxla/xla/blob/99559d7a4f7c55490f46385ad29a3cbf9c3911af/warnings.bazelrc#L6
 # We silence warnings for code in `external`.
@@ -111,3 +121,15 @@ build --copt=-Wno-unused-but-set-variable # due to `ifdefs` in ml_dtypes
 # and disable Bzlmod.
 common --enable_bzlmod=false
 common --noincompatible_enable_cc_toolchain_resolution
+
+# Increase timeout for repository fetches (especially for Boost with submodules)
+fetch --repository_cache_hardlinks=false
+fetch --http_timeout_scaling=10.0
+common --experimental_repository_downloader_retries=3
+common --experimental_scale_timeouts=10.0
+
+# macOS: Use system tools instead of conda environment tools
+build:macos --action_env AR=/usr/bin/ar
+build:macos --action_env LD=/usr/bin/ld
+build:macos --action_env LIBTOOL=/usr/bin/libtool
+build:macos --action_env NM=/usr/bin/nm
diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6ce8a156cf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+name: tf-serving-build
+
+# Bazelisk is the recommended way to manage Bazel versions (automatically downloads and uses the right version).
+# To install Bazelisk:
+# 1. Create directory: mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
+# 2. Download: curl -L https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk/releases/latest/download/bazelisk-darwin-arm64 -o ~/.local/bin/bazel
+#    (use bazelisk-darwin-amd64 for Intel Macs)
+# 3. Make executable: chmod +x ~/.local/bin/bazel
+# 4. Add to PATH: export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" (add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile)
+# 5. Optional: Set specific Bazel version with export USE_BAZEL_VERSION=x.y.z
+# 6. Verify: bazel --version
+
+channels:
+  - conda-forge
+  - defaults
+dependencies:
+  - python=3.11
+  - automake
+  - autoconf
+  - libtool
+  - make
+  - cmake
+  - git
+  - pkg-config
+  - wget
+  - curl
+  - patch
+  - unzip
+  - zip
+  - clang=18.1.1
diff --git a/tensorflow_serving/workspace.bzl b/tensorflow_serving/workspace.bzl
index c7b7a8966b7..e6bd9c2d21d 100644
--- a/tensorflow_serving/workspace.bzl
+++ b/tensorflow_serving/workspace.bzl
@@ -128,6 +128,6 @@ def tf_serving_workspace():
         commit = "b7b1371294b4bdfc8d85e49236ebced114bc1d8f",  # boost-1.75.0
         build_file = "//third_party/boost:BUILD",
         init_submodules = True,
-        recursive_init_submodules = True,
+        recursive_init_submodules = False,  # Disabled to avoid timeout - Boost submodules don't have nested submodules
         remote = "https://github.com/boostorg/boost",
     )