diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 89530f818..3d3d2b860 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #   such behavior.
 #   Contact for this feature: gopalrs.
 
+
 # Some variables like MSVC are defined only after project(), so put that first.
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
 project(diskann)
@@ -52,6 +53,9 @@ endif()
 
 include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
 
+if(NOT PYBIND)
+    set(DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS ON)
+endif()
 # It's necessary to include tcmalloc headers only if calling into MallocExtension interface.
 # For using tcmalloc in DiskANN tools, it's enough to just link with tcmalloc.
 if (DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS)
@@ -92,7 +96,9 @@ if (MSVC)
     set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
 endif()
 
-find_package(Boost COMPONENTS program_options)
+if(NOT MSVC)
+    find_package(Boost COMPONENTS program_options)
+endif()
 
 # For Windows, fall back to nuget version if find_package didn't find it.
 if (MSVC AND NOT Boost_FOUND)
@@ -219,13 +225,13 @@ if (MSVC)
     # Tell CMake how to build the tcmalloc linker library from the submodule.
     add_custom_target(build_libtcmalloc_minimal DEPENDS ${TCMALLOC_LINK_LIBRARY})
     add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${TCMALLOC_LINK_LIBRARY}
-                       COMMAND ${CMAKE_VS_MSBUILD_COMMAND} gperftools.sln /m /nologo
-                           /t:libtcmalloc_minimal /p:Configuration="Release-Patch"
-                           /property:Platform="x64"
-                           /p:PlatformToolset=v${MSVC_TOOLSET_VERSION}
-                           /p:WindowsTargetPlatformVersion=${CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION}
-                       WORKING_DIRECTORY ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/gperftools)
-
+                        COMMAND ${CMAKE_VS_MSBUILD_COMMAND} gperftools.sln /m /nologo
+                            /t:libtcmalloc_minimal /p:Configuration="Release-Patch"
+                            /property:Platform="x64"
+                            /p:PlatformToolset=v${MSVC_TOOLSET_VERSION}
+                            /p:WindowsTargetPlatformVersion=${CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION}
+                        WORKING_DIRECTORY ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/gperftools)
+ 
     add_library(libtcmalloc_minimal_for_exe STATIC IMPORTED)
     add_library(libtcmalloc_minimal_for_dll STATIC IMPORTED)
 
diff --git a/src/disk_utils.cpp b/src/disk_utils.cpp
index 297619b4a..b29d253a1 100644
--- a/src/disk_utils.cpp
+++ b/src/disk_utils.cpp
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "common_includes.h"
 
-#if defined(RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
+#if defined(DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
 #include "gperftools/malloc_extension.h"
 #endif
 
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ int build_merged_vamana_index(std::string base_file, diskann::Metric compareMetr
     Timer timer;
     int num_parts =
         partition_with_ram_budget<T>(base_file, sampling_rate, ram_budget, 2 * R / 3, merged_index_prefix, 2);
-    diskann::cout << timer.elapsed_seconds_for_step("partitioning data") << std::endl;
+    diskann::cout << timer.elapsed_seconds_for_step("partitioning data ") << std::endl;
 
     std::string cur_centroid_filepath = merged_index_prefix + "_centroids.bin";
     std::rename(cur_centroid_filepath.c_str(), centroids_file.c_str());
@@ -683,6 +683,10 @@ int build_merged_vamana_index(std::string base_file, diskann::Metric compareMetr
     timer.reset();
     for (int p = 0; p < num_parts; p++)
     {
+#if defined(DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
+        MallocExtension::instance()->ReleaseFreeMemory();
+#endif
+
         std::string shard_base_file = merged_index_prefix + "_subshard-" + std::to_string(p) + ".bin";
 
         std::string shard_ids_file = merged_index_prefix + "_subshard-" + std::to_string(p) + "_ids_uint32.bin";
@@ -1283,7 +1287,7 @@ int build_disk_index(const char *dataFilePath, const char *indexFilePath, const
 
 // Gopal. Splitting diskann_dll into separate DLLs for search and build.
 // This code should only be available in the "build" DLL.
-#if defined(RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
+#if defined(DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
     MallocExtension::instance()->ReleaseFreeMemory();
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/dll/CMakeLists.txt b/src/dll/CMakeLists.txt
index d00cfeb95..b4726668f 100644
--- a/src/dll/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/dll/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ set(TARGET_DIR "$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:${CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_DEBUG}>$<$<CO
 
 set(DISKANN_DLL_IMPLIB "${TARGET_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}.lib")
 
+if (NOT PYBIND)
+    target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS DISKANN_BUILD)
+endif()
 target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE _USRDLL _WINDLL)
 target_compile_options(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE /GL)
 target_include_directories(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE ${DISKANN_MKL_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES})
diff --git a/src/index.cpp b/src/index.cpp
index 3de3a3b7f..7161b0f64 100644
--- a/src/index.cpp
+++ b/src/index.cpp
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #include "tsl/robin_map.h"
 #include "tsl/robin_set.h"
 #include "windows_customizations.h"
-#if defined(RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
+#if defined(DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
 #include "gperftools/malloc_extension.h"
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/partition.cpp b/src/partition.cpp
index 2d46f9faf..570d45c7d 100644
--- a/src/partition.cpp
+++ b/src/partition.cpp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #include "tsl/robin_map.h"
 #include "tsl/robin_set.h"
 
-#if defined(RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
+#if defined(DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
 #include "gperftools/malloc_extension.h"
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/pq.cpp b/src/pq.cpp
index c59fc2dce..a86bf39bf 100644
--- a/src/pq.cpp
+++ b/src/pq.cpp
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 // Licensed under the MIT license.
 
 #include "mkl.h"
-
+#if defined(DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
+#include "gperftools/malloc_extension.h"
+#endif
 #include "pq.h"
 #include "partition.h"
 #include "math_utils.h"
@@ -923,7 +925,7 @@ int generate_pq_data_from_pivots(const std::string &data_file, uint32_t num_cent
     }
 // Gopal. Splitting diskann_dll into separate DLLs for search and build.
 // This code should only be available in the "build" DLL.
-#if defined(RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
+#if defined(DISKANN_RELEASE_UNUSED_TCMALLOC_MEMORY_AT_CHECKPOINTS) && defined(DISKANN_BUILD)
     MallocExtension::instance()->ReleaseFreeMemory();
 #endif
     compressed_file_writer.close();