diff --git a/packages/react-native-session-replay/DatadogSDKReactNativeSessionReplay.podspec b/packages/react-native-session-replay/DatadogSDKReactNativeSessionReplay.podspec
index d354b40c0..9b3c11767 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-session-replay/DatadogSDKReactNativeSessionReplay.podspec
+++ b/packages/react-native-session-replay/DatadogSDKReactNativeSessionReplay.podspec
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 require "json"
 
 package = JSON.parse(File.read(File.join(__dir__, "package.json")))
-folly_compiler_flags = '-DFOLLY_CFG_NO_COROUTINES=1 -DFOLLY_NO_CONFIG -DFOLLY_MOBILE=1 -DFOLLY_USE_LIBCPP=1 -Wno-comma -Wno-shorten-64-to-32'
 
 Pod::Spec.new do |s|
   s.name         = "DatadogSDKReactNativeSessionReplay"
@@ -49,17 +48,22 @@ Pod::Spec.new do |s|
   }
 
   if ENV['RCT_NEW_ARCH_ENABLED'] == '1' then
-    s.compiler_flags = folly_compiler_flags + " -DRCT_NEW_ARCH_ENABLED=1"
+    s.compiler_flags = "-DRCT_NEW_ARCH_ENABLED=1"
 
     xcconfig.merge!({
       "DEFINES_MODULE" => "YES",
       "CLANG_CXX_LANGUAGE_STANDARD" => "c++17"
     })
-  end
 
-  s.pod_target_xcconfig = xcconfig
+    s.pod_target_xcconfig = xcconfig
 
-  if respond_to?(:install_modules_dependencies, true)
-    install_modules_dependencies(s)
+    # install_modules_dependencies is only available on RN >= 0.71
+    if respond_to?(:install_modules_dependencies, true)
+      install_modules_dependencies(s)
+    else
+      Pod::UI.warn "Using Datadog React Native Session Replay with new architecture on RN < 0.71 is discouraged and not officially supported."
+    end
+  else
+    s.pod_target_xcconfig = xcconfig
   end
 end
diff --git a/packages/react-native-session-replay/src/metro/index.ts b/packages/react-native-session-replay/src/metro/index.ts
index b61a3abc5..c4f30a2e2 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-session-replay/src/metro/index.ts
+++ b/packages/react-native-session-replay/src/metro/index.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import path from 'path';
 import { mergeSvgAssets } from './processing';
 import { debounce } from './utils';
 
-let watching = false;
+let watcher: ReturnType<typeof chokidar.watch> | null = null;
 
 const MERGE_DEBOUNCE_MS = 300;
 const WATCH_STABILITY_THRESHOLD_MS = 200;
@@ -38,9 +38,8 @@ export function withSessionReplayAssetBundler(metroConfig: any): any {
     }, MERGE_DEBOUNCE_MS);
 
     // Prevent potential multiple watchers if metro loads the config multiple times
-    if (!watching) {
-        watching = true;
-        chokidar
+    if (!watcher) {
+        watcher = chokidar
             .watch(assetsDir, {
                 // Skip events for files that already exist
                 ignoreInitial: true,
@@ -75,6 +74,14 @@ export function withSessionReplayAssetBundler(metroConfig: any): any {
                     event.type === 'transformer_load_done'
                 ) {
                     mergeSvgAssets(assetsDir);
+
+                    // Close the file watcher after bundling completes
+                    // This prevents the chokidar watcher from keeping the
+                    // Node process alive during release/CI builds
+                    if (watcher) {
+                        watcher.close();
+                        watcher = null;
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }