diff --git a/scripts/build_host_protoc.sh b/scripts/build_host_protoc.sh
index 1c741647e70..cd704a8fce4 100755
--- a/scripts/build_host_protoc.sh
+++ b/scripts/build_host_protoc.sh
@@ -11,22 +11,22 @@
 # After the execution of the file, one should be able to find the host protoc
 # binary at build_host_protoc/bin/protoc.
 
+set -e
+
 CAFFE2_ROOT="$( cd "$(dirname -- "$0")"/.. ; pwd -P)"
 BUILD_ROOT=$CAFFE2_ROOT/build_host_protoc
 mkdir -p $BUILD_ROOT/build
-
 cd $BUILD_ROOT/build
-CMAKE=$(which cmake || which /usr/bin/cmake || which /usr/local/bin/cmake)
 
-SHARED="$CAFFE2_ROOT/third_party/protobuf/cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$BUILD_ROOT -Dprotobuf_BUILD_TESTS=OFF "
-OTHER_FLAGS=""
+CMAKE_ARGS=()
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$BUILD_ROOT")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-Dprotobuf_BUILD_TESTS=OFF")
 
 while true; do
     case "$1" in
         --other-flags)
             shift;
-            echo "Other flags passed to cmake: $@";
-            OTHER_FLAGS=" $@ ";
+            CMAKE_ARGS+=("$@")
             break ;;
         "")
             break ;;
@@ -36,7 +36,16 @@ while true; do
     esac
 done
 
+# Use ccache if available (this path is where Homebrew installs ccache symlinks)
+if [ "$(uname)" == 'Darwin' ] && [ -d /usr/local/opt/ccache/libexec ]; then
+  CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/usr/local/opt/ccache/libexec/gcc")
+  CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/usr/local/opt/ccache/libexec/g++")
+fi
 
-$CMAKE $SHARED $OTHER_FLAGS || exit 1
-make -j 4 || exit 1
-make install || exit 1
+cmake "$CAFFE2_ROOT/third_party/protobuf/cmake" ${CMAKE_ARGS[@]}
+
+if [ "$(uname)" == 'Darwin' ]; then
+  make "-j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)" install
+else
+  make "-j$(nproc)" install
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/build_ios.sh b/scripts/build_ios.sh
index 692153e509b..b8c23fc98d6 100755
--- a/scripts/build_ios.sh
+++ b/scripts/build_ios.sh
@@ -2,54 +2,80 @@
 ##############################################################################
 # Example command to build the iOS target.
 ##############################################################################
-# 
+#
 # This script shows how one can build a Caffe2 binary for the iOS platform
 # using ios-cmake. This is very similar to the android-cmake - see
 # build_android.sh for more details.
 
+set -e
+
 CAFFE2_ROOT="$( cd "$(dirname "$0")"/.. ; pwd -P)"
-echo "Caffe2 codebase root is: $CAFFE2_ROOT"
-# We are going to build the target into build_ios.
-BUILD_ROOT=$CAFFE2_ROOT/build_ios
-mkdir -p $BUILD_ROOT
-echo "Build Caffe2 ios into: $BUILD_ROOT"
 
 # Build protobuf from third_party so we have a host protoc binary.
 echo "Building protoc"
 BITCODE_FLAGS="-DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=-fembed-bitcode -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-fembed-bitcode "
-$CAFFE2_ROOT/scripts/build_host_protoc.sh --other-flags $BITCODE_FLAGS || exit 1
+$CAFFE2_ROOT/scripts/build_host_protoc.sh --other-flags $BITCODE_FLAGS
 
 # Now, actually build the iOS target.
-echo "Building caffe2"
+BUILD_ROOT=$CAFFE2_ROOT/build_ios
+mkdir -p $BUILD_ROOT
 cd $BUILD_ROOT
 
-if [ -z ${IOS_PLATFORM+x} ]; then
-    # IOS_PLATFORM is not set, in which case we will default to OS, which
-    # builds iOS.
-    IOS_PLATFORM=OS
+CMAKE_ARGS=()
+
+# Use locally built protoc because we'll build libprotobuf for the
+# target architecture and need an exact version match.
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCAFFE2_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE=$CAFFE2_ROOT/build_host_protoc/bin/protoc")
+
+# Use ios-cmake to build iOS project from CMake.
+# This projects sets CMAKE_C_COMPILER to /usr/bin/gcc and
+# CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER to /usr/bin/g++. In order to use ccache (if it is available) we
+# must override these variables via CMake arguments.
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$CAFFE2_ROOT/third_party/ios-cmake/toolchain/iOS.cmake")
+CCACHE_WRAPPER_PATH=/usr/local/opt/ccache/libexec
+if [ -d "$CCACHE_WRAPPER_PATH" ]; then
+  CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=$CCACHE_WRAPPER_PATH/gcc")
+  CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=$CCACHE_WRAPPER_PATH/g++")
 fi
 
+# IOS_PLATFORM controls type of iOS platform (see ios-cmake)
+if [ -n "${IOS_PLATFORM:-}" ]; then
+  CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DIOS_PLATFORM=${IOS_PLATFORM}")
+else
+  # IOS_PLATFORM is not set, default to OS, which builds iOS.
+  CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DIOS_PLATFORM=OS")
+fi
+
+# Don't build binaries or tests (only the library)
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DBUILD_TEST=OFF")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DBUILD_BINARY=OFF")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DBUILD_PYTHON=OFF")
+
+# Disable unused dependencies
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DUSE_CUDA=OFF")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DUSE_OPENCV=OFF")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DUSE_LMDB=OFF")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DUSE_LEVELDB=OFF")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DUSE_MPI=OFF")
+
+# pthreads
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT=-lpthread")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_HAVE_THREADS_LIBRARY=1")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT=1")
+
+# Only toggle if VERBOSE=1
+if [ "${VERBOSE:-}" == '1' ]; then
+  CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE=1")
+fi
+
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=-fembed-bitcode")
+CMAKE_ARGS+=("-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-fembed-bitcode")
+
 cmake .. \
-    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$CAFFE2_ROOT/third_party/ios-cmake/toolchain/iOS.cmake\
     -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=../install \
     -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
-    -DIOS_PLATFORM=${IOS_PLATFORM} \
-    -DUSE_CUDA=OFF \
-    -DUSE_OPENCV=OFF \
-    -DBUILD_TEST=OFF \
-    -DBUILD_BINARY=OFF \
-    -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=-fembed-bitcode \
-    -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-fembed-bitcode \
-    -DUSE_LMDB=OFF \
-    -DUSE_LEVELDB=OFF \
-    -DBUILD_PYTHON=OFF \
-    -DCAFFE2_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE=$CAFFE2_ROOT/build_host_protoc/bin/protoc \
-    -DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE=1 \
-    -DUSE_MPI=OFF \
     -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF \
-    -DCMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT=-lpthread \
-    -DCMAKE_HAVE_THREADS_LIBRARY=1 \
-    -DCMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT=1 \
-    $@ \
-    || exit 1
+    ${CMAKE_ARGS[@]} \
+    $@
+
 cmake --build . -- "-j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)"
diff --git a/scripts/build_local.sh b/scripts/build_local.sh
index 474e34b9cff..97d33ca8d3e 100755
--- a/scripts/build_local.sh
+++ b/scripts/build_local.sh
@@ -26,8 +26,13 @@ cd "$BUILD_ROOT"
 set -x
 cmake .. ${CMAKE_ARGS} "$@" || exit 1
 
-if [ "$(uname)" = 'Darwin' ]; then
-    cmake --build . -- "-j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)"
+if [ "$(uname)" == 'Darwin' ]; then
+  # Use ccache if available (this path is where Homebrew installs ccache symlinks)
+  if [ -d /usr/local/opt/ccache/libexec ]; then
+    export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ccache/libexec:$PATH"
+  fi
+
+  cmake --build . -- "-j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)"
 else
-    cmake --build . -- "-j$(nproc)"
+  cmake --build . -- "-j$(nproc)"
 fi