diff --git a/Vagrantfile b/Vagrantfile
index f5b819f..4e8d769 100644
--- a/Vagrantfile
+++ b/Vagrantfile
@@ -78,27 +78,7 @@ Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|
       echo -e "#!/bin/sh\nbuild-exa && test-exa && run-xtests" > /usr/bin/compile-exa
       ln -sf /usr/bin/compile-exa /usr/bin/c
 
-      echo "#!/bin/bash"                                                      > /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "set -e"                                                          >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-
-      echo 'echo -e "\nCompiling release version of exa..."'                 >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "cargo build --release --manifest-path /vagrant/Cargo.toml"       >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "cargo test --release --manifest-path /vagrant/Cargo.toml --lib"  >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "/vagrant/xtests/run.sh --release"                                >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "cp /home/ubuntu/target/release/exa /vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64"    >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-
-      echo 'echo -e "\nStripping binary..."'                                 >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "strip /vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64"                                 >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-
-      echo 'echo -e "\nZipping binary..."'                                   >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "rm -f /vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64.zip"                             >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "zip -j /vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64.zip /vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64"  >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-
-      echo 'echo -e "\nLibraries linked:"'                                   >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo "ldd /vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64"                                   >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-
-      echo 'echo -e "\nAll done!"'                                           >> /usr/bin/package-exa
-      echo '/vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64 /vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64* -lB'        >> /usr/bin/package-exa
+      echo -e "#!/bin/sh\nbash /vagrant/devtools/dev-package-for-linux.sh"   > /usr/bin/package-exa
 
       chmod +x /usr/bin/{exa,rexa,b,t,x,c,build-exa,test-exa,run-xtests,compile-exa,package-exa}
     EOF
diff --git a/devtools/dev-package-for-linux.sh b/devtools/dev-package-for-linux.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..defa0c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/devtools/dev-package-for-linux.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+set -e
+
+# This script builds a publishable release-worthy version of exa.
+# It gets the version number, builds exa using cargo, tests it, strips the
+# binary, compresses it into a zip, then puts it in /vagrant so it’s
+# accessible from the host machine.
+#
+# If you’re in the VM, you can run it using the ‘package-exa’ command.
+
+
+# First, we need to get the version number to figure out what to call the zip.
+# We do this by getting the first line from the Cargo.toml that matches
+# /version/, removing its whitespace, and building a command out of it, so the
+# shell executes something like `exa_version="0.8.0"`, which it understands as
+# a variable definition. Hey, it’s not a hack if it works.
+toml_file="/vagrant/Cargo.toml"
+eval exa_$(grep version $toml_file | head -n 1 | sed "s/ //g")
+if [ -z "$exa_version" ]; then
+  echo "Failed to parse version number! Can't build exa!"
+  exit
+else
+  echo "Building exa v$exa_version"
+fi
+
+# Compilation is done in --release mode, which takes longer but produces a
+# faster binary. This binary gets built to a different place, so the extended
+# tests script needs to be told which one to use.
+echo -e "\n\033[4mCompiling release version of exa...\033[0m"
+exa_linux_binary="/vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64"
+rm -vf "$exa_linux_binary"
+cargo build --release --manifest-path "$toml_file"
+cargo test --release --manifest-path "$toml_file" --lib -- --quiet
+/vagrant/xtests/run.sh --release
+cp /home/ubuntu/target/release/exa "$exa_linux_binary"
+
+# Stripping the binary before distributing it removes a bunch of debugging
+# symbols, saving some space.
+echo -e "\n\033[4mStripping binary...\033[0m"
+strip -v "$exa_linux_binary"
+
+# Compress the binary for upload. The ‘-j’ flag is necessary to avoid the
+# /vagrant path being in the zip too. Only the zip gets the version number, so
+# the binaries can have consistent names, but it’s still possible to tell
+# different *downloads* apart.
+echo -e "\n\033[4mZipping binary...\033[0m"
+exa_linux_zip="/vagrant/exa-linux-x86_64-${exa_version}.zip"
+rm -vf "$exa_linux_zip"
+zip -j "$exa_linux_zip" "$exa_linux_binary"
+
+# There was a problem a while back where a library was getting unknowingly
+# *dynamically* linked, which broke the whole ‘self-contained binary’ concept.
+# So dump the linker table, in case anything unscrupulous shows up.
+echo -e "\n\033[4mLibraries linked:\033[0m"
+ldd "$exa_linux_binary" | sed "s/\t//"
+
+# Might as well use it to test itself, right?
+echo -e "\n\033[4mAll done! Files produced:\033[0m"
+"$exa_linux_binary" "$exa_linux_binary" "$exa_linux_zip" -lB
diff --git a/xtests/run.sh b/xtests/run.sh
index d6828ae..f6c5b8b 100755
--- a/xtests/run.sh
+++ b/xtests/run.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set +xe
 
 # Release mode
 case "$1" in
-  "--release") echo "Testing release exa..."; exa_binary="$HOME/target/release/exa" ;;
+  "--release") exa_binary="$HOME/target/release/exa" ;;
   *)           exa_binary="$HOME/target/debug/exa" ;;
 esac