diff --git a/python_appimage/__main__.py b/python_appimage/__main__.py
index 65d8ae2..7c9185b 100644
--- a/python_appimage/__main__.py
+++ b/python_appimage/__main__.py
@@ -78,10 +78,13 @@ def main():
         help='manylinux image tag (e.g. 2010_x86_64)')
     build_manylinux_parser.add_argument('abi',
         help='python ABI (e.g. cp37-cp37m)')
+    build_manylinux_parser.add_argument('-b', '--bare',
+        help='produce a bare image without the AppImage layer',
+        action='store_true')
     build_manylinux_parser.add_argument('-c', '--clean',
         help='clean the cache after extraction', action='store_true')
-    build_manylinux_parser.add_argument('-t', '--tarball',
-        help='build a bare tarball instead of an AppImage', action='store_true')
+    build_manylinux_parser.add_argument('-n', '--no-packaging',
+        help='do not package (compress) the image', action='store_true')
 
     build_app_parser = build_subparsers.add_parser('app',
         description='Build a Python application using a base AppImage')
@@ -93,6 +96,8 @@ def main():
         help='linux compatibility tag (e.g. manylinux1_x86_64)')
     build_app_parser.add_argument('-n', '--name',
         help='application name')
+    build_app_parser.add_argument('--no-packaging',
+        help='do not package the app', action='store_true')
     build_app_parser.add_argument('--python-tag',
         help='python compatibility tag (e.g. cp37-cp37m)')
     build_app_parser.add_argument('-p', '--python-version',
diff --git a/python_appimage/commands/build/app.py b/python_appimage/commands/build/app.py
index 7869b8e..b04d014 100644
--- a/python_appimage/commands/build/app.py
+++ b/python_appimage/commands/build/app.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import json
 import glob
 import os
+from pathlib import Path
 import platform
 import re
-import shutil
 import stat
 import struct
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def _unpack_args(args):
     '''
     return args.appdir, args.name, args.python_version, args.linux_tag,        \
            args.python_tag, args.base_image, args.in_tree_build,               \
-           args.extra_data
+           args.extra_data, args.no_packaging
 
 
 _tag_pattern = re.compile('python([^-]+)[-]([^.]+)[.]AppImage')
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ _linux_pattern = re.compile('manylinux([0-9]+)_' + platform.machine())
 
 def execute(appdir, name=None, python_version=None, linux_tag=None,
             python_tag=None, base_image=None, in_tree_build=False,
-            extra_data=None):
+            extra_data=None, no_packaging=None):
     '''Build a Python application using a base AppImage
     '''
 
@@ -321,7 +321,10 @@ def execute(appdir, name=None, python_version=None, linux_tag=None,
 
 
         # Build the new AppImage
-        destination = '{:}-{:}.AppImage'.format(application_name,
-                                                platform.machine())
-        build_appimage(destination=destination)
-        shutil.move(destination, os.path.join(pwd, destination))
+        fullname = '{:}-{:}'.format(application_name, platform.machine())
+        if no_packaging:
+            copy_tree('AppDir', Path(pwd) / fullname)
+        else:
+            destination = f'{fullname}.AppImage'
+            build_appimage(destination=destination)
+            copy_file(destination, os.path.join(pwd, destination))
diff --git a/python_appimage/commands/build/local.py b/python_appimage/commands/build/local.py
index 25eef08..d3e4bf3 100644
--- a/python_appimage/commands/build/local.py
+++ b/python_appimage/commands/build/local.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ __all__ = ['execute']
 def _unpack_args(args):
     '''Unpack command line arguments
     '''
-    return args.python, args.destination
+    return args.python, args.destination, args.no_packaging
 
 
 def execute(python=None, destination=None):
diff --git a/python_appimage/commands/build/manylinux.py b/python_appimage/commands/build/manylinux.py
index a3c2f3d..0bbd817 100644
--- a/python_appimage/commands/build/manylinux.py
+++ b/python_appimage/commands/build/manylinux.py
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
 import tarfile
-import shutil
 
 from ...appimage import build_appimage
 from ...manylinux import ensure_image, PythonExtractor
+from ...utils.fs import copy_file, copy_tree
 from ...utils.log import log
 from ...utils.tmp import TemporaryDirectory
 
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ __all__ = ['execute']
 def _unpack_args(args):
     '''Unpack command line arguments
     '''
-    return args.tag, args.abi, args.clean, args.tarball
+    return args.tag, args.abi, args.bare, args.clean, args.no_packaging
 
 
-def execute(tag, abi, clean, tarball):
+def execute(tag, abi, bare, clean, no_packaging):
     '''Build a Python AppImage using a Manylinux image
     '''
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def execute(tag, abi, clean, tarball):
             tag = abi
         )
         appdir = Path(tmpdir) / 'AppDir'
-        appify = not tarball
+        appify = not bare
         python_extractor.extract(appdir, appify=appify)
 
         fullname = '-'.join((
@@ -41,13 +41,18 @@ def execute(tag, abi, clean, tarball):
             f'{image.tag}_{image.arch}'
         ))
 
-        if tarball:
+        if no_packaging:
+            copy_tree(
+                Path(tmpdir) / 'AppDir',
+                Path(pwd) / fullname
+            )
+        elif bare:
             log('COMPRESS', fullname)
             destination = f'{fullname}.tgz'
             tar_path = Path(tmpdir) / destination
             with tarfile.open(tar_path, "w:gz") as tar:
                 tar.add(appdir, arcname=fullname)
-            shutil.copy(
+            copy_file(
                 tar_path,
                 Path(pwd) / destination
             )
@@ -58,7 +63,7 @@ def execute(tag, abi, clean, tarball):
                 arch = str(image.arch),
                 destination = destination
             )
-            shutil.copy(
+            copy_file(
                 Path(tmpdir) / destination,
                 Path(pwd) / destination
             )