diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d99076a7..d0a95abc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ all file system operations occur as your user outside the container.
 ### Self contained releases
 
 We publish self contained archives for every release on [github](https://github.com/cdr/code-server/releases).
-They bundle the node binary and node_modules.
+They bundle the node binary and compiled native modules.
 
 1. Download the latest release archive for your system from [github](https://github.com/cdr/code-server/releases)
 2. Unpack the release
diff --git a/ci/README.md b/ci/README.md
index be08b7bf..dc3e0da5 100644
--- a/ci/README.md
+++ b/ci/README.md
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ This directory contains scripts used for the development of code-server.
 - [./dev/test.sh](./dev/test.sh) (`yarn test`)
   - Runs tests
 - [./dev/vscode.sh](./dev/vscode.sh) (`yarn vscode`)
-  - Ensures `lib/vscode` is cloned, patched and dependencies are installed
+  - Ensures [../lib/vscode](../lib/vscode) is cloned, patched and dependencies are installed
+- [./dev/patch-vscode.sh](./dev/patch-vscode.sh) (`yarn vscode:patch`)
+  - Applies [./dev/vscode.patch](./dev/vscode.patch) to [../lib/vscode](../lib/vscode)
+- [./dev/diff-vscode.sh](./dev/diff-vscode.sh) (`yarn vscode:diff`)
+  - Diffs [../lib/vscode](../lib/vscode) into [./dev/vscode.patch](./dev/vscode.patch)
 - [./dev/vscode.patch](./dev/vscode.patch)
   - Our patch of VS Code to enable remote browser access
   - Generate it with `yarn vscode:diff` and apply with `yarn vscode:patch`
@@ -62,11 +66,11 @@ You can disable minification by setting `MINIFY=`.
   - Bundles the output of the above two scripts into a single node module at `./release`.
 - [./build/build-static-release.sh](./build/build-static-release.sh) (`yarn release:static`)
   - Requires a release already built in `./release`.
-  - Will build a static release with node and node_modules into `./release-static`
+  - Will build a static release with node bundled into `./release-static`
 - [./build/clean.sh](./build/clean.sh) (`yarn clean`)
-  - Removes all git ignored files like build artifacts.
+  - Removes all build artifacts
   - Will also `git reset --hard lib/vscode`
-  - Useful to do a clean build.
+  - Useful to do a clean build
 - [./build/code-server.sh](./build/code-server.sh)
   - Copied into static releases to run code-server with the bundled node binary.
 - [./build/test-static-release.sh](./build/test-static-release.sh) (`yarn test:static-release`)
diff --git a/ci/build/build-release.sh b/ci/build/build-release.sh
index d96a466d..0c1117e4 100755
--- a/ci/build/build-release.sh
+++ b/ci/build/build-release.sh
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ bundle_code_server() {
   {
     "commit": "$(git rev-parse HEAD)",
     "scripts": {
-      "postinstall": "cd lib/vscode && yarn --production && cd extensions && yarn --production"
+      "postinstall": "cd lib/vscode && npm rebuild # Builds native modules"
     }
   }
 EOF
@@ -49,18 +49,15 @@ EOF
 
 bundle_vscode() {
   mkdir -p "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH"
+  rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/package.json" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH"
+  rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/yarn.lock" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH"
+  rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/node_modules" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH"
   rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/out-vscode${MINIFY+-min}/" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/out"
   rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/.build/extensions/" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions"
-  rm -Rf "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions/node_modules"
-  rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/extensions/package.json" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions"
-  rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/extensions/yarn.lock" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions"
-  rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/extensions/postinstall.js" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions"
 
   mkdir -p "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/resources/linux"
   rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/resources/linux/code.png" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/resources/linux/code.png"
 
-  rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/yarn.lock" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH"
-
   # Adds the commit and date to product.json
   jq --slurp '.[0] * .[1]' "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/product.json" <(
     cat << EOF
@@ -71,12 +68,17 @@ bundle_vscode() {
 EOF
   ) > "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/product.json"
 
-  # We remove the scripts field so that later on we can run
-  # yarn to fetch node_modules if necessary without build scripts
-  # being ran.
-  # We cannot use --no-scripts because we still want dependant package scripts to run
-  # for native modules to be rebuilt.
-  jq 'del(.scripts)' < "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/package.json" > "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/package.json"
+  pushd "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH"
+  yarn --production --ignore-scripts
+  popd
+
+  # Now we clear any native module builds.
+  local nativeModules
+  mapfile -t nativeModules < <(find "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/node_modules" -name "binding.gyp" -exec dirname {} \;)
+  local nm
+  for nm in "${nativeModules[@]}"; do
+    rm -R "$nm/build"
+  done
 }
 
 main "$@"
diff --git a/ci/build/clean.sh b/ci/build/clean.sh
index df8da6de..c57e0b43 100755
--- a/ci/build/clean.sh
+++ b/ci/build/clean.sh
@@ -3,10 +3,22 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 main() {
   cd "$(dirname "${0}")/../.."
+  source ./ci/lib.sh
 
-  git clean -Xffd
-  git submodule foreach --recursive git clean -xffd
-  git submodule foreach --recursive git reset --hard
+  rm -Rf \
+    out \
+    release \
+    release-static \
+    release-packages \
+    release-gcp \
+    dist \
+    .tsbuildinfo \
+    .cache/out.tsbuildinfo
+
+  pushd lib/vscode
+  git clean -xffd
+  git reset --hard
+  popd
 }
 
 main "$@"
diff --git a/ci/dev/diff-vscode.sh b/ci/dev/diff-vscode.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a1c1f027
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/dev/diff-vscode.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+main() {
+  cd "$(dirname "$0")/../.."
+
+  cd ./lib/vscode
+  git diff HEAD > ../../ci/dev/vscode.patch
+}
+
+main "$@"
diff --git a/ci/dev/patch-vscode.sh b/ci/dev/patch-vscode.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..cdc2691a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/dev/patch-vscode.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+main() {
+  cd "$(dirname "$0")/../.."
+
+  cd ./lib/vscode
+  git apply ../../ci/dev/vscode.patch
+}
+
+main "$@"
diff --git a/doc/CONTRIBUTING.md b/doc/CONTRIBUTING.md
index def3df0f..2eeefc47 100644
--- a/doc/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/doc/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -59,5 +59,4 @@ yarn test:static-release
 yarn package
 ```
 
-The static release will be in `./release-static` and the release packages
-(.deb, .rpm, self contained release) in `./release-packages`.
+The static release will be in `./release-static` and .deb, .rpm and self-contained release in `./release-packages`.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 87696289..246db4c7 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
   "scripts": {
     "clean": "./ci/build/clean.sh",
     "vscode": "./ci/dev/vscode.sh",
-    "vscode:patch": "cd ./lib/vscode && git apply ../../ci/dev/vscode.patch",
-    "vscode:diff": "cd ./lib/vscode && git diff HEAD > ../../ci/dev/vscode.patch",
+    "vscode:patch": "./ci/dev/patch-vscode.sh",
+    "vscode:diff": "./ci/dev/diff-vscode.sh",
     "build": "./ci/build/build-code-server.sh",
     "build:vscode": "./ci/build/build-vscode.sh",
     "release": "./ci/build/build-release.sh",