diff --git a/docker/build_scripts/finalize.sh b/docker/build_scripts/finalize.sh
index 9c9ae1e2..c6b93698 100755
--- a/docker/build_scripts/finalize.sh
+++ b/docker/build_scripts/finalize.sh
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ for PREFIX in $(find /opt/_internal/ -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 \( -name 'cpython*'
 		ln -s ${PREFIX}/bin/python /usr/local/bin/pypy${PY_VER}
 	elif [[ "${PREFIX}" == *"/graalpy"* ]]; then
 		ln -s ${PREFIX}/bin/python /usr/local/bin/graalpy${PY_VER}
+		# we remove most of graalpy itself, but symlink the install script to
+		# get the same version (same sha) back in the same place
+		ln -s ${PREFIX}/install-graalpy.sh /usr/local/bin/install-graalpy${PY_VER}
+		rm -rf ${PREFIX}/lib/graalpy*
+		rm -rf ${PREFIX}/lib/sulong*
+		rm -rf ${PREFIX}/lib/llvm*
+		rm -rf ${PREFIX}/lib/*.so
 	else
 		ln -s ${PREFIX}/bin/python /usr/local/bin/python${PY_VER}
 	fi
diff --git a/docker/build_scripts/install-graalpy.sh b/docker/build_scripts/install-graalpy.sh
index bb79a113..530a524b 100755
--- a/docker/build_scripts/install-graalpy.sh
+++ b/docker/build_scripts/install-graalpy.sh
@@ -14,53 +14,38 @@ if [ "${BASE_POLICY}" == "musllinux" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-PYTHON_VERSION=$1
-VERSION_PREFIX=$2
-GRAALPY_VERSION=$3
-ARCHIVE_PREFIX=$4
-GRAALPY_DOWNLOAD_URL=https://github.com/oracle/graalpython/releases/download/${VERSION_PREFIX}-${GRAALPY_VERSION}/
-# graal-23.0.0/graalpython-23.0.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
-
-
-function get_shortdir {
-    local exe=$1
-    $exe -c 'import sys; print(sys.implementation.cache_tag)'
-}
-
-
-mkdir -p /tmp
-cd /tmp
-
 case ${AUDITWHEEL_ARCH} in
 	x86_64) GRAALPY_ARCH=amd64;;
 	aarch64) GRAALPY_ARCH=aarch64;;
-	*) echo "No PyPy for ${AUDITWHEEL_ARCH}"; exit 0;;
+	*) echo "No GraalPy for ${AUDITWHEEL_ARCH}"; exit 0;;
 esac
 
-EXPAND_NAME=graalpy-${GRAALPY_VERSION}-linux-${GRAALPY_ARCH}
-TMPDIR=/tmp/${EXPAND_NAME}
+PYTHON_VERSION=$1
+VERSION_PREFIX=$2
+GRAALPY_VERSION=$3
+ARCHIVE_PREFIX=$4
+GRAALPY_DOWNLOAD_URL=https://github.com/oracle/graalpython/releases/download/${VERSION_PREFIX}-${GRAALPY_VERSION}/ # e.g. graal-23.0.0/graalpython-23.0.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
+TMPDIR=/tmp/
 TARBALL=graalpython-${GRAALPY_VERSION}-linux-${GRAALPY_ARCH}.tar.gz
-PREFIX="/opt/_internal"
+TARBALL_SHA=`grep " ${TARBALL}\$" ${MY_DIR}/graalpy.sha256`
+PREFIX="/opt/_internal/graalpy-${GRAALPY_VERSION}"
 
+# create a download script that will download and extract graalpy. we leave
+# this script in the image to avoid the large distribution to use up space in
+# the default image.
 mkdir -p ${PREFIX}
-
-fetch_source ${TARBALL} ${GRAALPY_DOWNLOAD_URL}
-
-# We only want to check the current tarball sha256sum
-grep " ${TARBALL}\$" ${MY_DIR}/graalpy.sha256 > ${TARBALL}.sha256
-# then check sha256 sum
-sha256sum -c ${TARBALL}.sha256
-
-tar -xf ${TARBALL}
-
-# rename the directory to something shorter like graalpy230-310
-PREFIX=${PREFIX}/$(get_shortdir ${TMPDIR}/bin/graalpy)
-mv ${TMPDIR} ${PREFIX}
-
-# add a generic "python" symlink
-if [ ! -f "${PREFIX}/bin/python" ]; then
-	ln -s graalpy ${PREFIX}/bin/python
-fi
-
-# We do not need precompiled .pyc and .pyo files.
-clean_pyc ${PREFIX}
+cat <<EOF> ${PREFIX}/install-graalpy.sh
+#!/bin/bash
+set -exuo pipefail
+mkdir -p ${PREFIX}
+mkdir -p ${TMPDIR}
+curl -fsSL -o "${TMPDIR}/${TARBALL}" "${GRAALPY_DOWNLOAD_URL}/${TARBALL}"
+cd ${TMPDIR}
+echo "${TARBALL_SHA}" | sha256sum -c
+tar -xf "${TMPDIR}/${TARBALL}" --overwrite --strip-components=1 -C "${PREFIX}"
+rm -f "${TMPDIR}/${TARBALL}"
+EOF
+
+# call the download script right now.
+chmod +x ${PREFIX}/install-graalpy.sh
+${PREFIX}/install-graalpy.sh
diff --git a/tests/run_tests.sh b/tests/run_tests.sh
index 24634b82..3e62dcb8 100755
--- a/tests/run_tests.sh
+++ b/tests/run_tests.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ else
 	exit 1
 fi
 
+# make sure all graalpy versions are available for testing
+for INSTALLER in $(find /opt/_internal/ -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 \( -name 'install-graalpy.sh' \)); do
+	$INSTALLER
+done
 
 for PYTHON in /opt/python/*/bin/python; do
 	# Smoke test to make sure that our Pythons work, and do indeed detect as