diff --git a/config/functions b/config/functions
index 27b8685e4e..d6e9493e94 100644
--- a/config/functions
+++ b/config/functions
@@ -462,3 +462,10 @@ show_config() {
 
   echo -e "$config_message"
 }
+
+# strip
+debug_strip() {
+  if [ ! "$DEBUG" = yes ]; then
+    $STRIP `find $* -type f -executable 2>/dev/null` 2>/dev/null || :
+  fi
+}
diff --git a/config/optimize b/config/optimize
index 81d9566726..a7bf24b5fe 100644
--- a/config/optimize
+++ b/config/optimize
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ if [ "$DEBUG" = yes ]; then
 else
   TARGET_CFLAGS="$TARGET_CFLAGS -fomit-frame-pointer"
   TARGET_CXXFLAGS="$TARGET_CXXFLAGS -fomit-frame-pointer"
-  TARGET_LDFLAGS="$TARGET_LDFLAGS -s"
+  TARGET_LDFLAGS="$TARGET_LDFLAGS"
 fi
 
 TARGET_CPPFLAGS=
diff --git a/packages/lang/Python/package.mk b/packages/lang/Python/package.mk
index 55f1d1cb50..998df16622 100644
--- a/packages/lang/Python/package.mk
+++ b/packages/lang/Python/package.mk
@@ -130,4 +130,8 @@ post_makeinstall_target() {
   rm -rf $INSTALL/usr/bin/pydoc
   rm -rf $INSTALL/usr/bin/smtpd.py
   rm -rf $INSTALL/usr/bin/python*-config
+
+  # strip
+  chmod u+w $INSTALL/usr/lib/libpython*.so.*
+  debug_strip $INSTALL/usr
 }
diff --git a/packages/mediacenter/kodi/package.mk b/packages/mediacenter/kodi/package.mk
index 7d439aeae0..166c8a6b6f 100644
--- a/packages/mediacenter/kodi/package.mk
+++ b/packages/mediacenter/kodi/package.mk
@@ -408,6 +408,8 @@ post_makeinstall_target() {
     mkdir -p $INSTALL/usr/share/kodi/media/Fonts
       cp $PKG_DIR/fonts/*.ttf $INSTALL/usr/share/kodi/media/Fonts
   fi
+
+  debug_strip $INSTALL/usr/lib/kodi/kodi.bin
 }
 
 post_install() {
diff --git a/packages/network/openssh/package.mk b/packages/network/openssh/package.mk
index e847aff4d6..e7a02c012d 100644
--- a/packages/network/openssh/package.mk
+++ b/packages/network/openssh/package.mk
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ post_makeinstall_target() {
 
   sed -i $INSTALL/etc/ssh/sshd_config -e "s|^#PermitRootLogin.*|PermitRootLogin yes|g"
   echo "PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes +ssh-dss" >> $INSTALL/etc/ssh/sshd_config
+
+  debug_strip $INSTALL/usr
 }
 
 post_install() {
diff --git a/packages/sysutils/systemd/package.mk b/packages/sysutils/systemd/package.mk
index da49719a2c..d56192c1cb 100644
--- a/packages/sysutils/systemd/package.mk
+++ b/packages/sysutils/systemd/package.mk
@@ -209,6 +209,10 @@ post_makeinstall_target() {
   ln -sf /usr/bin/systemctl $INSTALL/usr/sbin/shutdown
   ln -sf /usr/bin/systemctl $INSTALL/usr/sbin/telinit
 
+  # strip
+  debug_strip $INSTALL/usr
+
+  # defaults
   mkdir -p $INSTALL/usr/config
   cp -PR $PKG_DIR/config/* $INSTALL/usr/config
 
diff --git a/scripts/build b/scripts/build
index bbbdc0847a..78579c4856 100755
--- a/scripts/build
+++ b/scripts/build
@@ -352,8 +352,18 @@ if [ ! -f $STAMP ]; then
           find $INSTALL -type d -exec rmdir -p "{}" ";" 2>/dev/null || true
 
           if [ ! "$DEBUG" = yes ]; then
-            $STRIP `find $INSTALL -name "*.so" 2>/dev/null` 2>/dev/null || :
-            $STRIP `find $INSTALL -name "*.so.[0-9]*" 2>/dev/null` 2>/dev/null || :
+            $STRIP `find $INSTALL \
+              -type f -name "*.so*" \
+              ! -name "ld-*.so" \
+              ! -name "libc-*.so" \
+              ! -name "libpthread-*.so" \
+              ! -name "libthread_db-*so" \
+              2>/dev/null` 2>/dev/null || :
+            if [ "$TARGET" = "init" ]; then
+              $STRIP `find $INSTALL -type f -name "*.so*" 2>/dev/null` 2>/dev/null || :
+            fi
+            $STRIP `find $INSTALL/bin $INSTALL/usr/bin $INSTALL/sbin $INSTALL/usr/sbin \
+              -type f -executable 2>/dev/null` 2>/dev/null || :
           fi
         fi
       fi