diff --git a/imagebuild/tinyipa/README.rst b/imagebuild/tinyipa/README.rst
index aa2165213..c8476bddf 100644
--- a/imagebuild/tinyipa/README.rst
+++ b/imagebuild/tinyipa/README.rst
@@ -72,12 +72,29 @@ or::
 Advanced options
 ----------------
 
+(De)Optimizing the image
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
 If you want the build script to preinstall everything into the ramdisk,
 instead of loading some things at runtime (this results in a slightly bigger
 ramdisk), before running make or build-tinyipa.sh run::
 
   export BUILD_AND_INSTALL_TINYIPA=true
 
+By default, building TinyIPA will compile most of the Python code to
+optimized ``*.pyo`` files, completely remove most of ``*.py`` and ``*.pyc``
+files, and run ironic-python-agent with ``PYTHONOPTIMIZE=1``
+to save space on the ramdisk.
+If instead you want a normal Python experience inside the image,
+for example for debugging/hacking on IPA in a running ramdisk,
+before running make or build-tinyipa.sh run::
+
+    export PYOPTIMIZE_TINYIPA=false
+
+
+Enabling SSH access to the ramdisk
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
 If you want to enable SSH access to the image, set ``ENABLE_SSH`` variable in
 your shell before building the tinyipa::
 
diff --git a/imagebuild/tinyipa/finalise-tinyipa.sh b/imagebuild/tinyipa/finalise-tinyipa.sh
index 023130be3..891590cf3 100755
--- a/imagebuild/tinyipa/finalise-tinyipa.sh
+++ b/imagebuild/tinyipa/finalise-tinyipa.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ BUILD_AND_INSTALL_TINYIPA=${BUILD_AND_INSTALL_TINYIPA:-true}
 TINYCORE_MIRROR_URL=${TINYCORE_MIRROR_URL:-"http://repo.tinycorelinux.net/"}
 ENABLE_SSH=${ENABLE_SSH:-false}
 SSH_PUBLIC_KEY=${SSH_PUBLIC_KEY:-}
+PYOPTIMIZE_TINYIPA=${PYOPTIMIZE_TINYIPA:-true}
 
 TC=1001
 STAFF=50
@@ -147,12 +148,16 @@ sudo cp "$WORKDIR/build_files/bootlocal.sh" "$FINALDIR/opt/."
 sudo sed -i '/# Main/a NOZSWAP=1' "$FINALDIR/etc/init.d/tc-config"
 # sudo cp $WORKDIR/build_files/tc-config $FINALDIR/etc/init.d/tc-config
 
-# Precompile all python
-set +e
-$CHROOT_CMD /bin/bash -c "python -OO -m compileall /usr/local/lib/python2.7"
-set -e
-find $FINALDIR/usr/local/lib/python2.7 -name "*.py" -not -path "*ironic_python_agent/api/config.py" | sudo xargs rm
-find $FINALDIR/usr/local/lib/python2.7 -name "*.pyc" | sudo xargs rm
+if $PYOPTIMIZE_TINYIPA; then
+    # Precompile all python
+    set +e
+    $CHROOT_CMD /bin/bash -c "python -OO -m compileall /usr/local/lib/python2.7"
+    set -e
+    find $FINALDIR/usr/local/lib/python2.7 -name "*.py" -not -path "*ironic_python_agent/api/config.py" | sudo xargs rm
+    find $FINALDIR/usr/local/lib/python2.7 -name "*.pyc" | sudo xargs rm
+else
+    sudo sed -i "s/PYTHONOPTIMIZE=1/PYTHONOPTIMIZE=0/" "$FINALDIR/opt/bootlocal.sh"
+fi
 
 # Delete unnecessary Babel .dat files
 find $FINALDIR -path "*babel/locale-data/*.dat" -not -path "*en_US*" | sudo xargs rm