diff --git a/builder/builder-post-process.c b/builder/builder-post-process.c
index f3e01af7..6b2efe59 100644
--- a/builder/builder-post-process.c
+++ b/builder/builder-post-process.c
@@ -197,7 +197,9 @@ fixup_python_time_stamp (const char *path,
 
   if (lstat (py_path, &stbuf) != 0)
     {
-      remove_pyc = TRUE;
+      /* pyc file without .py file, this happens for binary-only deployments.
+       *  Accept it as-is. */
+      return TRUE;
     }
   else if (pyc_mtime == OSTREE_TIMESTAMP)
     {
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am.inc b/tests/Makefile.am.inc
index 19d76b96..d0ea77f8 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am.inc
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am.inc
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ dist_installed_test_data = \
 	tests/session.conf.in \
 	tests/0001-Add-test-logo.patch \
 	tests/org.test.Python.json \
+	tests/org.test.Python2.json \
 	tests/importme.py \
 	tests/importme2.py \
 	$(NULL)
diff --git a/tests/libtest.sh b/tests/libtest.sh
index d0618f2b..bb26c4c7 100644
--- a/tests/libtest.sh
+++ b/tests/libtest.sh
@@ -215,8 +215,8 @@ setup_sdk_repo () {
 
 setup_python2_repo () {
     REPONAME=${1:-test}
-    GPGARGS="${GPGARGS:-${FL_GPGARGS}}" . $(dirname $0)/make-test-runtime.sh ${REPONAME} org.test.PythonPlatform bash python2 ls cat echo readlink > /dev/null
-    GPGARGS="${GPGARGS:-${FL_GPGARGS}}" . $(dirname $0)/make-test-runtime.sh ${REPONAME} org.test.PythonSdk python2 bash ls cat echo readlink make mkdir cp touch > /dev/null
+    GPGARGS="${GPGARGS:-${FL_GPGARGS}}" . $(dirname $0)/make-test-runtime.sh ${REPONAME} org.test.PythonPlatform bash python2 ls cat echo rm readlink > /dev/null
+    GPGARGS="${GPGARGS:-${FL_GPGARGS}}" . $(dirname $0)/make-test-runtime.sh ${REPONAME} org.test.PythonSdk python2 bash ls cat echo rm readlink make mkdir cp touch > /dev/null
     update_repo $REPONAME
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/org.test.Python2.json b/tests/org.test.Python2.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bf4e1a0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/org.test.Python2.json
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+{
+    "app-id": "org.test.Python2",
+    "runtime": "org.test.PythonPlatform",
+    "sdk": "org.test.PythonSdk",
+    "command": "testpython.py",
+    "modules": [
+        {
+            "name": "compiled-python",
+            "post-install": [
+                "mkdir /app/bin",
+                "cp testpython.py /app/bin",
+                "cp importme.py /app/bin",
+                /* Compile importme.py */
+                "/app/bin/testpython.py",
+                /* Remove .py file, but keep .pyc */
+                "rm  /app/bin/importme.py",
+                /* Make sure it still works */
+                "/app/bin/testpython.py"
+            ],
+            "sources": [
+                {
+                    "type": "file",
+                    "path": "empty-configure",
+                    "dest-filename": "configure"
+                },
+                {
+                    "type": "file",
+                    "path": "testpython.py"
+                },
+                {
+                    "type": "file",
+                    "path": "importme.py"
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/test-builder-python.sh b/tests/test-builder-python.sh
index 1223b430..6d6beedb 100755
--- a/tests/test-builder-python.sh
+++ b/tests/test-builder-python.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ skip_without_bwrap
 skip_without_user_xattrs
 skip_without_python2
 
-echo "1..1"
+echo "1..2"
 
 setup_repo
 install_repo
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ REPO=`pwd`/repo
 cd $TEST_DATA_DIR/
 
 cp $(dirname $0)/org.test.Python.json .
+cp $(dirname $0)/org.test.Python2.json .
 cp -a $(dirname $0)/empty-configure .
 cp -a $(dirname $0)/testpython.py .
 cp $(dirname $0)/importme.py .
@@ -51,3 +52,14 @@ flatpak-builder --run appdir org.test.Python.json testpython.py > testpython.out
 assert_file_has_content testpython.out ^modified$
 
 echo "ok handled pyc rewriting multiple times"
+
+flatpak-builder --force-clean appdir org.test.Python2.json
+
+assert_not_has_file appdir/files/bin/importme.py
+assert_has_file appdir/files/bin/importme.pyc
+
+flatpak-builder --run appdir org.test.Python2.json testpython.py > testpython.out
+
+assert_file_has_content testpython.out "^first   $"
+
+echo "ok handled .pyc without .py"