diff --git a/contrib/build-linux/sdist/make_sdist.sh b/contrib/build-linux/sdist/make_sdist.sh
index b0d17b4b2..f6381e07e 100755
--- a/contrib/build-linux/sdist/make_sdist.sh
+++ b/contrib/build-linux/sdist/make_sdist.sh
@@ -46,7 +46,25 @@ fi
     find -exec touch -h -d '2000-11-11T11:11:11+00:00' {} +
 
     # note: .zip sdists would not be reproducible due to https://bugs.python.org/issue40963
-    TZ=UTC faketime -f '2000-11-11 11:11:11' python3 setup.py --quiet sdist --format=gztar
+    if ([ "$OMIT_UNCLEAN_FILES" = 1 ])
+        then PY_DISTDIR="dist/_sourceonly" # The DISTDIR variable of this script is only used to find where the output is *finally* placed.
+        else PY_DISTDIR="dist"
+    fi
+    TZ=UTC faketime -f '2000-11-11 11:11:11' python3 setup.py --quiet sdist --format=gztar --dist-dir="$PY_DISTDIR"
+    if ([ "$OMIT_UNCLEAN_FILES" = 1 ]); then
+        for fn in "$DISTDIR/_sourceonly/"*; do
+            # Since ELECTRUM_VERSION is not available to us in this script, we have to use a regex.
+            # Expression 1: Electrum-X.Y.Z.tar.gz -> Electrum-sourceonly-X.Y.Z.tar.gz
+            #   Capture group \1 = Electrum
+            #   Capture group \2 = X.Y.Z.tar.gz
+            # Expression 2: dist/_sourceonly/X.tar.gz -> dist/X.tar.gz
+            mv "$fn" $(sed \
+                -e 's/\(.*\)-\([^-]*\)/\1-sourceonly-\2/' \
+                -e 's/\/_sourceonly//' \
+                <<< "$fn")
+        done
+        rmdir "$PY_DISTDIR"
+    fi
 )
 
 
diff --git a/contrib/release.sh b/contrib/release.sh
index 76762e29a..351ca1dfe 100755
--- a/contrib/release.sh
+++ b/contrib/release.sh
@@ -88,6 +88,14 @@ else
    ./contrib/build-linux/sdist/build.sh
 fi
 
+# create source-only tarball
+srctarball="Electrum-sourceonly-$VERSION.tar.gz"
+if test -f "dist/$srctarball"; then
+    info "file exists: $srctarball"
+else
+   OMIT_UNCLEAN_FILES=1 ./contrib/build-linux/sdist/build.sh
+fi
+
 # appimage
 appimage="electrum-$REV-x86_64.AppImage"
 if test -f "dist/$appimage"; then
@@ -186,15 +194,17 @@ if [ -z "$RELEASEMANAGER" ] ; then
        bye
 !
     # check we have each binary
-    test -f "$tarball"  || fail "tarball not found among sftp downloads"
-    test -f "$appimage" || fail "appimage not found among sftp downloads"
-    test -f "$win1"     || fail "win1 not found among sftp downloads"
-    test -f "$win2"     || fail "win2 not found among sftp downloads"
-    test -f "$win3"     || fail "win3 not found among sftp downloads"
-    test -f "$apk1"     || fail "apk1 not found among sftp downloads"
-    test -f "$apk2"     || fail "apk2 not found among sftp downloads"
-    test -f "$dmg"      || fail "dmg not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$tarball"    || fail "tarball not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$srctarball" || fail "srctarball not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$appimage"   || fail "appimage not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$win1"       || fail "win1 not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$win2"       || fail "win2 not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$win3"       || fail "win3 not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$apk1"       || fail "apk1 not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$apk2"       || fail "apk2 not found among sftp downloads"
+    test -f "$dmg"        || fail "dmg not found among sftp downloads"
     test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$tarball"    || fail "tarball not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$srctarball" || fail "tarball not found among built files"
     test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$appimage"   || fail "appimage not found among built files"
     test -f "$CONTRIB/build-wine/dist/$win1" || fail "win1 not found among built files"
     test -f "$CONTRIB/build-wine/dist/$win2" || fail "win2 not found among built files"
@@ -203,8 +213,9 @@ if [ -z "$RELEASEMANAGER" ] ; then
     test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$apk2"       || fail "apk2 not found among built files"
     test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$dmg"        || fail "dmg not found among built files"
     # compare downloaded binaries against ones we built
-    cmp --silent "$tarball" "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$tarball" || fail "files are different. tarball."
-    cmp --silent "$appimage" "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$appimage" || fail "files are different. appimage."
+    cmp --silent "$tarball"    "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$tarball"    || fail "files are different. tarball."
+    cmp --silent "$srctarball" "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$srctarball" || fail "files are different. srctarball."
+    cmp --silent "$appimage"   "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$appimage"   || fail "files are different. appimage."
     rm -rf "$CONTRIB/build-wine/signed/" && mkdir --parents "$CONTRIB/build-wine/signed/"
     cp -f "$win1" "$win2" "$win3" "$CONTRIB/build-wine/signed/"
     "$CONTRIB/build-wine/unsign.sh" || fail "files are different. windows."
@@ -214,7 +225,7 @@ if [ -z "$RELEASEMANAGER" ] ; then
     # all files matched. sign them.
     rm -rf "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/sigs/"
     mkdir --parents "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/sigs/"
-    for fname in "$tarball" "$appimage" "$win1" "$win2" "$win3" "$apk1" "$apk2" "$dmg" ; do
+    for fname in "$tarball" "$srctarball" "$appimage" "$win1" "$win2" "$win3" "$apk1" "$apk2" "$dmg" ; do
         signame="$fname.$GPGUSER.asc"
         gpg --sign --armor --detach $PUBKEY --output "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/sigs/$signame" "$fname"
     done