diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 686f98d7..03aff3da 100644
--- a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ Contributions are licensed under the [MIT License](https://github.com/TypedDevs/
 - Make
 - [ShellCheck](https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck#installing)
 - [editorconfig-checker](https://github.com/editorconfig-checker/editorconfig-checker#installation)
+- [shfmt](https://github.com/mvdan/sh) and [jq](https://jqlang.org/) when building the standalone binary
 
 ### Setup
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 28b290a8..e6c6f93c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,18 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 1
 
+      - name: Set up Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v7
+        with:
+          go-version: '1.25'
+          cache: false
+
+      - name: Install standalone build optimizer
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          echo "$(go env GOPATH)/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+          go install mvdan.cc/sh/v3/cmd/shfmt@v3.13.1
+
       - name: Build and verify
         shell: bash
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
index 5a3a5c29..94772c54 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,18 @@ jobs:
           npm install -g npm@latest
           echo "npm version after upgrade: $(npm -v)"
 
+      - name: Set up Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v7
+        with:
+          go-version: '1.25'
+          cache: false
+
+      - name: Install standalone build optimizer
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          echo "$(go env GOPATH)/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+          go install mvdan.cc/sh/v3/cmd/shfmt@v3.13.1
+
       - name: Build bashunit single-file binary
         shell: bash
         run: ./build.sh bin
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4ea001ef..7154ed16 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 - Performance: `assert_within_delta` uses fixed-point arithmetic for common values, with a `bc`/`awk` fallback for unsupported inputs (about 6.6x faster) (#979)
 - Performance: Spy assertions and call counters use builtins instead of `cat` and command substitutions (about 6.5x faster) (#978)
 - Performance: `assert_contains_ignore_case` uses Bash's `nocasematch` where available, falling back to `tr` on Bash 3.0 (about 10x faster) (#977)
+- Build: standalone binaries omit source comments while preserving heredoc content and source markers, reducing the current artifact by about 22% (#990)
 - Internal: Split `src/runner.sh` and `src/coverage.sh` into focused modules with no behavior change; see [ADR-010](adrs/adr-010-src-module-directories.md) (#924, #925)
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/adrs/adr-011-source-layout-and-build-pipeline.md b/adrs/adr-011-source-layout-and-build-pipeline.md
index 6cbdb6ae..faf3f130 100644
--- a/adrs/adr-011-source-layout-and-build-pipeline.md
+++ b/adrs/adr-011-source-layout-and-build-pipeline.md
@@ -110,8 +110,10 @@ invisible to it.
 3.                        strip every `^source ` line from the result
 4. build::embed_docs      swap docs/assertions.md into a heredoc between the markers
                           in src/cli/doc.sh, so the binary needs no docs/ directory
-5. build::assert_valid_syntax   bash -n
-6. build::verify (-v)     run the whole suite against the built binary
+5. build::strip_comments  parse the assembled Bash and remove source comments, retaining
+                          the shebang, heredoc content and `# src/...` boundary markers
+6. build::assert_valid_syntax   bash -n
+7. build::verify (-v)     run the whole suite against the built binary
 ```
 
 **Step 2 is why an aggregator may hold only `source` lines.** A file's body is emitted *before*
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 0949a678..c93ce563 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -62,6 +62,15 @@ function build::generate_bin() {
   # Embed the assertions.md docs into the binary
   build::embed_docs "$out"
 
+  # Keep the source tree documented without shipping those comments in every
+  # standalone binary. A shell parser is required here: the built file contains
+  # heredocs whose Markdown and example scripts legitimately start with `#`.
+  # Structural build tests use the raw form so platforms without release-tool
+  # dependencies still exercise bundling; release builds always take this path.
+  if [[ ${_BASHUNIT_BUILD_SKIP_COMMENT_STRIP:-false} != true ]]; then
+    build::strip_comments "$out"
+  fi
+
   build::assert_valid_syntax "$out"
 }
 
@@ -156,6 +165,42 @@ function build::embed_docs() {
   chmod u+x "$file"
 }
 
+function build::strip_comments() {
+  local file=$1
+  local temp_file="${file}.tmp"
+
+  local dependency
+  for dependency in shfmt jq; do
+    if ! command -v "$dependency" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      echo "❌ $dependency is required to build the standalone binary" >&2
+      return 1
+    fi
+  done
+
+  # shfmt distinguishes real shell comments from `#` text inside heredocs. Keep
+  # the executable shebang and the tiny source-boundary markers: they make the
+  # flattened artifact navigable and let the build tests detect duplicate
+  # embeds. Everything else remains available in the repository source.
+  local jq_filter='walk(
+    if type == "object" and has("Comments") then
+      .Comments |= map(select(
+        ((.Text // "") | startswith("!")) or
+        ((.Text // "") | test("^ src/.*\\.sh$"))
+      ))
+    else . end
+  )'
+  if ! shfmt -ln=bash --to-json <"$file" \
+    | jq "$jq_filter" \
+    | shfmt -i 2 --from-json >"$temp_file"; then
+    rm -f "$temp_file"
+    echo "❌ Failed to strip comments from $file" >&2
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  mv "$temp_file" "$file"
+  chmod u+x "$file"
+}
+
 function build::assert_valid_syntax() {
   local file=$1
 
diff --git a/tests/acceptance/bashunit_upgrade_test.sh b/tests/acceptance/bashunit_upgrade_test.sh
index d59fb995..889545cb 100644
--- a/tests/acceptance/bashunit_upgrade_test.sh
+++ b/tests/acceptance/bashunit_upgrade_test.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ function tear_down_after_script() {
 }
 
 function set_up() {
-  ./build.sh "$TMP_DIR" >/dev/null
+  _BASHUNIT_BUILD_SKIP_COMMENT_STRIP=true ./build.sh "$TMP_DIR" >/dev/null
   if [[ "$ACTIVE_INTERNET" == true ]] && [[ "$HAS_GIT" == true ]]; then
     LATEST_VERSION="$(bashunit::helper::get_latest_tag)"
   else
diff --git a/tests/unit/project/build_test.sh b/tests/unit/project/build_test.sh
index 61a3fabb..0ebaacc9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/project/build_test.sh
+++ b/tests/unit/project/build_test.sh
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ function build_dependencies() {
   (cd "$ROOT_DIR" && bash -c 'source ./build.sh && build::dependencies')
 }
 
+function build_unoptimized() {
+  (cd "$ROOT_DIR" && _BASHUNIT_BUILD_SKIP_COMMENT_STRIP=true bash build.sh "$1")
+}
+
+function build_optimizer_is_available() {
+  command -v shfmt >/dev/null 2>&1 && command -v jq >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
 # Every src file the dev entrypoint sources (except dev-only helpers) must also be
 # bundled by build.sh, otherwise its functions are missing from the distributable
 # single-file binary (regressions: bench #0.31.0, watch #735).
@@ -93,6 +101,40 @@ function test_build_embed_docs_fails_on_missing_markers() {
   assert_contains "echo hi" "$(cat "$file")"
 }
 
+function test_build_strip_comments_preserves_heredocs_shebang_and_source_markers() {
+  if ! build_optimizer_is_available; then
+    bashunit::skip "shfmt and jq are required for standalone optimization"
+    return
+  fi
+
+  local file
+  file=$(bashunit::temp_file)
+  cat >"$file" <<'EOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# src/example.sh
+# ordinary source comment
+value="# quoted value"
+cat <<'DOC'
+# Markdown heading
+  # indented example comment
+DOC
+printf '%s\n' "$value" # inline source comment
+EOF
+
+  (cd "$ROOT_DIR" && bash -c 'source ./build.sh && build::strip_comments "$1"' _ "$file")
+
+  assert_same "#!/usr/bin/env bash" "$(head -n 1 "$file")"
+  assert_file_contains "$file" "# src/example.sh"
+  assert_file_not_contains "$file" "ordinary source comment"
+  assert_file_not_contains "$file" "inline source comment"
+  assert_file_contains "$file" '# Markdown heading'
+  assert_file_contains "$file" '  # indented example comment'
+  assert_file_contains "$file" 'value="# quoted value"'
+  local exit_code=0
+  bash -n "$file" || exit_code=$?
+  assert_equals 0 "$exit_code"
+}
+
 # build::process_file emits a file's body and *then* recurses into its `source`
 # lines, so an aggregator holding anything else at top level would run that code
 # before its dependencies in the built binary but after them in dev mode.
@@ -273,12 +315,28 @@ function test_built_binary_contains_no_source_lines() {
   local build_dir
   build_dir=$(bashunit::temp_dir)
 
-  (cd "$ROOT_DIR" && bash build.sh "$build_dir") >/dev/null 2>&1
+  build_unoptimized "$build_dir" >/dev/null 2>&1
 
   assert_file_exists "$build_dir/bashunit"
   assert_equals "0" "$(grep -c '^source ' "$build_dir/bashunit")"
 }
 
+function test_built_binary_stays_below_500_kib() {
+  if ! build_optimizer_is_available; then
+    bashunit::skip "shfmt and jq are required for standalone optimization"
+    return
+  fi
+
+  local build_dir
+  build_dir=$(bashunit::temp_dir)
+
+  (cd "$ROOT_DIR" && bash build.sh "$build_dir") >/dev/null 2>&1
+
+  local bytes
+  bytes=$(wc -c <"$build_dir/bashunit" | tr -d ' ')
+  assert_less_or_equal_than 512000 "$bytes"
+}
+
 function test_build_assert_valid_syntax_rejects_broken_file() {
   local file
   file=$(bashunit::temp_file)
@@ -295,7 +353,7 @@ function test_built_binary_defines_watch_run() {
   local build_dir
   build_dir=$(bashunit::temp_dir)
 
-  (cd "$ROOT_DIR" && bash build.sh "$build_dir") >/dev/null 2>&1
+  build_unoptimized "$build_dir" >/dev/null 2>&1
 
   assert_file_exists "$build_dir/bashunit"
   assert_equals "1" "$(grep -c 'function bashunit::watch::run()' "$build_dir/bashunit")"
@@ -305,7 +363,7 @@ function test_built_binary_embeds_each_src_file_exactly_once() {
   local build_dir
   build_dir=$(bashunit::temp_dir)
 
-  (cd "$ROOT_DIR" && bash build.sh "$build_dir") >/dev/null 2>&1
+  build_unoptimized "$build_dir" >/dev/null 2>&1
 
   local duplicated
   duplicated=$(grep -E '^# src/[a-z_0-9/]+\.sh$' "$build_dir/bashunit" | sort | uniq -d)
@@ -319,7 +377,7 @@ function test_built_binary_defines_each_bashunit_function_exactly_once() {
   local build_dir
   build_dir=$(bashunit::temp_dir)
 
-  (cd "$ROOT_DIR" && bash build.sh "$build_dir") >/dev/null 2>&1
+  build_unoptimized "$build_dir" >/dev/null 2>&1
 
   # Scoped to the bashunit:: namespace on purpose: an unqualified `^function `
   # also matches the example code inside the embedded docs/assertions.md heredoc.