diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b77974e..ebf00a2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ VS*/*
 VSCode*
 VSCodium*
 .DS_Store
+*.env
 artifacts/
 build/linux/appimage/out
 build/linux/appimage/pkg2appimage.AppDir
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index a53fe61..7f9950c 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ if [[ "${SHOULD_BUILD}" == "yes" ]]; then
   npm config set scripts-prepend-node-path true
   npm config set node_gyp
 
-  echo "MS_COMMIT: ${MS_COMMIT}"
+  echo "MS_COMMIT=\"${MS_COMMIT}\""
 
   . prepare_vscode.sh
 
diff --git a/build/build.sh b/build/build.sh
index 84efc79..60cce2b 100755
--- a/build/build.sh
+++ b/build/build.sh
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@
 
 export CI_BUILD="no"
 export SHOULD_BUILD="yes"
+export SKIP_BUILD="no"
 export SKIP_PACKAGES="yes"
 export VSCODE_LATEST="no"
 export VSCODE_QUALITY="stable"
 
-while getopts ":ilp" opt; do
+while getopts ":ilop" opt; do
   case "$opt" in
     i)
       export VSCODE_QUALITY="insider"
@@ -18,6 +19,9 @@ while getopts ":ilp" opt; do
     l)
       export VSCODE_LATEST="yes"
       ;;
+    o)
+      export SKIP_BUILD="yes"
+      ;;
     p)
       export SKIP_PACKAGES="no"
       ;;
@@ -45,18 +49,35 @@ else
 fi
 
 echo "OS_NAME=\"${OS_NAME}\""
+echo "SKIP_BUILD=\"${SKIP_BUILD}\""
 echo "SKIP_PACKAGES=\"${SKIP_PACKAGES}\""
 echo "VSCODE_ARCH=\"${VSCODE_ARCH}\""
 echo "VSCODE_LATEST=\"${VSCODE_LATEST}\""
 echo "VSCODE_QUALITY=\"${VSCODE_QUALITY}\""
 
-rm -rf vscode* VSCode*
+if [[ "${SKIP_BUILD}" == "no" ]]; then
+  rm -rf vscode* VSCode*
 
-. get_repo.sh
-. build.sh
+  . get_repo.sh
 
-if [[ "${VSCODE_QUALITY}" == "insider" && "${VSCODE_LATEST}" == "yes" ]]; then
-  echo "$( cat "insider.json" | jq --arg 'tag' "${MS_TAG/\-insider/}" --arg 'commit' "${MS_COMMIT}" '. | .tag=$tag | .commit=$commit' )" > "insider.json"
+  # save variables for later
+  echo "MS_TAG=\"${MS_TAG}\"" > build.env
+  echo "MS_COMMIT=\"${MS_COMMIT}\"" >> build.env
+  echo "RELEASE_VERSION=\"${RELEASE_VERSION}\"" >> build.env
+  echo "BUILD_SOURCEVERSION=\"${BUILD_SOURCEVERSION}\"" >> build.env
+
+  . build.sh
+
+  if [[ "${VSCODE_QUALITY}" == "insider" && "${VSCODE_LATEST}" == "yes" ]]; then
+    echo "$( cat "insider.json" | jq --arg 'tag' "${MS_TAG/\-insider/}" --arg 'commit' "${MS_COMMIT}" '. | .tag=$tag | .commit=$commit' )" > "insider.json"
+  fi
+else
+  . build.env
+
+  echo "MS_TAG=\"${MS_TAG}\""
+  echo "MS_COMMIT=\"${MS_COMMIT}\""
+  echo "RELEASE_VERSION=\"${RELEASE_VERSION}\""
+  echo "BUILD_SOURCEVERSION=\"${BUILD_SOURCEVERSION}\""
 fi
 
 if [[ "${SKIP_PACKAGES}" == "no" ]]; then
diff --git a/get_repo.sh b/get_repo.sh
index bbf03ac..d63dbd2 100755
--- a/get_repo.sh
+++ b/get_repo.sh
@@ -80,16 +80,16 @@ if [[ -z "${MS_TAG}" ]]; then
   export MS_COMMIT=$( echo "${UPDATE_INFO}" | jq -r '.version' )
   export MS_TAG=$( echo "${UPDATE_INFO}" | jq -r '.name' )
 elif [[ -z "${MS_COMMIT}" ]]; then
-  reference=$( git ls-remote --tags | grep -x ".*refs\/tags\/${MS_TAG}" | head -1 )
+  REFERENCE=$( git ls-remote --tags | grep -x ".*refs\/tags\/${MS_TAG}" | head -1 )
 
-  if [[ -z "${reference}" ]]; then
+  if [[ -z "${REFERENCE}" ]]; then
     echo "The following tag can't be found: ${MS_TAG}"
     exit 1
-  elif [[ "${reference}" =~ ^([[:alnum:]]+)[[:space:]]+refs\/tags\/([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)$ ]]; then
+  elif [[ "${REFERENCE}" =~ ^([[:alnum:]]+)[[:space:]]+refs\/tags\/([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)$ ]]; then
     export MS_COMMIT="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
     export MS_TAG="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
   else
-    echo "The following reference can't be parsed: ${reference}"
+    echo "The following reference can't be parsed: ${REFERENCE}"
     exit 1
   fi
 fi
diff --git a/version.sh b/version.sh
index 59ca17d..ff54587 100755
--- a/version.sh
+++ b/version.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ if [[ -z "${BUILD_SOURCEVERSION}" ]]; then
       export BUILD_SOURCEVERSION=$( echo "${vscodium_hash}:${vscode_hash}" | checksum )
     fi
 
-    echo "Build version: ${BUILD_SOURCEVERSION}"
+    echo "BUILD_SOURCEVERSION=\"${BUILD_SOURCEVERSION}\""
 
     # for GH actions
     if [[ $GITHUB_ENV ]]; then