diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
index 51e0b83..51aa463 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml
@@ -174,6 +174,28 @@ jobs:
             -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o /tmp/el_native_fs
           /tmp/el_native_fs
 
+      # Build epm binary using elb (epm lives at repo root, not inside lang/)
+      - name: Build epm
+        run: |
+          ABS_ELB="$(pwd)/dist/bin/elb"
+          ABS_ELC="$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc"
+          ABS_RUNTIME="$(pwd)/el-compiler/runtime"
+          ABS_OUT="$(pwd)/dist/bin"
+          (cd ../epm && "$ABS_ELB" --clean --elc="$ABS_ELC" --runtime="$ABS_RUNTIME" --out="$ABS_OUT")
+          chmod +x dist/bin/epm
+          echo "epm built"
+
+      # Build el-install binary using elb
+      - name: Build el-install
+        run: |
+          ABS_ELB="$(pwd)/dist/bin/elb"
+          ABS_ELC="$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc"
+          ABS_RUNTIME="$(pwd)/el-compiler/runtime"
+          ABS_OUT="$(pwd)/dist/bin"
+          (cd tools/install && "$ABS_ELB" --clean --elc="$ABS_ELC" --runtime="$ABS_RUNTIME" --out="$ABS_OUT")
+          chmod +x dist/bin/el-install
+          echo "el-install built"
+
       # Publish only after merge (push event), not on PR validation runs
       - name: Publish El SDK to Artifact Registry (dev)
         if: github.event_name == 'push'
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
index 5dc7a40..5f4f016 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml
@@ -170,6 +170,42 @@ jobs:
             -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o /tmp/el_native_fs
           /tmp/el_native_fs
 
+      # Build elb (needed for epm and el-install builds below)
+      - name: Build elb
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p dist/bin
+          dist/platform/elc elb.el > dist/elb.c
+          gcc -O2 \
+            -I el-compiler/runtime \
+            dist/elb.c \
+            el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c \
+            -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm \
+            -o dist/bin/elb
+          chmod +x dist/bin/elb
+          echo "elb built"
+
+      # Build epm binary using elb (epm lives at repo root, not inside lang/)
+      - name: Build epm
+        run: |
+          ABS_ELB="$(pwd)/dist/bin/elb"
+          ABS_ELC="$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc"
+          ABS_RUNTIME="$(pwd)/el-compiler/runtime"
+          ABS_OUT="$(pwd)/dist/bin"
+          (cd ../epm && "$ABS_ELB" --clean --elc="$ABS_ELC" --runtime="$ABS_RUNTIME" --out="$ABS_OUT")
+          chmod +x dist/bin/epm
+          echo "epm built"
+
+      # Build el-install binary using elb
+      - name: Build el-install
+        run: |
+          ABS_ELB="$(pwd)/dist/bin/elb"
+          ABS_ELC="$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc"
+          ABS_RUNTIME="$(pwd)/el-compiler/runtime"
+          ABS_OUT="$(pwd)/dist/bin"
+          (cd tools/install && "$ABS_ELB" --clean --elc="$ABS_ELC" --runtime="$ABS_RUNTIME" --out="$ABS_OUT")
+          chmod +x dist/bin/el-install
+          echo "el-install built"
+
       # Publish only after merge (push event), not on PR validation runs
       - name: Publish El SDK to Artifact Registry (stage)
         if: github.event_name == 'push'
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
index c326259..35f2fc6 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ jobs:
           ABS_ELC="$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc"
           ABS_RUNTIME="$(pwd)/el-compiler/runtime"
           ABS_OUT="$(pwd)/dist/bin"
-          (cd ../epm && "$ABS_ELB" --elc="$ABS_ELC" --runtime="$ABS_RUNTIME" --out="$ABS_OUT")
+          (cd ../epm && "$ABS_ELB" --clean --elc="$ABS_ELC" --runtime="$ABS_RUNTIME" --out="$ABS_OUT")
           chmod +x dist/bin/epm
           echo "epm built"
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ jobs:
           ABS_ELC="$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc"
           ABS_RUNTIME="$(pwd)/el-compiler/runtime"
           ABS_OUT="$(pwd)/dist/bin"
-          (cd tools/install && "$ABS_ELB" --elc="$ABS_ELC" --runtime="$ABS_RUNTIME" --out="$ABS_OUT")
+          (cd tools/install && "$ABS_ELB" --clean --elc="$ABS_ELC" --runtime="$ABS_RUNTIME" --out="$ABS_OUT")
           chmod +x dist/bin/el-install
           echo "el-install built"
 
diff --git a/lang/tools/install/el-install.el b/lang/tools/install/el-install.el
index c0c98de..79a1eec 100644
--- a/lang/tools/install/el-install.el
+++ b/lang/tools/install/el-install.el
@@ -10,15 +10,6 @@
 //   export PATH="$HOME/.el/bin:$PATH"
 //   export EL_HOME="$HOME/.el"
 
-// ── Imports ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-import "../../runtime/string.el"
-import "../../runtime/env.el"
-import "../../runtime/fs.el"
-import "../../runtime/exec.el"
-import "../../runtime/json.el"
-import "../../runtime/http.el"
-
 // ── Constants ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 fn gitea_releases_url() -> String {