diff --git a/third_party/python/pycomp.c b/third_party/python/pycomp.c
index 558105d77..d1630da09 100644
--- a/third_party/python/pycomp.c
+++ b/third_party/python/pycomp.c
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
     Py_SetProgramName(gc(utf8toutf32(argv[0], -1, 0)));
     _Py_InitializeEx_Private(1, 0);
     name = gc(xjoinpaths(".python", StripComponents(inpath, 3)));
-    code = Py_CompileStringExFlags(p, name, Py_file_input, NULL, 0);
+    code = Py_CompileStringExFlags(p, name, Py_file_input, NULL, optimize);
     if (!code) goto error;
     marshalled = PyMarshal_WriteObjectToString(code, Py_MARSHAL_VERSION);
     Py_CLEAR(code);