diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0cdd72f1f..bc9a9b552 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -606,6 +606,10 @@ Set the `COURSIER_NO_TERM` environment variable to `1`. This disables the
 progress bar message, and prints simple `Downloading URL` / `Downloaded URL`
 instead.
 
+#### On first launch, the coursier launcher downloads a 1.5+ MB JAR. Is it possible to have a standalone launcher, that would not need to download things on first launch?
+
+Run `project/generate-launcher.sh -s` from the root of the coursier sources. That will generate a new (bigger) `coursier` launcher, that needs not to download anything on first launch.
+
 ## Development tips
 
 #### Working on the plugin module in an IDE
diff --git a/bootstrap/src/main/java/coursier/Bootstrap.java b/bootstrap/src/main/java/coursier/Bootstrap.java
index 9caa2e4ec..c27a3b459 100644
--- a/bootstrap/src/main/java/coursier/Bootstrap.java
+++ b/bootstrap/src/main/java/coursier/Bootstrap.java
@@ -50,6 +50,15 @@ public class Bootstrap {
         return content.split("\n");
     }
 
+    /**
+     *
+     * @param jarDir can be null if nothing should be downloaded!
+     * @param isolationIDs
+     * @param bootstrapProtocol
+     * @param loader
+     * @return
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
     static Map<String, URL[]> readIsolationContexts(File jarDir, String[] isolationIDs, String bootstrapProtocol, ClassLoader loader) throws IOException {
         final Map<String, URL[]> perContextURLs = new LinkedHashMap<String, URL[]>();
 
@@ -151,6 +160,14 @@ public class Bootstrap {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     *
+     * @param urls
+     * @param jarDir: can be null if nothing should be downloaded!
+     * @param bootstrapProtocol
+     * @return
+     * @throws MalformedURLException
+     */
     static List<URL> getLocalURLs(List<URL> urls, final File jarDir, String bootstrapProtocol) throws MalformedURLException {
 
         ThreadFactory threadFactory = new ThreadFactory() {
@@ -178,6 +195,8 @@ public class Bootstrap {
             if (protocol.equals("file") || protocol.equals(bootstrapProtocol)) {
                 localURLs.add(url);
             } else {
+                assert jarDir != null : "Should not happen, not supposed to download things";
+
                 File dest = localFile(jarDir, url);
 
                 if (dest.exists()) {
@@ -190,6 +209,8 @@ public class Bootstrap {
 
         final Random random = new Random();
         for (final URL url : missingURLs) {
+            assert jarDir != null : "Should not happen, not supposed to download things";
+
             completionService.submit(new Callable<URL>() {
                 @Override
                 public URL call() throws Exception {
@@ -326,13 +347,17 @@ public class Bootstrap {
         String mainClass0 = System.getProperty("bootstrap.mainClass");
         String jarDir0 = System.getProperty("bootstrap.jarDir");
 
-        final File jarDir = new File(jarDir0);
+        File jarDir = null;
 
-        if (jarDir.exists()) {
-            if (!jarDir.isDirectory())
-                exit("Error: " + jarDir0 + " is not a directory");
-        } else if (!jarDir.mkdirs())
-            System.err.println("Warning: cannot create " + jarDir0 + ", continuing anyway.");
+        if (jarDir0 != null) {
+            jarDir = new File(jarDir0);
+
+            if (jarDir.exists()) {
+                if (!jarDir.isDirectory())
+                    exit("Error: " + jarDir0 + " is not a directory");
+            } else if (!jarDir.mkdirs())
+                System.err.println("Warning: cannot create " + jarDir0 + ", continuing anyway.");
+        }
 
         Random rng = new Random();
         String protocol = "bootstrap" + rng.nextLong();
diff --git a/coursier-standalone b/coursier-standalone
deleted file mode 100755
index bd6c81beb..000000000
Binary files a/coursier-standalone and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/doc/README.md b/doc/README.md
index b15f9be3d..e6586a44d 100644
--- a/doc/README.md
+++ b/doc/README.md
@@ -630,6 +630,10 @@ Set the `COURSIER_NO_TERM` environment variable to `1`. This disables the
 progress bar message, and prints simple `Downloading URL` / `Downloaded URL`
 instead.
 
+#### On first launch, the coursier launcher downloads a 1.5+ MB JAR. Is it possible to have a standalone launcher, that would not need to download things on first launch?
+
+Run `project/generate-launcher.sh -s` from the root of the coursier sources. That will generate a new (bigger) `coursier` launcher, that needs not to download anything on first launch.
+
 ## Development tips
 
 #### Working on the plugin module in an IDE
diff --git a/project/generate-launcher.sh b/project/generate-launcher.sh
index 81f999a63..3c3ea727a 100755
--- a/project/generate-launcher.sh
+++ b/project/generate-launcher.sh
@@ -20,4 +20,5 @@ fi
   -D "\${user.home}/.coursier/bootstrap/$VERSION" \
   -f -o coursier \
   -M coursier.cli.Coursier \
-  -P coursier.cache="\${user.home}/.coursier/cache/$CACHE_VERSION"
+  -P coursier.cache="\${user.home}/.coursier/cache/$CACHE_VERSION" \
+  "$@"
diff --git a/project/generate-standalone-launcher.sh b/project/generate-standalone-launcher.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 594adc9d8..000000000
--- a/project/generate-standalone-launcher.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -e
-
-cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
-
-if [ ! -e cli/target/scala-2.11/proguard/coursier-standalone.jar ]; then
-  echo "Generating proguarded JAR..." 1>&2
-  sbt cli/proguard:proguard
-fi
-
-cat > coursier-standalone << EOF
-#!/bin/sh
-exec java -noverify -cp "\$0" coursier.cli.Coursier "\$@"
-EOF
-cat cli/target/scala-2.11/proguard/coursier-standalone.jar >> coursier-standalone
-chmod +x coursier-standalone