diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index dfe553d..eb803d8 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ Version [unreleased]
 - `-p` accepts an optional virtualenv directory and prefers the activated
   `VIRTUAL_ENV` over the virtualenv nodeenv itself is installed in
   `#156 <https://github.com/ekalinin/nodeenv/issues/156>`_
+- The "src" directory is now removed after installation by default, which
+  halves the size of an environment. Added `--no-clean-src` to keep it: with
+  `--source` that is what lets a repeated `--force` build reuse the
+  downloaded source tree
+  `#205 <https://github.com/ekalinin/nodeenv/issues/205>`_
 
 Version 1.3.1
 -------------
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 3b276f3..7bb9380 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -310,7 +310,11 @@ Installation options
     Set mirror server of nodejs.org to download from.
 
 ``-c, --clean-src``
-    Remove "src" directory after installation.
+    Remove "src" directory after installation. This is the default.
+
+``--no-clean-src``
+    Keep "src" directory after installation. With ``--source`` it holds the
+    downloaded source tree, so a repeated ``--force`` build reuses it.
 
 NPM options
 ^^^^^^^^^^^
@@ -407,6 +411,7 @@ These are the available options and their defaults::
     mirror = None
     prefer_system = False
     isolate_npm = False
+    clean_src = True
 
 Alternatives
 ------------
diff --git a/nodeenv.py b/nodeenv.py
index 7bf8bd4..1fd7e0e 100644
--- a/nodeenv.py
+++ b/nodeenv.py
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ class Config(object):
     mirror = None
     prefer_system = False
     isolate_npm = False
+    clean_src = True
 
     @classmethod
     def _load(cls, configfiles, verbose=False):
@@ -572,8 +573,13 @@ def make_parser():
 
     parser.add_argument(
         '--clean-src', '-c', dest='clean_src',
-        action='store_true', default=False,
-        help='Remove "src" directory after installation')
+        action='store_true', default=Config.clean_src,
+        help='Remove "src" directory after installation (default)')
+
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--no-clean-src', dest='clean_src',
+        action='store_false',
+        help='Keep "src" directory after installation')
 
     parser.add_argument(
         '--force', dest='force',
diff --git a/tests/nodeenv_test.py b/tests/nodeenv_test.py
index 529179d..8fd42cd 100644
--- a/tests/nodeenv_test.py
+++ b/tests/nodeenv_test.py
@@ -732,6 +732,53 @@ def test_parse_args_isolate_npm():
         assert nodeenv.parse_args().isolate_npm is False
 
 
+def test_clean_src_default():
+    assert nodeenv.Config._default['clean_src'] is True
+
+
+def test_clean_src_is_configurable(tmpdir):
+    rc = tmpdir.join('nodeenvrc')
+    rc.write('[nodeenv]\nclean_src = false\n')
+    try:
+        nodeenv.Config._load([str(rc)])
+        assert nodeenv.Config.clean_src is False
+    finally:
+        nodeenv.Config.clean_src = True
+
+
+def test_parse_args_clean_src():
+    with mock.patch.object(sys, 'argv', ['nodeenv', 'env']):
+        assert nodeenv.parse_args().clean_src is True
+    # still accepted, pre-commit passes it explicitly
+    with mock.patch.object(sys, 'argv', ['nodeenv', '-c', 'env']):
+        assert nodeenv.parse_args().clean_src is True
+    with mock.patch.object(sys, 'argv', ['nodeenv', '--no-clean-src', 'env']):
+        assert nodeenv.parse_args().clean_src is False
+
+
+def _run_create_environment(tmpdir, extra):
+    """
+    Run create_environment() in tmpdir without installing anything
+    """
+    argv = ['nodeenv', '--node', '26.9.0', '-p'] + extra
+    with mock.patch.object(sys, 'argv', argv):
+        args = nodeenv.parse_args()
+    with mock.patch.object(nodeenv, 'install_node'), \
+            mock.patch.object(nodeenv, 'install_activate'), \
+            mock.patch.object(nodeenv, 'set_predeactivate_hook'):
+        nodeenv.create_environment(str(tmpdir), args)
+
+
+def test_create_environment_cleans_src_by_default(tmpdir):
+    _run_create_environment(tmpdir, [])
+    assert not tmpdir.join('src').check()
+
+
+def test_create_environment_keeps_src_when_asked(tmpdir):
+    _run_create_environment(tmpdir, ['--no-clean-src'])
+    assert tmpdir.join('src').check(dir=True)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.skipif(nodeenv.is_WIN, reason='-n system is posix only')
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures('mock_host_platform')
 def test_main_prefer_system_uses_system_node(cap_logging_info):