diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_experimental.yml b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_experimental.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..52c239152c48317ad51dd84bb077cf5ff79d9d90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_experimental.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+include: .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/common.yml
+
+# See comments in static_x86_64_experimental.yml.
+build:static-arm64-linux-binaries:
+  extends:
+    - .build_static_binaries_template
+  variables:
+    ARCH: "arm64"
+    EXECUTABLE_FILES: "script-inputs/released-executables script-inputs/experimental-executables"
+  tags:
+    - arm64
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_linux_binaries.yml b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_release.yml
similarity index 57%
rename from .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_linux_binaries.yml
rename to .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_release.yml
index 86b191e70192b9339ab86d164faf43b61a8ac220..81becf4d396d219aed8a46a5413e380669e7110f 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_linux_binaries.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_release.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 include: .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/common.yml
 
-# arm64 static binaries are only built for master and releases.
+# See comments in static_x86_64_experimental.yml.
 build:static-arm64-linux-binaries:
   extends:
     - .build_static_binaries_template
   variables:
     ARCH: "arm64"
+    EXECUTABLE_FILES: "script-inputs/released-executables"
   tags:
-    - arm64
\ No newline at end of file
+    - arm64
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_experimental.yml b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_experimental.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b88d3c0492741486f08d87457d840218446df2cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_experimental.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+include: .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/common.yml
+
+# This version of the job builds both released and experimental executables.
+# It is used in the following pipelines:
+# - Before merging: check whether static executables still compile,
+#   i.e. that we do pass the -static flag and that when we do it does compile
+# - Master branch: executables (including experimental ones) are used in some test networks
+# Variants:
+# - an arm64 variant exist, but is only used in the master branch pipeline
+#   (no need to test that we pass the -static flag twice)
+# - released variants exist, that are used in release tag pipelines
+#   (they do not build experimental executables)
+build:static-x86_64-linux-binaries:
+  extends:
+    - .build_static_binaries_template
+    # Even though not many tests depend on static executables, some of those that do
+    # are limiting factors in the total duration of pipelines.
+    # So we start this job as early as possible, without waiting for sanity_ci.
+  needs: [trigger]
+  variables:
+    ARCH: "x86_64"
+    EXECUTABLE_FILES: "script-inputs/released-executables script-inputs/experimental-executables"
+  tags:
+    - build_dedicated
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_linux_binaries.yml b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_linux_binaries.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 1d0ba5f2f3c9adc15957b104205fb685d6244c6c..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_linux_binaries.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-include: .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/common.yml
-
-# x86_64 static binaries are necessary for development branches, as we want to make
-# sure the build does not break. We also need it for release tags, to as its artifacts
-# are published in the stage `publish_release`. For this reason, we build it in all pipelines,
-# except on latest release branches.
-build:static-x86_64-linux-binaries:
-  extends:
-    - .build_static_binaries_template
-    # Even though not many tests depend on static executables, some of those that do
-    # are limiting factors in the total duration of pipelines.
-    # So we start this job as early as possible, without waiting for sanity_ci.
-  needs: [trigger]
-  variables:
-    ARCH: "x86_64"
-  tags:
-    - build_dedicated
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_release.yml b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2a37903cd72dc4db4c8347cf5dbc5bae765f9b46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+include: .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/common.yml
+
+# See comments in static_x86_64_experimental.yml.
+build:static-x86_64-linux-binaries:
+  extends:
+    - .build_static_binaries_template
+  needs: [trigger]
+  variables:
+    ARCH: "x86_64"
+    EXECUTABLE_FILES: "script-inputs/released-executables"
+  tags:
+    - build_dedicated
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/before_merging.yml b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/before_merging.yml
index 41c8d0aea3f92575045f8fe83ff4ab2dcea4f9c1..443b768b4467983391a2ac8da00b161ea4efb180 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/before_merging.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/before_merging.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ include:
 
   # Stage: build
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/check.yml
-  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_linux_binaries.yml
+  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_experimental.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/arm64.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/x86_64.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/get_contracts.yml
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/master_branch.yml b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/master_branch.yml
index 36a26c7bfc0d76f601f67f7e10b3a95845284799..83cd9107641911ef05754822ab22b7558bba816d 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/master_branch.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/master_branch.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 include:
   # Stage: build
-  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_linux_binaries.yml
-  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_linux_binaries.yml
+  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_experimental.yml
+  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_experimental.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/arm64.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/docker_amd64_release.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/docker_arm64_release.yml
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/release_tag.yml b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/release_tag.yml
index afcefdbfe8fbc8c77e46df6c7c97a7ba011f0bc6..d734123b612226615bfa424470fc5c6f8507cc11 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/release_tag.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/release_tag.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 include:
   # Stage: build
-  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_linux_binaries.yml
-  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_linux_binaries.yml
+  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_release.yml
+  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_release.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/docker_amd64_release.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/docker_arm64_release.yml
 
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/release_tag_test.yml b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/release_tag_test.yml
index 246770a0658f77393653aaaf5054a6d3408d5db8..a50d5e6ec4f1f175b0091e686f0eeb0687dd72cd 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/release_tag_test.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/release_tag_test.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 include:
   # Stage: build
-  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_linux_binaries.yml
-  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_linux_binaries.yml
+  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_release.yml
+  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_arm64_release.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/docker_amd64_test.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/docker_arm64_test.yml
 
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/schedule_extended_test.yml b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/schedule_extended_test.yml
index a153c85ba6e49d897f433a65fb14333952283d67..6813921cd12527c41ec2e6fae2bec2fe6eae936f 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/schedule_extended_test.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/pipelines/schedule_extended_test.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ include:
   # Stage: build
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/x86_64.yml
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/arm64.yml
-  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_linux_binaries.yml
+  - .gitlab/ci/jobs/build/static_x86_64_experimental.yml
 
   # Stage: test
   - .gitlab/ci/jobs/test/integration_pytest_old_protocols.yml
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0a5ecd0c54f7d78934da37d500f936ca7e8d3370..4f46a14764c34d949a079843a7b4a4425eae952a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ all:
 release:
 	@$(MAKE) build PROFILE=release
 
+.PHONY: static
+static:
+	@$(MAKE) build build-unreleased PROFILE=static
+
 .PHONY: build-parameters
 build-parameters:
 	@dune build --profile=$(PROFILE) $(COVERAGE_OPTIONS) @copy-parameters
diff --git a/manifest/manifest.ml b/manifest/manifest.ml
index d59410075811dad42ba6a376d7b53cdfa11b2cde..96781ce50c4318e53dfd7b68df4248af6b6a886d 100644
--- a/manifest/manifest.ml
+++ b/manifest/manifest.ml
@@ -2824,36 +2824,18 @@ let generate_package_json_file () =
        pp_dep)
     (List.sort compare !l)
 
-let generate_binaries_for_release () =
-  write "script-inputs/binaries-for-release" @@ fun fmt ->
-  !Target.registered
-  |> List.iter (fun (internal : Target.internal) ->
-         match internal.release_status with
-         | Unreleased | Auto_opam -> ()
-         | Experimental ->
-             (* [binaries-for-release] is only used in tag releases. *)
-             ()
-         | Released -> (
-             match internal.kind with
-             | Public_library _ | Private_library _ | Private_executable _
-             | Test_executable _ ->
-                 ()
-             | Public_executable ne_list ->
-                 Ne_list.to_list ne_list
-                 |> List.iter (fun (full_name : Target.full_name) ->
-                        Format.fprintf fmt "%s@." full_name.public_name)))
-
-let generate_static_packages () =
-  write "script-inputs/static-packages" @@ fun fmt ->
-  Target.iter_internal_by_opam (fun package internals ->
-      if
-        List.exists
-          (fun (internal : Target.internal) ->
-            match internal.kind with
-            | Public_executable _ | Private_executable _ -> internal.static
-            | Public_library _ | Private_library _ | Test_executable _ -> false)
-          internals
-      then Format.fprintf fmt "%s\n" package)
+let generate_executable_list filename release_status_to_list =
+  write filename @@ fun fmt ->
+  Fun.flip List.iter !Target.registered @@ fun (internal : Target.internal) ->
+  if internal.release_status = release_status_to_list then
+    match internal.kind with
+    | Public_library _ | Private_library _ | Private_executable _
+    | Test_executable _ ->
+        ()
+    | Public_executable ne_list ->
+        Fun.flip List.iter (Ne_list.to_list ne_list)
+        @@ fun (full_name : Target.full_name) ->
+        Format.fprintf fmt "%s@." full_name.public_name
 
 let generate_workspace env dune =
   let pp_dune fmt dune =
@@ -3336,10 +3318,12 @@ let generate ~make_tezt_exe ~default_profile ~add_to_meta_package =
     generate_opam_files () ;
     generate_dune_project_files () ;
     generate_package_json_file () ;
-    generate_static_packages () ;
     let opam_release_graph = compute_opam_release_graph () in
     generate_opam_ci opam_release_graph ;
-    generate_binaries_for_release () ;
+    generate_executable_list "script-inputs/released-executables" Released ;
+    generate_executable_list
+      "script-inputs/experimental-executables"
+      Experimental ;
     generate_profiles ~default_profile ;
     Option.iter
       (generate_opam_files_for_release
diff --git a/script-inputs/experimental-executables b/script-inputs/experimental-executables
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5fef8801618048f49afc2ed3f1c473dcfc53ce8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script-inputs/experimental-executables
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+octez-dal-node
+octez-tx-rollup-node-alpha
+octez-tx-rollup-client-alpha
+octez-wasm-repl-alpha
+octez-sc-rollup-node-alpha
+octez-sc-rollup-client-alpha
+octez-accuser-alpha
+octez-baker-alpha
diff --git a/script-inputs/binaries-for-release b/script-inputs/released-executables
similarity index 100%
rename from script-inputs/binaries-for-release
rename to script-inputs/released-executables
diff --git a/script-inputs/static-packages b/script-inputs/static-packages
deleted file mode 100644
index 1ffe64ec09903d2463407179736af81bd80b8c97..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/script-inputs/static-packages
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-octez-accuser-PtKathma
-octez-accuser-PtLimaPt
-octez-accuser-alpha
-octez-baker-PtKathma
-octez-baker-PtLimaPt
-octez-baker-alpha
-octez-client
-octez-codec
-octez-dal-node
-octez-node
-octez-protocol-compiler
-octez-proxy-server
-octez-sc-rollup-client-alpha
-octez-sc-rollup-node-alpha
-octez-signer
-octez-snoop
-octez-tx-rollup-client-PtKathma
-octez-tx-rollup-client-PtLimaPt
-octez-tx-rollup-client-alpha
-octez-tx-rollup-node-PtKathma
-octez-tx-rollup-node-PtLimaPt
-octez-tx-rollup-node-alpha
-octez-wasm-repl
-tezos-version
diff --git a/scripts/build_and_install_static_binaries.sh b/scripts/build_and_install_static_binaries.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 82fa483d460b9c6cdd6288afda00e6e5c9dffdcb..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/scripts/build_and_install_static_binaries.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env sh
-
-# Used in the CI to build and install the static binaries.
-
-set -eu
-
-if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
-    echo "usage: $0 DESTDIR"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-tmp_dir=$(mktemp -dt tezos_static_install.XXXXXXXX)
-cleanup () {
-    set +e
-    echo Cleaning up...
-    rm -rf "$tmp_dir"
-}
-trap cleanup EXIT INT
-
-# shellcheck disable=SC2046
-dune build   --profile static $(xargs -I {} echo {}.install < script-inputs/static-packages)
-# shellcheck disable=SC2046
-dune install --profile static --prefix "$tmp_dir" $(cat script-inputs/static-packages)
-
-mv "$tmp_dir/bin" "$1"
-
-# Make sure binaries are statically linked
-find -L "$1" -type f -not -name "*.sh" |
-while read -r b; do
-    file "$(realpath "$b")" | grep "statically linked";
-done
-
-# Make sure octez-client knows about build-infos
-SHA=$(git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD)
-client_version=$("$1/octez-client" --version | cut -f 1 -d ' ')
-if [ "$SHA" != "$client_version" ]; then
-    echo "Unexpected version for octez-client (expected $SHA, found $client_version)"
-    exit 1
-fi
-echo "octez-client --version returned the expected commit hash: $SHA"
-
-# Trim the dune cache, if used.
-dune cache trim --size=250GB
diff --git a/scripts/ci/build_static_binaries.sh b/scripts/ci/build_static_binaries.sh
index 34b5593480b8b4883f3e9c18fbc3209e2fa4ea38..6a235a18afb830af09a878da405094d95f14c437 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/build_static_binaries.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/build_static_binaries.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,65 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-set -eu
+set -e
+
+if [ -z "$EXECUTABLE_FILES" ]; then
+    echo "Error: environment variable EXECUTABLE_FILES is empty."
+    echo "Set it to e.g. 'script-inputs/released-executables'"
+    echo "or to 'script-inputs/released-executables script-inputs/experimental-executables'."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$ARCH" ]; then
+    echo "Error: environment variable ARCH is empty."
+    echo "Set it to e.g. 'x86_64' or 'amd64'."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+set -u
 
 echo "Create destination directory"
-mkdir -pv octez-binaries
+mkdir -pv "octez-binaries/$ARCH"
 
 echo "Build and install static binaries"
-./scripts/build_and_install_static_binaries.sh "octez-binaries/${ARCH}"
+make static
+
+# Trim the dune cache, if used.
+dune cache trim --size=250GB
+
+echo "Check executables and move them to the destination directory"
+# Disable https://www.shellcheck.net/wiki/SC2086 because:
+# - it's meant to prevent word splitting and we actually want to split words
+#   in $EXECUTABLE_FILES and we can't use an array because the variable
+#   comes from the CI
+# - it's meant to prevent globbing but actually we don't mind globbing here
+#   even if we don't use it right now
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086
+cat $EXECUTABLE_FILES |
+while read -r executable; do
+    if [ ! -f "$executable" ]; then
+        echo "Error: $executable does not exist"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    if (file "$executable" | grep -q "statically linked"); then
+        echo "Statically linked: $executable"
+    else
+        echo "Error: $executable is not statically linked"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    mv "$executable" "octez-binaries/$ARCH/$executable"
+    # Write access is needed by strip below.
+    chmod +w "octez-binaries/$ARCH/$executable"
+done
+
+echo 'Check octez-client --version'
+SHA=$(git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD)
+client_version=$("octez-binaries/$ARCH/octez-client" --version | cut -f 1 -d ' ')
+if [ "$SHA" != "$client_version" ]; then
+    echo "Unexpected version for octez-client (expected $SHA, found $client_version)"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "octez-client --version returned the expected commit hash: $SHA"
 
 echo "Strip debug symbols and compress binaries (parallelized)"
 # shellcheck disable=SC2046,SC2038
diff --git a/scripts/ci/release.sh b/scripts/ci/release.sh
index 1b33f2d8cc7e747fb6ac3019395d372b2501d2e5..ed049a8101be7927b68f1d9ba047dad9b76e04ea 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/release.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ scripts_dir=$(dirname "$current_dir")
 src_dir=$(dirname "$scripts_dir")
 script_inputs_dir="$src_dir/script-inputs"
 
-binaries="$(cat "$script_inputs_dir/binaries-for-release")"
+binaries="$(cat "$script_inputs_dir/released-executables")"
 
 ### Compute GitLab release names