diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9c5c29d441
--- /dev/null
+++ b/TODO
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Binary packages
+---------------
+
+X Better error messages
+X Show 'Downloading' and 'Installing' messages a la ruby-build
+* Rewrite RbConfig::CONFIG['CC'] on install
+* Patch rbx since the rewriter doesn't work there
+X rbenv-install should check for binary packages before building
diff --git a/bin/rbenv-install b/bin/rbenv-install
index 486e5c9444..fc70f2b8e8 100755
--- a/bin/rbenv-install
+++ b/bin/rbenv-install
@@ -2,19 +2,26 @@
 set -e
 [ -n "$RBENV_DEBUG" ] && set -x
 
-# Provide rbenv completions
-if [ "$1" = "--complete" ]; then
-  exec ruby-build --definitions
-fi
+resolve_link() {
+  $(type -p greadlink readlink | head -1) $1
+}
 
-if [ -z "$RBENV_ROOT" ]; then
-  RBENV_ROOT="${HOME}/.rbenv"
-fi
+abs_dirname() {
+  local cwd="$(pwd)"
+  local path="$1"
 
-DEFINITION="$1"
-case "$DEFINITION" in
-"" | -* )
-  { echo "usage: rbenv install VERSION"
+  while [ -n "$path" ]; do
+    cd "${path%/*}"
+    local name="${path##*/}"
+    path="$(resolve_link "$name" || true)"
+  done
+
+  pwd
+  cd "$cwd"
+}
+
+usage() {
+  { echo "usage: rbenv install [--build | --package] VERSION"
     echo "       rbenv install /path/to/definition"
     echo
     echo "Available versions:"
@@ -22,11 +29,54 @@ case "$DEFINITION" in
     echo
   } >&2
   exit 1
+}
+
+bin_dir="$(abs_dirname "$0")"
+export PATH="${bin_dir}:$PATH"
+
+# Provide rbenv completions
+if [ "$1" = "--complete" ]; then
+  exec ruby-build --definitions
+fi
+
+force_build=""
+force_package=""
+if [ "$1" = "--build" ]; then
+  force_build=1
+  shift
+elif [ "$1" = "--package" ]; then
+  force_package=1
+  shift
+fi
+
+definition="$1"
+case "$definition" in
+"" | -* )
+  usage
   ;;
 esac
 
-VERSION_NAME="${DEFINITION##*/}"
-PREFIX="${RBENV_ROOT}/versions/${VERSION_NAME}"
+if [ -z "$RBENV_ROOT" ]; then
+  RBENV_ROOT="${HOME}/.rbenv"
+fi
+
+version_name="${definition##*/}"
+prefix="${RBENV_ROOT}/versions/${version_name}"
+
+package() {
+  ruby-package install $* "$definition" "$prefix"
+}
+
+build() {
+  ruby-build "$definition" "$prefix"
+}
+
+if [ -n "$force_build" ]; then
+  build
+elif [ -n "$force_package" ]; then
+  package
+else
+  package --fail-silently || build
+fi
 
-ruby-build "$DEFINITION" "$PREFIX"
-rbenv rehash
\ No newline at end of file
+rbenv rehash
diff --git a/bin/ruby-package b/bin/ruby-package
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..cbfc74bd23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/ruby-package
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+resolve_link() {
+  $(type -p greadlink readlink | head -1) $1
+}
+
+abs_dirname() {
+  local cwd="$(pwd)"
+  local path="$1"
+
+  while [ -n "$path" ]; do
+    cd "${path%/*}"
+    local name="${path##*/}"
+    path="$(resolve_link "$name" || true)"
+  done
+
+  pwd
+  cd "$cwd"
+}
+
+usage() {
+  echo "usage: ruby-package <command> [<args>]" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+bin_dir="$(abs_dirname "$0")"
+export PATH="${bin_dir}/../libexec:${bin_dir}:$PATH"
+
+command="$1"
+command_path="$(command -v ruby-package-"$1" || true)"
+
+if [ -z "$TMPDIR" ]; then
+  export TMPDIR="/tmp"
+else
+  export TMPDIR="${TMPDIR%/}"
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$command" ]; then
+  usage
+elif [ -z "$command_path" ]; then
+  echo "ruby-package: ${command}: command not found" >&2
+  usage
+fi
+
+shift
+exec "$command_path" "$@"
diff --git a/libexec/ruby-package-build b/libexec/ruby-package-build
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..4c8111222a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libexec/ruby-package-build
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+resolve_link() {
+  $(type -p greadlink readlink | head -1) $1
+}
+
+abs_dirname() {
+  local cwd="$(pwd)"
+  local path="$1"
+
+  while [ -n "$path" ]; do
+    cd "${path%/*}"
+    local name="${path##*/}"
+    path="$(resolve_link "$name" || true)"
+  done
+
+  pwd
+  cd "$cwd"
+}
+
+usage() {
+  echo "usage: ruby-package build [-v | --verbose] [--resume] DEFINITION"
+  exit 1
+}
+
+bin_root="$(abs_dirname "$0")"
+
+verbose=""
+resume=""
+
+while :; do
+  case "$1" in
+    "-v" | "--verbose" )
+      verbose="-v"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    "--resume" )
+      resume=1
+      shift
+      ;;
+    "-"* )
+      usage
+      ;;
+    * )
+      break
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+definition="$1"
+if [ -z "$definition" ]; then
+  usage
+fi
+
+package="${definition##*/}"
+prefix="/tmp/ruby-build/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/$package"
+
+package_dir="${package}.$(ruby-package platform)"
+
+if [ -z "$resume" ]; then
+  ruby-build $verbose "$definition" "$prefix"
+fi
+
+cwd="$(pwd)"
+cd "${prefix}/.."
+
+mkdir -p "${package_dir}/bin"
+cp "${bin_root}/../share/ruby-package/ruby-package-install" "${package_dir}/bin"
+cp "${bin_root}/../share/ruby-package/ruby-package-rewrite-text" "${package_dir}/bin"
+cc -Wall "${bin_root}/../share/ruby-package/ruby-package-rewrite-binary.c" -o "${package_dir}/bin/ruby-package-rewrite-binary"
+
+mkdir -p "${package_dir}/metadata"
+echo -n "$prefix" > "${package_dir}/metadata/prefix"
+echo -n "$package" > "${package_dir}/metadata/package"
+
+cd "$package"
+
+while read line; do
+  binary="${line#Binary file }"
+  if [ "$line" = "$binary" ]; then
+    # plain text match
+    text="${line%%:*}"
+    echo "$text" >> "../${package_dir}/metadata/text-files"
+  else
+    # binary match
+    binary="${binary% matches}"
+    echo "$binary" >> "../${package_dir}/metadata/binary-files"
+  fi
+done < <( grep -m 1 -R "$prefix" * )
+
+tar cf "../${package_dir}/package.tar" *
+
+cd ..
+
+tar czf "${cwd}/${package_dir}.rubypackage" "$package_dir"
+rm -fr "$package_dir"
+
+echo "${package_dir}.rubypackage"
diff --git a/libexec/ruby-package-fetch b/libexec/ruby-package-fetch
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..4e8d7b4937
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libexec/ruby-package-fetch
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+usage() {
+  echo "usage: ruby-package fetch [--check] PACKAGE" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+check() {
+  local url="$1"
+
+  set +e
+  curl -ILfs "$url" >/dev/null
+  local result="$?"
+  set -e
+
+  if [ "$result" -ne 0 ]; then
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
+
+download() {
+  local url="$1"
+  local filename="$2"
+
+  set +e
+  curl -Lfs "$url" > "$filename"
+  local result="$?"
+  set -e
+
+  if [ "$result" -ne 0 ]; then
+    return 1
+  elif [ ! -f "$filename" ]; then
+    return 1
+  else
+    echo "$filename"
+  fi
+}
+
+check=""
+if [ "$1" = "--check" ]; then
+  check=1
+  shift
+fi
+
+package="$1"
+if [ -z "$package" ]; then
+  usage
+fi
+
+package_name="${package}.$(ruby-package platform).rubypackage"
+
+package_repo="${RUBY_PACKAGE_REPO%/}"
+if [ -z "$ruby_package_repo" ]; then
+  package_repo="https://github.com/downloads/sstephenson/ruby-packages"
+fi
+
+package_url="${package_repo}/${package_name}"
+
+if [ -n "$check" ]; then
+  check "$package_url" || {
+    echo "error: package \`$package' not found ($package_url)"
+    exit 1
+  } >&2
+else
+  package_filename="${TMPDIR}/${package_name}.$$"
+  echo "Downloading $package_url..." >&2
+  download "$package_url" "$package_filename" || {
+    echo "error: couldn't download package \`$package' ($package_url)"
+    exit 1
+  } >&2
+fi
diff --git a/libexec/ruby-package-install b/libexec/ruby-package-install
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..d06bd7e10d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libexec/ruby-package-install
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+usage() {
+  echo "usage: ruby-package install [--fail-silently] PACKAGE DESTINATION" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+cleanup_packages() {
+  if [ -n "$package_root" ]; then
+    rm -rf "${package_root%/*}"
+  fi
+
+  if [ -n "$package_file" ]; then
+    if [ "$package" != "$package_file" ]; then
+      rm -rf "$package_file"
+    fi
+  fi
+}
+
+fail_silently=""
+if [ "$1" = "--fail-silently" ]; then
+  fail_silently=1
+  shift
+fi
+
+package="$1"
+if [ -z "$package" ]; then
+  usage
+fi
+
+destination="$2"
+if [ -z "$destination" ]; then
+  usage
+fi
+
+if [ -f "$package" ]; then
+  package_file="$package"
+else
+  if [ -n "$fail_silently" ]; then
+    ruby-package fetch --check "$package" 2>/dev/null
+  fi
+
+  package_file="$(ruby-package fetch "$package")"
+fi
+
+trap cleanup_packages SIGINT SIGTERM EXIT
+
+package_root="$(ruby-package unpack "$package_file")"
+package_name="$(cat "${package_root}/metadata/package")"
+
+echo "Installing ${package_name}..." >&2
+"${package_root}/bin/ruby-package-install" "$destination"
+echo "Installed ${package_name} to ${destination}" >&2
diff --git a/libexec/ruby-package-platform b/libexec/ruby-package-platform
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8abebc215f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libexec/ruby-package-platform
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+echo "$(uname -m)-$(uname -s)" | tr '[A-Z] ' '[a-z]_'
diff --git a/libexec/ruby-package-unpack b/libexec/ruby-package-unpack
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..ab1920d47c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libexec/ruby-package-unpack
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+resolve_link() {
+  $(type -p greadlink readlink | head -1) $1
+}
+
+abs_dirname() {
+  local cwd="$(pwd)"
+  local path="$1"
+
+  while [ -n "$path" ]; do
+    cd "${path%/*}" 2>/dev/null
+    local name="${path##*/}"
+    path="$(resolve_link "$name" || true)"
+  done
+
+  pwd
+  cd "$cwd"
+}
+
+usage() {
+  echo "usage: ruby-package unpack PACKAGE_FILE" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+package_file="$1"
+if [ -z "$package_file" ]; then
+  usage
+fi
+
+package_path="$(abs_dirname "$package_file")/${package_file##*/}"
+if [ ! -f "$package_path" ]; then
+  echo "error: file not found: $1" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+root="${TMPDIR}/ruby-package.$$"
+rm -fr "$root"
+mkdir -p "$root"
+
+cd "$root"
+tar xzf "$package_path"
+
+cd *
+package_root="$(pwd)"
+package_name="$(cat "$package_root"/metadata/package)"
+package_name_with_platform="${package_root##*/}"
+
+if [ "${package_name}.$(ruby-package platform)" != "$package_name_with_platform" ]; then
+  echo "error: invalid package format" >&2
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+echo "$package_root"
diff --git a/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-install b/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-install
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..6be5b6f827
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-install
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+prefix="$1"
+if [ -z "$prefix" ]; then
+  echo "usage: ruby-package-install PREFIX" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+resolve_link() {
+  $(type -p greadlink readlink | head -1) $1
+}
+
+abs_dirname() {
+  local cwd="$(pwd)"
+  local path="$1"
+
+  while [ -n "$path" ]; do
+    cd "${path%/*}"
+    local name="${path##*/}"
+    path="$(resolve_link "$name" || true)"
+  done
+
+  pwd
+  cd "$cwd"
+}
+
+bin_root="$(abs_dirname "$0")"
+package_root="${bin_root}/.."
+package_prefix="$(cat "${package_root}/metadata/prefix")"
+package="$(cat "${package_root}/metadata/package")"
+
+mkdir -p "$prefix"
+cd "$prefix"
+prefix="$(pwd)"
+
+rewrite() {
+  kind="$1"
+  while read file; do
+    path="${prefix}/$file"
+    cp "$path" "${path}.orig"
+    "${bin_root}/ruby-package-rewrite-$kind" "$package_prefix" "$prefix" < "${path}.orig" > "$path"
+    rm "${path}.orig"
+  done < "${package_root}/metadata/${kind}-files"
+}
+
+tar xzf "${package_root}/package.tar"
+rewrite binary
+rewrite text
diff --git a/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-rewrite-binary.c b/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-rewrite-binary.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f1496fc9cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-rewrite-binary.c
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#define BUF_SIZE 4096
+
+typedef struct {
+  unsigned int initial_size;
+  unsigned int size;
+  unsigned int pos;
+  char *data;
+} buf_t;
+
+void *buf_malloc(size_t size) {
+  void *result = malloc(size);
+
+  if (result == NULL) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "error allocating memory, aborting\n");
+    exit(1);
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
+void buf_init(buf_t *this, unsigned int size) {
+  this->initial_size = size;
+  this->size = size;
+  this->pos = 0;
+  this->data = buf_malloc(size);
+}
+
+void buf_grow(buf_t *this) {
+  unsigned int size = this->size + this->initial_size;
+  char *data = buf_malloc(size);
+
+  memcpy(data, this->data, this->size);
+  free(this->data);
+  this->data = data;
+  this->size = size;
+}
+
+int buf_putc(buf_t *this, int chr) {
+  if (this->pos == this->size) {
+    buf_grow(this);
+  }
+
+  this->data[this->pos] = chr;
+  this->pos++;
+  return chr;
+}
+
+void buf_append(buf_t *this, char *src, unsigned int length) {
+  unsigned int i;
+  for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+    buf_putc(this, src[i]);
+  }
+}
+
+void buf_concat(buf_t *this, buf_t *src) {
+  buf_append(this, src->data, src->pos);
+}
+
+void buf_print(buf_t *this, FILE *out) {
+  unsigned int i;
+  for (i = 0; i < this->pos; i++) {
+    fputc(this->data[i], out);
+  }
+}
+
+void buf_reset(buf_t *this) {
+  this->pos = 0;
+}
+
+void buf_destroy(buf_t *this) {
+  buf_reset(this);
+  free(this->data);
+  this->data = NULL;
+}
+
+void rewrite_chunk(buf_t *in, FILE *out, char *src_prefix, char *dst_prefix) {
+  unsigned int src_prefix_len, dst_prefix_len, chr, i;
+  buf_t result;
+
+  buf_init(&result, BUF_SIZE);
+  src_prefix_len = strlen(src_prefix);
+  dst_prefix_len = strlen(dst_prefix);
+  i = 0;
+
+  while (i < in->pos) {
+    buf_append(&result, dst_prefix, dst_prefix_len);
+    i += src_prefix_len;
+
+    while (i < in->pos && (chr = in->data[i++])) {
+      buf_putc(&result, chr);
+    }
+
+    buf_putc(&result, 0);
+  }
+
+  for (i = result.pos; i < in->pos; i++) {
+    buf_putc(&result, 0);
+  }
+
+  buf_print(&result, out);
+  buf_destroy(&result);
+}
+
+void rewrite(FILE *in, FILE *out, char *src_prefix, char *dst_prefix) {
+  unsigned int src_prefix_len, chr;
+  buf_t chunk, buf;
+
+  buf_init(&chunk, BUF_SIZE);
+  buf_init(&buf, BUF_SIZE);
+  src_prefix_len = strlen(src_prefix);
+
+  while ((chr = fgetc(in)) != EOF) {
+    if (buf.pos < src_prefix_len && chr == src_prefix[buf.pos]) {
+      buf_putc(&buf, chr);
+      continue;
+
+    } else if (buf.pos >= src_prefix_len && chr != 0) {
+      buf_putc(&buf, chr);
+      continue;
+
+    } else if (buf.pos > 0 && chr == 0) {
+      buf_concat(&chunk, &buf);
+      buf_putc(&chunk, 0);
+      buf_reset(&buf);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (chunk.pos > 0) {
+      if (chunk.pos > src_prefix_len) {
+        rewrite_chunk(&chunk, out, src_prefix, dst_prefix);
+      } else {
+        buf_print(&chunk, out);
+      }
+      buf_reset(&chunk);
+    }
+
+    if (buf.pos > 0) {
+      buf_print(&buf, out);
+      buf_reset(&buf);
+    }
+
+    fputc(chr, out);
+  }
+
+  buf_destroy(&buf);
+  buf_destroy(&chunk);
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv) {
+  char *src_prefix, *dst_prefix;
+  int src_prefix_length;
+
+  if (argc != 3) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s SRC_PREFIX DST_PREFIX\n", argv[0]);
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  src_prefix = argv[1];
+  src_prefix_length = strlen(src_prefix);
+  dst_prefix = argv[2];
+
+  if (strlen(dst_prefix) > strlen(src_prefix)) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "error: destination prefix must be %d bytes or less\n", src_prefix_length);
+    return 2;
+  }
+
+  rewrite(stdin, stdout, src_prefix, dst_prefix);
+
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-rewrite-text b/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-rewrite-text
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8d9d87bf09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/ruby-package/ruby-package-rewrite-text
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+src_prefix="$1"
+dst_prefix="$2"
+
+if [ -z "$src_prefix" ] || [ -z "$dst_prefix" ]; then
+  echo "usage: ruby-package-install-text SRC_PREFIX DST_PREFIX" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+sed "s:${src_prefix}:${dst_prefix}:g"