diff --git a/cmd/v/v.v b/cmd/v/v.v
index bbdcb765a8..f15c328ed0 100644
--- a/cmd/v/v.v
+++ b/cmd/v/v.v
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ const (
 )
 
 fn main() {
+	main_v()
+}
+
+fn main_v() {
 	args := os.args[1..]
 	// args = 123
 	if args.len == 0 || args[0] in ['-', 'repl'] {
diff --git a/vlib/v/builder/cc.v b/vlib/v/builder/cc.v
index 403b5e0609..244a406c1c 100644
--- a/vlib/v/builder/cc.v
+++ b/vlib/v/builder/cc.v
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ fn (mut v Builder) cc() {
 	ends_with_c := v.pref.out_name.ends_with('.c')
 	ends_with_js := v.pref.out_name.ends_with('.js')
 	if ends_with_c || ends_with_js {
+		v.pref.skip_running = true
 		// Translating V code to JS by launching vjs.
 		// Using a separate process for V.js is for performance mostly,
 		// to avoid constant is_js checks.
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ fn (mut v Builder) cc() {
 		os.mv_by_cp(v.out_name_c, v.pref.out_name) or {
 			panic(err)
 		}
-		exit(0)
+		return
 	}
 	// Cross compiling for Windows
 	if v.pref.os == .windows {
diff --git a/vlib/v/builder/compile.v b/vlib/v/builder/compile.v
index c08c7c5fda..769544195e 100644
--- a/vlib/v/builder/compile.v
+++ b/vlib/v/builder/compile.v
@@ -40,10 +40,11 @@ pub fn compile(command string, pref &pref.Preferences) {
 	if pref.is_stats {
 		println('compilation took: ${sw.elapsed().milliseconds()} ms')
 	}
+	// running does not require the parsers anymore
+	b.myfree()
 	if pref.is_test || pref.is_run {
 		b.run_compiled_executable_and_exit()
 	}
-	b.myfree()
 }
 
 // Temporary, will be done by -autofree
@@ -54,6 +55,9 @@ fn (mut b Builder) myfree() {
 }
 
 fn (mut b Builder) run_compiled_executable_and_exit() {
+	if b.pref.skip_running {
+		return
+	}
 	if b.pref.is_verbose {
 		println('============ running $b.pref.out_name ============')
 	}
diff --git a/vlib/v/pref/pref.v b/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
index 97bb16fb45..77ca994002 100644
--- a/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
+++ b/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ pub mut:
 	run_args            []string // `v run x.v 1 2 3` => `1 2 3`
 	printfn_list        []string // a list of generated function names, whose source should be shown, for debugging
 	print_v_files       bool     // when true, just print the list of all parsed .v files then stop.
+	skip_running        bool     // when true, do no try to run the produced file (set by b.cc(), when -o x.c or -o x.js)
 }
 
 pub fn backend_from_string(s string) ?Backend {