diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ee1732cf71e0ce9fef986b5f992676678e481b3f..985d96a21bdf07ea2e2e1bd2f5b1e9aa41d1a083 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ repositories
 tarballs.manifest
 manual-download
 .docker-image-*
+.tarball-version
 
 # QtCreator
 /build-*
diff --git a/Jenkinsfile b/Jenkinsfile
index f810811b3e2d0445445c4a903ffa320acff0a7ae..08c453d6f71fe60be244269e1a8a1798af4ee730 100644
--- a/Jenkinsfile
+++ b/Jenkinsfile
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@ See https://wiki.savoirfairelinux.com/wiki/Jenkins.jami.net#Configuration"
                 // environment variables used by Guix.
                 sh '''#!/usr/bin/env bash
                    test -f $HOME/.bashrc && . $HOME/.bashrc
-                   make portable-release-tarball
+                   make portable-release-tarball .tarball-version
                    '''
+                stash(includes: '*.tar.gz, .tarball-version',
+                      name: 'release-tarball')
             }
         }
 
@@ -81,8 +83,16 @@ See https://wiki.savoirfairelinux.com/wiki/Jenkins.jami.net#Configuration"
                         // Note: The stage calls are wrapped in closures, to
                         // delay their execution.
                         stages["${target}"] =  {
-                            stage("stage: ${target}") {
-                                sh "make ${target}"
+                            stage("${target}") {
+                                // Offload builds to different agents.
+                                node('linux-builder') {
+                                    cleanWs()
+                                    unstash 'release-tarball'
+                                    sh """
+                                       tar xf *.tar.gz --strip-components=1
+                                       make ${target}
+                                       """
+                                }
                             }
                         }
                     }
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4773d2415b80bde90623d706765c906319044f65..d44c594058eb35b5b16c99c83419805972cafa0a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@
 ##############################
 ## Version number variables ##
 ##############################
+TARBALL_VERSION := $(shell cat $(CURDIR)/.tarball-version 2> /dev/null)
+
+ifeq ($(TARBALL_VERSION),)
 # YYYY-MM-DD
 LAST_COMMIT_DATE:=$(shell git log -1 --format=%cd --date=short)
 
@@ -32,6 +35,10 @@ LAST_COMMIT_DATE_SHORT:=$(shell echo $(LAST_COMMIT_DATE) | sed -s 's/-//g')
 COMMIT_ID:=$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 
 RELEASE_VERSION:=$(LAST_COMMIT_DATE_SHORT).$(NUMBER_OF_COMMITS).$(COMMIT_ID)
+else
+$(warning Using version from the .tarball-version file: $(TARBALL_VERSION))
+RELEASE_VERSION:=$(TARBALL_VERSION)
+endif
 RELEASE_TARBALL_FILENAME:=jami_$(RELEASE_VERSION).tar.gz
 
 # Debian versions
@@ -59,6 +66,12 @@ CURRENT_GID:=$(shell id -g)
 #############################
 .PHONY: release-tarball purge-release-tarballs portable-release-tarball
 
+# This file can be used when not wanting to invoke the tarball
+# producing machinery (which depends on the Git checkout), nor its
+# prerequisites.  It is used to set the TARBALL_VERSION Make variable.
+.tarball-version:
+	echo $(RELEASE_VERSION) > $@
+
 purge-release-tarballs:
 	rm -f jami_*.tar.* tarballs.manifest
 
@@ -96,6 +109,7 @@ tarballs.manifest: daemon/contrib/native/Makefile
 	$(MAKE) fetch -j && \
 	$(MAKE) --no-print-directory --silent list-tarballs > "$(CURDIR)/$@"
 
+ifeq ($(TARBALL_VERSION),)
 # Generate the release tarball.  To regenerate a fresh tarball
 # manually clear the tarballs.manifest file.
 $(RELEASE_TARBALL_FILENAME): tarballs.manifest
@@ -117,6 +131,11 @@ $(RELEASE_TARBALL_FILENAME): tarballs.manifest
 	gzip $(TMPDIR)/ring-project.tar
 	mv $(TMPDIR)/ring-project.tar.gz "$@"
 	rm -rf $(TMPDIR)
+else
+# If TARBALL_VERSION is defined, assume it's already been generated,
+# without doing any checks, which would require Git.
+$(RELEASE_TARBALL_FILENAME):
+endif
 
 #######################
 ## Packaging targets ##