diff --git a/src/duk_initjs.js b/src/duk_initjs.js
index 5a660507..85e0e097 100644
--- a/src/duk_initjs.js
+++ b/src/duk_initjs.js
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@
  *  compatible for user code when core features are changed, without burdening
  *  the main C code with compatibility stuff.
  *
- *  This file goes through UglifyJS to minify it.  UglifyJS renames variables,
- *  removes comments, and is clever enough to drop any "if (false) { ... }"
- *  blocks altogether, so that's an effective way to disable currently unneeded
- *  code.
+ *  This file is minified with UglifyJS or the closure compiler.  Both will
+ *  rename variables, remove comments, and are clever enough to drop any
+ *  "if (false) { ... }" blocks altogether, so that's an effective way to
+ *  disable currently unneeded code.
  */
 
 (function(G, D) {
diff --git a/util/make_dist.sh b/util/make_dist.sh
index 2b1c143f..77077f1c 100644
--- a/util/make_dist.sh
+++ b/util/make_dist.sh
@@ -211,14 +211,31 @@ for i in \
 done
 
 # Initjs code: built-in Ecmascript code snippets which are evaluated when
-# a new global context is created.  UglifyJS is used to compact the source,
-# not to obfuscate it (although that happens as an unwanted side effect).
+# a new global context is created.  UglifyJS or the closure compiler is
+# used to compact the source.  Obfuscating the code is not a goal, although
+# that happens as an unwanted side effect.
+#
+# Closure compiler --compilation_level ADVANCED_OPTIMIZATIONS breaks some
+# of the existing code, so don't use it.
 
-cat \
-	src/duk_initjs.js \
+cat src/duk_initjs.js \
 	| UglifyJS/bin/uglifyjs --ascii --no-dead-code --no-copyright \
-	> $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_min.js.tmp
-cp $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_min.js.tmp $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_min.js
+	> $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_uglify.js.tmp
+java -jar compiler.jar \
+	--warning_level QUIET \
+	--language_in ECMASCRIPT5 \
+	--compilation_level SIMPLE_OPTIMIZATIONS \
+	src/duk_initjs.js \
+	> $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_closure.js.tmp
+
+INITJS_ORIG=`wc -c < src/duk_initjs.js`
+INITJS_UGLIFY=`wc -c < $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_uglify.js.tmp`
+INITJS_CLOSURE=`wc -c < $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_closure.js.tmp`
+echo "Minified initjs size: original=$INITJS_ORIG, UglifyJS=$INITJS_UGLIFY, closure=$INITJS_CLOSURE"
+
+# choose which minifier to use
+#echo "Using UglifyJS minified version"; cp $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_uglify.js.tmp $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_min.js
+echo "Using closure minified version"; cp $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_closure.js.tmp $DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_min.js
 
 # Autogenerated strings and built-in files
 #
@@ -234,7 +251,7 @@ python src/genbuildparams.py \
 
 python src/genbuiltins.py \
 	--buildinfo=$DISTSRCSEP/buildparams.json.tmp \
-	--initjs-data=$DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_min.js.tmp \
+	--initjs-data=$DISTSRCSEP/duk_initjs_min.js \
 	--out-header=$DISTSRCSEP/duk_builtins.h \
 	--out-source=$DISTSRCSEP/duk_builtins.c \