diff --git a/utils/nightly/gmsh.ctest b/utils/nightly/gmsh.ctest
index 29237c71cab61c22e8d07d76eb6db9044a8d916e..39f7ae5e3fb6505def18e47935e79d311bfe7f0d 100644
--- a/utils/nightly/gmsh.ctest
+++ b/utils/nightly/gmsh.ctest
@@ -101,4 +101,6 @@ macro(upload_package WEB ARCH EXTRA EXT1 EXT2)
       endif(${FILE} MATCHES "-svn")
     endif(FILE)
   endif($ENV{GMSH_BUILD_ERRORS} GREATER 0)
+  # also remove build files here to save space
+  ctest_empty_binary_directory(${CTEST_BINARY_DIRECTORY})
 endmacro(upload_package)