diff --git a/src/bin/repo.rs b/src/bin/repo.rs
index f1eebf228..3b81c828c 100644
--- a/src/bin/repo.rs
+++ b/src/bin/repo.rs
@@ -591,19 +591,14 @@ fn handle_cook(
 
     if config.cook.clean_target {
         let stage_dirs = get_stage_dirs(&recipe.recipe.optional_packages, &target_dir);
-        if config.cook.verbose && stage_dirs.iter().any(|d| d.is_dir()) {
-            log_to_pty!(logger, "DEBUG: Listing stage files before removing them");
-        }
         for stage_dir in stage_dirs {
             if stage_dir.is_dir() {
-                if config.cook.verbose {
-                    if let Some(stage_name) = stage_dir.file_name() {
-                        log_to_pty!(logger, "--- {}.pkgar:", stage_name.to_string_lossy());
-                    }
-                    tree::walk_file_tree(&stage_dir, "    ", logger)?;
-                }
-                fs::remove_dir_all(&stage_dir)
-                    .map_err(|err| anyhow!("failed to remove stage dir: {:?}", err))?;
+                let mut stage_files_buf = String::new();
+                tree::walk_file_tree(&stage_dir, "", &mut stage_files_buf)
+                    .context("failed to walk stage files tree")?;
+                fs::write(stage_dir.with_added_extension("files"), stage_files_buf)
+                    .context("unable to write stage files")?;
+                fs::remove_dir_all(&stage_dir).context("failed to remove stage dir")?;
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/cook/cook_build.rs b/src/cook/cook_build.rs
index 2ec252e02..183390d77 100644
--- a/src/cook/cook_build.rs
+++ b/src/cook/cook_build.rs
@@ -470,9 +470,14 @@ pub fn remove_stage_dir(stage_dir: &PathBuf) -> Result<(), String> {
         remove_all(&stage_file)?;
     }
     let stage_meta = stage_dir.with_added_extension("toml");
-    Ok(if stage_meta.is_file() {
+    if stage_meta.is_file() {
         remove_all(&stage_meta)?;
-    })
+    }
+    let stage_files = stage_dir.with_added_extension("files");
+    if stage_files.is_file() {
+        remove_all(&stage_files)?;
+    }
+    Ok(())
 }
 
 pub fn get_stage_dirs(features: &Vec<OptionalPackageRecipe>, target_dir: &Path) -> Vec<PathBuf> {
diff --git a/src/cook/tree.rs b/src/cook/tree.rs
index 0174a5cf3..9bb51281e 100644
--- a/src/cook/tree.rs
+++ b/src/cook/tree.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
+use anyhow::Context;
+use pkg::{Package, PackageName};
+use std::fmt::Write as _;
 use std::{
     collections::{HashMap, HashSet},
     fs::read_to_string,
     path::PathBuf,
 };
 
-use anyhow::Context;
-use pkg::{Package, PackageName};
-
-use crate::{cook::pty::PtyOut, log_to_pty, recipe::CookRecipe};
+use crate::recipe::CookRecipe;
 
 pub enum WalkTreeEntry<'a> {
     Built(&'a PathBuf, u64),
@@ -123,11 +123,11 @@ pub fn display_pkg_fn(
     Ok(())
 }
 
-pub fn walk_file_tree(dir: &PathBuf, prefix: &str, logger: &PtyOut) -> std::io::Result<u64> {
+pub fn walk_file_tree(dir: &PathBuf, prefix: &str, buffer: &mut String) -> std::io::Result<u64> {
     if !dir.is_dir() {
         return Ok(0);
     }
-
+    let fmt_err = std::io::Error::other;
     let entries: Vec<_> = std::fs::read_dir(dir)?.filter_map(|e| e.ok()).collect();
     let mut total_size = 0;
     for (index, entry) in entries.iter().enumerate() {
@@ -142,20 +142,21 @@ pub fn walk_file_tree(dir: &PathBuf, prefix: &str, logger: &PtyOut) -> std::io::
             .unwrap_or("Unknown");
 
         if path.is_dir() {
-            log_to_pty!(logger, "{}{}{}/", prefix, line_prefix, file_name);
+            writeln!(buffer, "{}{}{}/", prefix, line_prefix, file_name).map_err(fmt_err)?;
             let new_prefix = format!("{}{}", prefix, if is_last { "    " } else { "│   " });
-            walk_file_tree(&path, &new_prefix, logger)?;
+            walk_file_tree(&path, &new_prefix, buffer)?;
         } else {
             let size = metadata.len();
             total_size += size;
-            log_to_pty!(
-                logger,
+            writeln!(
+                buffer,
                 "{}{}{} ({})",
                 prefix,
                 line_prefix,
                 file_name,
                 format_size(size)
-            );
+            )
+            .map_err(fmt_err)?;
         }
     }