diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index d83379030d..1b92412d54 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -99,14 +99,20 @@ aliases:
 
         mispipe ./tools/ci/setup-production ts
 
-  - &install_production
+  - &production_extract_tarball
     run:
-     name: install production
+     name: production extract tarball
      command: |
       sudo apt-get update
       # Install moreutils so we can use `ts` and `mispipe` in the following.
       sudo apt-get install -y moreutils
 
+      mispipe /tmp/production-extract-tarball ts
+
+  - &install_production
+    run:
+     name: install production
+     command: |
       sudo service rabbitmq-server restart
       mispipe /tmp/production ts
 
@@ -245,6 +251,7 @@ jobs:
             - success-http-headers.txt
             - production-helper
             - production
+            - production-extract-tarball
 
   "bionic-production-install-python3.6":
     docker:
@@ -262,6 +269,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - *create_cache_directories
       - *do_bionic_hack
+      - *production_extract_tarball
       - *restore_cache_package_json
       - *install_production
       - *save_cache_package_json
diff --git a/tools/ci/production-extract-tarball b/tools/ci/production-extract-tarball
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..484b5ecc00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ci/production-extract-tarball
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
+set -x
+
+ZULIP_PATH=~/zulip
+tar -xf /tmp/zulip-server-test.tar.gz -C "$ZULIP_PATH" --strip-components=1
diff --git a/tools/ci/production-helper b/tools/ci/production-helper
index aaadcc14a4..bf33e26d60 100755
--- a/tools/ci/production-helper
+++ b/tools/ci/production-helper
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
 set -e
 set -x
 
-ZULIP_PATH=$(mktemp -d)
-tar -xf /tmp/zulip-server-test.tar.gz -C "$ZULIP_PATH" --strip-components=1
+ZULIP_PATH=~/zulip
 
 # Do an apt upgrade to start with an up-to-date machine
 APT_OPTIONS=(-o 'Dpkg::Options::=--force-confdef' -o 'Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold')
diff --git a/tools/ci/setup-production b/tools/ci/setup-production
index edcef4e385..f0870efd19 100755
--- a/tools/ci/setup-production
+++ b/tools/ci/setup-production
@@ -32,3 +32,4 @@ mv /tmp/tmp.*/zulip-server-test.tar.gz /tmp/
 cp -a tools/ci/success-http-headers.txt /tmp/success-http-headers.txt
 cp -a tools/ci/production /tmp/production
 cp -a tools/ci/production-helper /tmp/production-helper
+cp -a tools/ci/production-extract-tarball /tmp/production-extract-tarball