diff --git a/pkg/front_end/tool/_fasta/entry_points.dart b/pkg/front_end/tool/_fasta/entry_points.dart
index f9178e3d087..4fb21ccf5fe 100644
--- a/pkg/front_end/tool/_fasta/entry_points.dart
+++ b/pkg/front_end/tool/_fasta/entry_points.dart
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ import 'package:kernel/target/targets.dart' show Target, TargetFlags, getTarget;
 
 import 'package:kernel/type_environment.dart' show SubtypeTester;
 
-import 'package:vm/bytecode/gen_bytecode.dart' show generateBytecode;
+import 'package:vm/bytecode/gen_bytecode.dart'
+    show createFreshComponentWithBytecode, generateBytecode;
+
 import 'package:vm/bytecode/options.dart' show BytecodeOptions;
 
 import 'package:front_end/src/api_prototype/compiler_options.dart'
@@ -330,16 +332,18 @@ Future<void> compilePlatformInternal(CompilerContext c, Uri fullOutput,
   new File.fromUri(outlineOutput).writeAsBytesSync(result.summary);
   c.options.ticker.logMs("Wrote outline to ${outlineOutput.toFilePath()}");
 
+  Component component = result.component;
   if (c.options.bytecode) {
-    generateBytecode(result.component,
+    generateBytecode(component,
         options: new BytecodeOptions(
             enableAsserts: true,
             emitSourceFiles: true,
             emitSourcePositions: true,
             environmentDefines: c.options.environmentDefines));
+    component = createFreshComponentWithBytecode(component);
   }
 
-  await writeComponentToFile(result.component, fullOutput,
+  await writeComponentToFile(component, fullOutput,
       filter: (lib) => !lib.isExternal);
 
   c.options.ticker.logMs("Wrote component to ${fullOutput.toFilePath()}");
diff --git a/runtime/vm/BUILD.gn b/runtime/vm/BUILD.gn
index 5850a9720de..92233277fc7 100644
--- a/runtime/vm/BUILD.gn
+++ b/runtime/vm/BUILD.gn
@@ -140,14 +140,13 @@ template("gen_vm_platform") {
       "-Ddart.developer.causal_async_stacks=$allow_causal_async_stacks",
       "-Ddart.isVM=true",
     ]
-
     if (defined(invoker.exclude_source) && invoker.exclude_source) {
       args += [ "--exclude-source" ]
     }
-    outline = "vm_outline" + output_postfix + ".dill"
-    if (dart_platform_bytecode) {
+    if (defined(invoker.bytecode) && invoker.bytecode) {
       args += [ "--bytecode" ]
     }
+    outline = "vm_outline" + output_postfix + ".dill"
   }
 }
 
@@ -161,6 +160,10 @@ gen_vm_platform("vm_platform_stripped") {
   add_implicit_vm_platform_dependency = false
   exclude_source = true
   output_postfix = "_strong_stripped"
+
+  if (dart_platform_bytecode) {
+    bytecode = true
+  }
 }
 
 group("kernel_platform_files") {