diff --git a/pyscript.core/src/core.js b/pyscript.core/src/core.js
index d3955557..fb7092ab 100644
--- a/pyscript.core/src/core.js
+++ b/pyscript.core/src/core.js
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ import { ErrorCode } from "./exceptions.js";
 import { robustFetch as fetch, getText } from "./fetch.js";
 import { hooks, main, worker, codeFor, createFunction } from "./hooks.js";
 
-import stdlib from "./stdlib.js";
-export { stdlib };
+import { stdlib, optional } from "./stdlib.js";
+export { stdlib, optional };
 
 // generic helper to disambiguate between custom element and script
 const isScript = ({ tagName }) => tagName === "SCRIPT";
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ for (const [TYPE, interpreter] of TYPES) {
             // specific main and worker hooks
             const hooks = {
                 main: {
-                    ...codeFor(main),
+                    ...codeFor(main, TYPE),
                     async onReady(wrap, element) {
                         registerModule(wrap);
 
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ for (const [TYPE, interpreter] of TYPES) {
                     },
                 },
                 worker: {
-                    ...codeFor(worker),
+                    ...codeFor(worker, TYPE),
                     // these are lazy getters that returns a composition
                     // of the current hooks or undefined, if no hook is present
                     get onReady() {
diff --git a/pyscript.core/src/hooks.js b/pyscript.core/src/hooks.js
index 921ae6a9..03950bf4 100644
--- a/pyscript.core/src/hooks.js
+++ b/pyscript.core/src/hooks.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { typedSet } from "type-checked-collections";
 import { dedent } from "polyscript/exports";
 import toJSONCallback from "to-json-callback";
 
-import stdlib from "./stdlib.js";
+import { stdlib, optional } from "./stdlib.js";
 
 export const main = (name) => hooks.main[name];
 export const worker = (name) => hooks.worker[name];
@@ -15,10 +15,11 @@ const code = (hooks, branch, key, lib) => {
     };
 };
 
-export const codeFor = (branch) => {
+export const codeFor = (branch, type) => {
+    const pylib = type === "mpy" ? stdlib.replace(optional, "") : stdlib;
     const hooks = {};
-    code(hooks, branch, `codeBeforeRun`, stdlib);
-    code(hooks, branch, `codeBeforeRunAsync`, stdlib);
+    code(hooks, branch, `codeBeforeRun`, pylib);
+    code(hooks, branch, `codeBeforeRunAsync`, pylib);
     code(hooks, branch, `codeAfterRun`);
     code(hooks, branch, `codeAfterRunAsync`);
     return hooks;
diff --git a/pyscript.core/src/stdlib.js b/pyscript.core/src/stdlib.js
index ddc4efc2..45f2e162 100644
--- a/pyscript.core/src/stdlib.js
+++ b/pyscript.core/src/stdlib.js
@@ -8,6 +8,27 @@
 
 import pyscript from "./stdlib/pyscript.js";
 
+class Ignore extends Array {
+    #add = false;
+    #paths;
+    #array;
+    constructor(array, ...paths) {
+        super();
+        this.#array = array;
+        this.#paths = paths;
+    }
+    push(...values) {
+        if (this.#add) super.push(...values);
+        return this.#array.push(...values);
+    }
+    path(path) {
+        for (const _path of this.#paths) {
+            // bails out at the first `true` value
+            if ((this.#add = path.startsWith(_path))) break;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 const { entries } = Object;
 
 const python = [
@@ -16,16 +37,19 @@ const python = [
     "_path = None",
 ];
 
+const ignore = new Ignore(python, "./pyweb");
+
 const write = (base, literal) => {
     for (const [key, value] of entries(literal)) {
-        python.push(`_path = _Path("${base}/${key}")`);
+        ignore.path(`${base}/${key}`);
+        ignore.push(`_path = _Path("${base}/${key}")`);
         if (typeof value === "string") {
             const code = JSON.stringify(value);
-            python.push(`_path.write_text(${code},encoding="utf-8")`);
+            ignore.push(`_path.write_text(${code},encoding="utf-8")`);
         } else {
             // @see https://github.com/pyscript/pyscript/pull/1813#issuecomment-1781502909
-            python.push(`if not _os.path.exists("${base}/${key}"):`);
-            python.push("    _path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)");
+            ignore.push(`if not _os.path.exists("${base}/${key}"):`);
+            ignore.push("    _path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)");
             write(`${base}/${key}`, value);
         }
     }
@@ -42,4 +66,5 @@ python.push(
 );
 python.push("\n");
 
-export default python.join("\n");
+export const stdlib = python.join("\n");
+export const optional = ignore.join("\n");
diff --git a/pyscript.core/types/core.d.ts b/pyscript.core/types/core.d.ts
index a5680153..629011e3 100644
--- a/pyscript.core/types/core.d.ts
+++ b/pyscript.core/types/core.d.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import stdlib from "./stdlib.js";
+import { stdlib } from "./stdlib.js";
+import { optional } from "./stdlib.js";
 import TYPES from "./types.js";
 /**
  * A `Worker` facade able to bootstrap on the worker thread only a PyScript module.
@@ -51,4 +52,4 @@ declare const exportedHooks: {
 };
 declare const exportedConfig: {};
 declare const exportedWhenDefined: (type: string) => Promise<any>;
-export { stdlib, TYPES, exportedPyWorker as PyWorker, exportedMPWorker as MPWorker, exportedHooks as hooks, exportedConfig as config, exportedWhenDefined as whenDefined };
+export { stdlib, optional, TYPES, exportedPyWorker as PyWorker, exportedMPWorker as MPWorker, exportedHooks as hooks, exportedConfig as config, exportedWhenDefined as whenDefined };
diff --git a/pyscript.core/types/hooks.d.ts b/pyscript.core/types/hooks.d.ts
index e79ff791..6e676d42 100644
--- a/pyscript.core/types/hooks.d.ts
+++ b/pyscript.core/types/hooks.d.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 export function main(name: any): any;
 export function worker(name: any): any;
-export function codeFor(branch: any): {};
+export function codeFor(branch: any, type: any): {};
 export function createFunction(self: any, name: any): any;
 export namespace hooks {
     namespace main {
diff --git a/pyscript.core/types/stdlib.d.ts b/pyscript.core/types/stdlib.d.ts
index ae80ecad..c42c11ac 100644
--- a/pyscript.core/types/stdlib.d.ts
+++ b/pyscript.core/types/stdlib.d.ts
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-declare const _default: string;
-export default _default;
+export const stdlib: string;
+export const optional: string;