diff --git a/bootstrap-haskell b/bootstrap-haskell
index 0a89e66..2d51d9a 100755
--- a/bootstrap-haskell
+++ b/bootstrap-haskell
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # Main settings:
 #   * BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_NONINTERACTIVE - any nonzero value for noninteractive installation
 #   * BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_NO_UPGRADE - any nonzero value to not trigger the upgrade
+#   * BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_MINIMAL - any nonzero value to only install ghcup
 #   * GHCUP_USE_XDG_DIRS - any nonzero value to respect The XDG Base Directory Specification
 #   * BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_VERBOSE - any nonzero value for more verbose installation
 #   * BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_GHC_VERSION - the ghc version to install
@@ -591,10 +592,12 @@ ask_bashrc
 ask_bashrc_answer=$?
 ask_cabal_config_init
 ask_cabal_config_init_answer=$?
-ask_hls
-ask_hls_answer=$?
-ask_stack
-ask_stack_answer=$?
+if [ -z "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_MINIMAL}" ] ; then
+	ask_hls
+	ask_hls_answer=$?
+	ask_stack
+	ask_stack_answer=$?
+fi
 
 edo mkdir -p "${GHCUP_BIN}"
 
@@ -620,14 +623,30 @@ if [ -z "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_NONINTERACTIVE}" ] ; then
     read -r answer </dev/tty
 fi
 
-eghcup --cache install ghc "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_GHC_VERSION}"
+if [ -z "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_MINIMAL}" ] ; then
+	eghcup --cache install ghc "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_GHC_VERSION}"
 
-eghcup set ghc "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_GHC_VERSION}"
-eghcup --cache install cabal "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_CABAL_VERSION}"
+	eghcup set ghc "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_GHC_VERSION}"
+	eghcup --cache install cabal "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_CABAL_VERSION}"
 
-do_cabal_config_init $ask_cabal_config_init_answer
+	do_cabal_config_init $ask_cabal_config_init_answer
 
-edo cabal new-update
+	edo cabal new-update
+else # don't install ghc and cabal
+	case "${plat}" in
+			MSYS*|MINGW*)
+				# need to bootstrap cabal to initialize config on windows
+				# we'll remove it afterwards
+				tmp_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
+				eghcup --cache install cabal -i "${tmp_dir}" "${BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_CABAL_VERSION}"
+				PATH="${tmp_dir}:$PATH" do_cabal_config_init $ask_cabal_config_init_answer
+				rm "${tmp_dir}/cabal"
+				unset tmp_dir
+				;;
+			*)
+				;;
+	esac
+fi
 
 case $ask_hls_answer in
 	1)
diff --git a/bootstrap-haskell.ps1 b/bootstrap-haskell.ps1
index b9671da..c81cfd8 100644
--- a/bootstrap-haskell.ps1
+++ b/bootstrap-haskell.ps1
@@ -32,7 +32,9 @@ param (
     # Whether to install hls as well
     [switch]$InstallHLS,
     # Skip adjusting cabal.config with mingw paths
-    [switch]$NoAdjustCabalConfig
+    [switch]$NoAdjustCabalConfig,
+    # Do minimal installation of ghcup and msys2 only
+    [switch]$Minimal
 )
 
 $Silent = !$Interactive
@@ -529,10 +531,14 @@ if (!($NoAdjustCabalConfig)) {
   $AdjustCabalConfigExport = 'export BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_ADJUST_CABAL_CONFIG=1 ;'
 }
 
+if ($Minimal) {
+  $MinimalExport = 'export BOOTSTRAP_HASKELL_MINIMAL=1 ;'
+}
+
 if ((Get-Process -ID $PID).ProcessName.StartsWith("bootstrap-haskell") -Or $InBash) {
-  Exec "$Bash" '-lc' ('{4} {6} {7} {8} [ -n ''{1}'' ] && export GHCUP_MSYS2=$(cygpath -m ''{1}'') ; [ -n ''{2}'' ] && export GHCUP_INSTALL_BASE_PREFIX=$(cygpath -m ''{2}/'') ; export PATH=$(cygpath -u ''{3}/bin''):$PATH ; export CABAL_DIR=''{5}'' ; [[ ''{0}'' = https* ]]  && curl --proto ''=https'' --tlsv1.2 -sSf {0} | bash || cat $(cygpath -m ''{0}'') | bash' -f $BootstrapUrl, $MsysDir, $GhcupBasePrefix, $GhcupDir, $SilentExport, $CabalDirFull, $StackInstallExport, $HLSInstallExport, $AdjustCabalConfigExport)
+  Exec "$Bash" '-lc' ('{4} {6} {7} {8} {9} [ -n ''{1}'' ] && export GHCUP_MSYS2=$(cygpath -m ''{1}'') ; [ -n ''{2}'' ] && export GHCUP_INSTALL_BASE_PREFIX=$(cygpath -m ''{2}/'') ; export PATH=$(cygpath -u ''{3}/bin''):$PATH ; export CABAL_DIR=''{5}'' ; [[ ''{0}'' = https* ]]  && curl --proto ''=https'' --tlsv1.2 -sSf {0} | bash || cat $(cygpath -m ''{0}'') | bash' -f $BootstrapUrl, $MsysDir, $GhcupBasePrefix, $GhcupDir, $SilentExport, $CabalDirFull, $StackInstallExport, $HLSInstallExport, $AdjustCabalConfigExport, $MinimalExport)
 } else {
-  Exec "$Msys2Shell" '-mingw64' '-mintty' '-c' ('{4} {6} {7} {8} [ -n ''{1}'' ] && export GHCUP_MSYS2=$(cygpath -m ''{1}'') ; [ -n ''{2}'' ] && export GHCUP_INSTALL_BASE_PREFIX=$(cygpath -m ''{2}/'') ; export PATH=$(cygpath -u ''{3}/bin''):$PATH ; export CABAL_DIR=''{5}'' ; trap ''echo Press any key to exit && read -n 1 && exit'' 2 ; [[ ''{0}'' = https* ]]  && curl --proto ''=https'' --tlsv1.2 -sSf {0} | bash || cat $(cygpath -m ''{0}'') | bash ; echo ''Press any key to exit'' && read -n 1' -f $BootstrapUrl, $MsysDir, $GhcupBasePrefix, $GhcupDir, $SilentExport, $CabalDirFull, $StackInstallExport, $HLSInstallExport, $AdjustCabalConfigExport)
+  Exec "$Msys2Shell" '-mingw64' '-mintty' '-c' ('{4} {6} {7} {8} {9} [ -n ''{1}'' ] && export GHCUP_MSYS2=$(cygpath -m ''{1}'') ; [ -n ''{2}'' ] && export GHCUP_INSTALL_BASE_PREFIX=$(cygpath -m ''{2}/'') ; export PATH=$(cygpath -u ''{3}/bin''):$PATH ; export CABAL_DIR=''{5}'' ; trap ''echo Press any key to exit && read -n 1 && exit'' 2 ; [[ ''{0}'' = https* ]]  && curl --proto ''=https'' --tlsv1.2 -sSf {0} | bash || cat $(cygpath -m ''{0}'') | bash ; echo ''Press any key to exit'' && read -n 1' -f $BootstrapUrl, $MsysDir, $GhcupBasePrefix, $GhcupDir, $SilentExport, $CabalDirFull, $StackInstallExport, $HLSInstallExport, $AdjustCabalConfigExport, $MinimalExport)
 }