diff --git a/Documentation/index.rst b/Documentation/index.rst
index e5dfc053..2631e50b 100644
--- a/Documentation/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/index.rst
@@ -169,6 +169,16 @@ of the signing key in them.
 
    Provide passphrase for the enclave signing key (if applicable)
 
+.. option:: -D, --define
+
+   Set image sign-time variables during :command:`gsc sign`.
+
+.. option:: --remove-gramine-deps
+
+   Remove Gramine dependencies that are not needed at runtime. This may have
+   a negative side effect of removing even those dependencies that are actually
+   needed by the original application. Use with care!
+
 .. option:: IMAGE-NAME
 
    Name of the application Docker image
diff --git a/gsc.py b/gsc.py
index e0b5ebda..a6daeff3 100755
--- a/gsc.py
+++ b/gsc.py
@@ -21,6 +21,18 @@
 import tomli_w # pylint: disable=import-error
 import yaml    # pylint: disable=import-error
 
+def test_trueish(value):
+    if not value:
+        return False
+    value = value.casefold()
+    if value in ('false', 'off', 'no'):
+        return False
+    if value in ('true', 'on', 'yes'):
+        return True
+    if value.isdigit():
+        return bool(int(value))
+    raise ValueError(f'Invalid value for trueish: {value!r}')
+
 def gsc_image_name(original_image_name):
     return f'gsc-{original_image_name}'
 
@@ -131,6 +143,17 @@ def extract_build_args(args):
                 sys.exit(1)
     return buildargs_dict
 
+def extract_define_args(args):
+    defineargs_dict = {}
+    for item in args.define:
+        if '=' in item:
+            key, value = item.split('=', maxsplit=1)
+            defineargs_dict[key] = value
+        else:
+            print(f'Invalid value for argument `{item}`, expected `--define {item}=<value>`')
+            sys.exit(1)
+    return defineargs_dict
+
 def extract_user_from_image_config(config, env):
     user = config['User']
     if not user:
@@ -345,6 +368,9 @@ def gsc_sign_image(args):
     # using the user-provided config file with info on OS distro, Gramine version and SGX driver
     env = jinja2.Environment()
     env.globals.update(yaml.safe_load(args.config_file))
+    extract_user_from_image_config(unsigned_image.attrs['Config'], env)
+    env.globals['args'] = extract_define_args(args)
+    env.tests['trueish'] = test_trueish
     distro = env.globals['Distro']
 
     distro, _ = distro.split(':')
@@ -510,7 +536,14 @@ def gsc_info_image(args):
 sub_sign.add_argument('image', help='Name of the application (base) Docker image.')
 sub_sign.add_argument('key', help='Key to sign the Intel SGX enclaves inside the Docker image.')
 sub_sign.add_argument('-p', '--passphrase', help='Passphrase for the signing key.')
-
+sub_sign.add_argument('-D','--define', action='append', default=[],
+    help='Set image sign-time variables.')
+sub_sign.add_argument('--remove-gramine-deps', action='append_const', dest='define',
+    const='remove_gramine_deps=true', help='Remove Gramine dependencies that are not needed'
+                                           ' at runtime.')
+sub_sign.add_argument('--no-remove-gramine-deps', action='append_const', dest='define',
+    const='remove_gramine_deps=false', help='Retain Gramine dependencies that are not needed'
+                                            ' at runtime.')
 sub_info = subcommands.add_parser('info-image', help='Retrieve information about a graminized '
                                   'Docker image')
 sub_info.set_defaults(command=gsc_info_image)
diff --git a/templates/Dockerfile.common.sign.template b/templates/Dockerfile.common.sign.template
index cee5993e..02942d5d 100644
--- a/templates/Dockerfile.common.sign.template
+++ b/templates/Dockerfile.common.sign.template
@@ -17,3 +17,13 @@ FROM {{image}}
 
 COPY --from=unsigned_image /gramine/app_files/*.sig /gramine/app_files/
 COPY --from=unsigned_image /gramine/app_files/*.sgx /gramine/app_files/
+
+{% if args.remove_gramine_deps is trueish %}
+# Temporarily switch to the root user to uninstall packages
+USER root
+
+{% block uninstall %}{% endblock %}
+
+# Switch back to original app_image user
+USER {{app_user}}
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/templates/centos/Dockerfile.sign.template b/templates/centos/Dockerfile.sign.template
index 6b38ad8f..5bd16e81 100644
--- a/templates/centos/Dockerfile.sign.template
+++ b/templates/centos/Dockerfile.sign.template
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
 {% extends "Dockerfile.common.sign.template" %}
 
+{% block uninstall %}
+RUN \
+       pip3 uninstall -y click jinja2 \
+          tomli tomli-w \
+          toml \
+       && dnf remove -y binutils \
+          epel-release \
+          expect \
+          openssl \
+          python3-protobuf \
+          python3-pyelftools \
+          python3-cryptography \
+          tcl \
+       && dnf -y clean all;
+{% endblock %}
+
 {% block path %}export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:$(find /gramine/meson_build_output/lib64 -type d -path '*/site-packages')" &&{% endblock %}
diff --git a/templates/debian/Dockerfile.sign.template b/templates/debian/Dockerfile.sign.template
index 7ed0e2fa..e36af184 100644
--- a/templates/debian/Dockerfile.sign.template
+++ b/templates/debian/Dockerfile.sign.template
@@ -1,3 +1,22 @@
 {% extends "Dockerfile.common.sign.template" %}
 
+{% block uninstall %}
+RUN \
+       apt-get update -y \
+       && apt-get install -y python3-pip \
+       && pip3 uninstall -y click jinja2 \
+          tomli tomli-w \
+          toml \
+       && apt-get remove -y binutils \
+          expect \
+          libcurl4-openssl-dev \
+          openssl \
+          python3-pip \
+          python3-protobuf \
+          python3-cryptography \
+          python3-pyelftools \
+       && apt-get autoremove -y \
+       && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*;
+{% endblock %}
+
 {% block path %}export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:$(find /gramine/meson_build_output/lib -type d -path '*/site-packages')" &&{% endblock %}