diff --git a/apps/i2ptunnel/java/build.xml b/apps/i2ptunnel/java/build.xml
index 852922ad94..4221d6eff9 100644
--- a/apps/i2ptunnel/java/build.xml
+++ b/apps/i2ptunnel/java/build.xml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
              basedir="../jsp/" excludes="web.xml, *.java, *.jsp">
         </war>
     </target>
-    <target name="precompilejsp">
+    <target name="precompilejsp" unless="precompilejsp.uptodate">
         <delete dir="../jsp/WEB-INF/" />
         <delete file="../jsp/web-fragment.xml" />
         <delete file="../jsp/web-out.xml" />
@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@
             <replacefilter token="&lt;!-- precompiled servlets --&gt;" value="${jspc.web.fragment}" />
         </replace>
     </target>
+
+    <uptodate property="precompilejsp.uptodate" targetfile="../jsp/web-out.xml">
+        <srcfiles dir= "../jsp" includes="*.jsp, *.html, web.xml"/>
+    </uptodate>
+
     <target name="javadoc">
         <mkdir dir="./build" />
         <mkdir dir="./build/javadoc" />
@@ -84,6 +89,9 @@
     </target>
     <target name="clean">
         <delete dir="./build" />
+        <delete dir="../jsp/WEB-INF/" />
+        <delete file="../jsp/web-fragment.xml" />
+        <delete file="../jsp/web-out.xml" />
     </target>
     <target name="cleandep" depends="clean">
 	<!-- ministreaming will clean core -->
diff --git a/apps/routerconsole/java/build.xml b/apps/routerconsole/java/build.xml
index a9254195d4..e263d4ca63 100644
--- a/apps/routerconsole/java/build.xml
+++ b/apps/routerconsole/java/build.xml
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
                 <attribute name="Class-Path" value="i2p.jar router.jar" />
             </manifest>
         </jar>
-        
         <delete dir="./tmpextract" />
         <unjar src="../../jrobin/jrobin-1.4.0.jar" dest="./tmpextract" />
         <jar destfile="./build/routerconsole.jar" basedir="./tmpextract" update="true" />
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@
              basedir="../jsp/" excludes="web.xml, *.java, *.jsp, web-fragment.xml">
         </war>
     </target>
-    <target name="precompilejsp">
+    <target name="precompilejsp" unless="precompilejsp.uptodate">
         <delete dir="../jsp/WEB-INF/" />
         <delete file="../jsp/web-fragment.xml" />
         <delete file="../jsp/web-out.xml" />
@@ -109,6 +108,11 @@
             <replacefilter token="&lt;!-- precompiled servlets --&gt;" value="${jspc.web.fragment}" />
         </replace>
     </target>
+
+    <uptodate property="precompilejsp.uptodate" targetfile="../jsp/web-out.xml">
+        <srcfiles dir= "../jsp" includes="**/*.jsp, **/*.html, susimail/susimail, web.xml"/>
+    </uptodate>
+
     <target name="javadoc">
         <mkdir dir="./build" />
         <mkdir dir="./build/javadoc" />
@@ -121,6 +125,9 @@
     </target>
     <target name="clean">
         <delete dir="./build" />
+        <delete dir="../jsp/WEB-INF/" />
+        <delete file="../jsp/web-fragment.xml" />
+        <delete file="../jsp/web-out.xml" />
     </target>
     <target name="cleandep" depends="clean">
 	<!-- router will clean core -->
diff --git a/apps/susidns/src/build.xml b/apps/susidns/src/build.xml
index 88b1360d32..f313409543 100644
--- a/apps/susidns/src/build.xml
+++ b/apps/susidns/src/build.xml
@@ -27,10 +27,11 @@
 		<javac debug="true" deprecation="on" source="1.5" target="1.5"
  			classpathref="cp" destdir="${bin}" srcdir="${src}" includes="**/*.java" />
 	</target>
-    <target name="precompilejsp">
+    <target name="precompilejsp" unless="precompilejsp.uptodate">
         <delete file="WEB-INF/web-fragment.xml" />
         <delete file="WEB-INF/web-out.xml" />
     	<mkdir dir="${tmp}" />
+        <echo message="Ignore any warning about /WEB-INF/web.xml not found" />
         <java classname="org.apache.jasper.JspC" fork="true" classpathref="cp">
             <arg value="-d" />
             <arg value="WEB-INF/classes" />
@@ -51,6 +52,11 @@
             <replacefilter token="&lt;!-- precompiled servlets --&gt;" value="${jspc.web.fragment}" />
         </replace>
     </target>
+
+    <uptodate property="precompilejsp.uptodate" targetfile="WEB-INF/web-out.xml">
+        <srcfiles dir= "." includes="jsp/*.jsp, WEB-INF/web-template.xml"/>
+    </uptodate>
+
     <target name="all" depends="compile,precompilejsp,war"/> 
     <target name="war"> 
         <war destfile="${project}.war" webxml="WEB-INF/web-out.xml">
@@ -74,7 +80,9 @@
       <delete>
         <fileset dir="." includes="**/*.class" />
         <fileset dir="." includes="tmp" />
+        <fileset dir="WEB-INF" includes="web-fragment.xml, web-out.xml" />
       </delete>
+      <delete dir="${bin}" />
     </target>
     <target name="distclean" depends="clean" />
 </project>
diff --git a/apps/susimail/build.xml b/apps/susimail/build.xml
index 0c2ee61c7d..2bdc4f164e 100644
--- a/apps/susimail/build.xml
+++ b/apps/susimail/build.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <target name="builddep">
         <ant dir="../jetty/" target="build" />
     </target>
-    <target name="compile" depends="clean">
+    <target name="compile">
         <javac 
             srcdir="./src/src"
             debug="true" deprecation="off" source="1.5" target="1.5" 
diff --git a/apps/systray/java/build.xml b/apps/systray/java/build.xml
index cafbbd70df..19db56d5ca 100644
--- a/apps/systray/java/build.xml
+++ b/apps/systray/java/build.xml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
             includes="**/*.java"
             classpath="./lib/systray4j.jar:../../../core/java/build/i2p.jar" />
     </target>
-    <target name="jar" depends="compile">
+    <target name="jar" depends="compile" unless="jar.uptodate">
         <mkdir dir="./build/jar_temp" />
         <copy todir="./build/jar_temp">
             <fileset dir="./build/obj" includes="**/*.class" />
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@
         </jar>
         <delete dir="./build/jar_temp" />
     </target>
+
+    <uptodate property="jar.uptodate" targetfile="./build/systray.jar">
+        <srcfiles dir= "src" includes="**/*.java" />
+    </uptodate>
+
     <target name="javadoc">
         <mkdir dir="./build" />
         <mkdir dir="./build/javadoc" />
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 09e131b624..4410a8aa18 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@
     </target>
     <target name="dist" depends="pkg, javadoc">
     </target>
-    <target name="build" depends="builddep, jar, buildWEB" />
+    <target name="build" depends="build2">
+        <!-- so we don't build standalone for the updater -->
+        <ant dir="apps/i2psnark/java/" target="standalone" />
+    </target>
+    <target name="build2" depends="builddep, jar, buildWEB" />
     <target name="buildSmall" depends="builddepSmall, jarSmall, buildWEB" />
     <target name="buildclean" depends="distclean, build" />
     <target name="builddep" depends="builddepSmall">
@@ -27,7 +31,7 @@
         <ant dir="apps/sam/java/" target="jar" />
         <ant dir="apps/susimail/" target="war" />
         <ant dir="apps/susidns/src" target="all" />
-        <ant dir="apps/i2psnark/java/" target="standalone" />
+        <ant dir="apps/i2psnark/java/" target="war" />
     </target>
     <target name="builddepSmall">
         <ant dir="core/java/" target="jar" />
@@ -40,8 +44,6 @@
         <ant dir="apps/addressbook/" target="war" />
     </target>
     <target name="buildrouter">
-        <ant dir="core/java/" target="distclean" />
-        <ant dir="router/java/" target="distclean" />
         <ant dir="core/java/" target="jar" />
         <ant dir="router/java/" target="jar" />
         <copy file="core/java/build/i2p.jar" todir="build/" />
@@ -183,7 +185,7 @@
             <fileset dir="." includes="**/*.java~" />
         </delete>
     </target>
-    <target name="pkg" depends="updater, tarball, installer" />
+    <target name="pkg" depends="distclean, updater, tarball, installer" />
     <target name="pkgclean">
         <delete dir="pkg-temp" />
         <delete>
@@ -326,7 +328,7 @@
         <copy file="core/java/build/i2ptest.jar" todir="pkg-temp/lib" />
         <zip destfile="i2pupdate.zip" basedir="pkg-temp" />
     </target>
-    <target name="prepupdate" depends="distclean, build, prepupdateSmall">
+    <target name="prepupdate" depends="build2, prepupdateSmall">
         <copy file="build/BOB.jar" todir="pkg-temp/lib/" />
         <copy file="build/sam.jar" todir="pkg-temp/lib/" />
         <copy file="build/i2psnark.jar" todir="pkg-temp/lib" />
@@ -337,7 +339,7 @@
         <mkdir dir="pkg-temp/docs/" />
         <copy file="news.xml" todir="pkg-temp/docs/" />
     </target>
-    <target name="prepupdateSmall" depends="distclean, buildSmall">
+    <target name="prepupdateSmall" depends="buildSmall">
         <delete dir="pkg-temp" />
         <copy file="build/i2p.jar" todir="pkg-temp/lib/" />
         <copy file="build/i2ptunnel.jar" todir="pkg-temp/lib/" />