diff --git a/pkg/compiler/compiler.go b/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
index f902f8a0..ff3b8286 100644
--- a/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
+++ b/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
@@ -502,12 +502,14 @@ func (cs *LuetCompiler) genArtifact(p *compilerspec.LuetCompilationSpec, builder
 		}
 	}
 
-	filelist, err := a.FileList()
-	if err != nil {
-		return a, errors.Wrapf(err, "Failed getting package list for '%s' '%s'", a.Path, a.CompileSpec.Package.HumanReadableString())
+	if !p.Package.Hidden {
+		filelist, err := a.FileList()
+		if err != nil {
+			return a, errors.Wrapf(err, "Failed getting package list for '%s' '%s'", a.Path, a.CompileSpec.Package.HumanReadableString())
+		}
+		a.Files = filelist
 	}
 
-	a.Files = filelist
 	a.CompileSpec.GetPackage().SetBuildTimestamp(time.Now().String())
 
 	err = a.WriteYAML(p.GetOutputPath())
diff --git a/pkg/compiler/compiler_test.go b/pkg/compiler/compiler_test.go
index 14e63d66..826adbb4 100644
--- a/pkg/compiler/compiler_test.go
+++ b/pkg/compiler/compiler_test.go
@@ -1064,5 +1064,41 @@ var _ = Describe("Compiler", func() {
 			files := art.Files
 			Expect(files).To(ContainElement("bin/busybox"))
 		})
+
+		It("is not generated after the compilation process and annotated in the metadata if a package is hidden", func() {
+			generalRecipe := tree.NewCompilerRecipe(pkg.NewInMemoryDatabase(false))
+
+			err := generalRecipe.Load("../../tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(len(generalRecipe.GetDatabase().GetPackages())).To(Equal(2))
+
+			compiler := NewLuetCompiler(sd.NewSimpleDockerBackend(ctx), generalRecipe.GetDatabase(), options.WithContext(context.NewContext()))
+
+			spec, err := compiler.FromPackage(&pkg.DefaultPackage{Name: "runtime", Category: "layer", Version: "0.1"})
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			compiler.Options.CompressionType = compression.GZip
+			Expect(spec.GetPackage().GetPath()).ToNot(Equal(""))
+
+			tmpdir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tree")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir) // clean up
+
+			spec.SetOutputPath(tmpdir)
+
+			artifacts, errs := compiler.CompileParallel(false, compilerspec.NewLuetCompilationspecs(spec))
+			Expect(errs).To(BeNil())
+			Expect(len(artifacts)).To(Equal(1))
+			Expect(len(artifacts[0].Dependencies)).To(Equal(1))
+			Expect(artifacts[0].Files).ToNot(ContainElement("bin/busybox"))
+
+			Expect(fileHelper.Exists(spec.Rel("runtime-layer-0.1.metadata.yaml"))).To(BeTrue())
+
+			art, err := LoadArtifactFromYaml(spec)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			files := art.Files
+			Expect(files).ToNot(ContainElement("bin/busybox"))
+		})
 	})
 })
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/build/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/build/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a50e4f15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/build/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+
+unpack: true
+image: "alpine"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/build/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/build/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..05a852f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/build/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+category: "layer"
+name: "build"
+version: "0.1"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/runtime/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/runtime/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..208f24d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/runtime/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+
+unpack: true
+requires:
+- category: "layer"
+  name: "build"
+  version: ">=0.1"
+steps: 
+- rm -rfv /var
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/runtime/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/runtime/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..415a6c1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/packagelayers_hidden/runtime/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+category: "layer"
+name: "runtime"
+version: "0.1"
+hidden: true
\ No newline at end of file