diff --git a/packages/cli/src/api/compile.ts b/packages/cli/src/api/compile.ts
index 5b4daee2c..b64350c1d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/api/compile.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/api/compile.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import * as t from "@babel/types"
 import generate, {GeneratorOptions} from "@babel/generator"
-import {compileMessage} from "@lingui/core"
+import {compileMessage} from "@lingui/core/compile"
 import pseudoLocalize from "./pseudoLocalize"
 
 export type CompiledCatalogNamespace = "cjs" | "es" | "ts" | string
diff --git a/packages/core/compile.entry.js b/packages/core/compile.entry.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..56dea88c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/compile.entry.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+/**
+ * this is Rollup Entry
+ */
+export * from "./src/compile"
diff --git a/packages/core/compile.js b/packages/core/compile.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0dcd42e9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/compile.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+/**
+ * this is used to point to the right source when development with workspaces
+ */
+export * from "./build/compile"
diff --git a/packages/core/npm/compile.js b/packages/core/npm/compile.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a8c16d3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/npm/compile.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "production") {
+  module.exports = require("./cjs/compile.production.min.js")
+} else {
+  module.exports = require("./cjs/compile.development.js")
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/npm/esm/compile.js b/packages/core/npm/esm/compile.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f7fcf4a8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/npm/esm/compile.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import {
+    compileMessage as compileMessageProd
+} from './compile.production.min.js';
+
+import {
+    compileMessage as compileMessageDev
+} from './compile.development.js';
+
+export const compileMessage = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? compileMessageProd : compileMessageDev;
diff --git a/packages/core/package.json b/packages/core/package.json
index 0fe605eee..c69dc5e13 100644
--- a/packages/core/package.json
+++ b/packages/core/package.json
@@ -34,12 +34,17 @@
       "require": "./build/index.js",
       "import": "./build/esm/index.js"
     },
+    "./compile": {
+      "require": "./build/compile.js",
+      "import": "./build/esm/compile.js"
+    },
     "./package.json": "./package.json"
   },
   "files": [
     "LICENSE",
     "README.md",
     "index.js",
+    "compile.js",
     "cjs/",
     "esm/"
   ],
diff --git a/packages/core/src/compileMessage.test.ts b/packages/core/src/compile/compileMessage.test.ts
similarity index 98%
rename from packages/core/src/compileMessage.test.ts
rename to packages/core/src/compile/compileMessage.test.ts
index d2de5bc70..e6acc6b03 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/compileMessage.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/compile/compileMessage.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import {compileMessage as compile} from "./compileMessage"
 import { mockEnv, mockConsole } from "@lingui/jest-mocks"
-import { interpolate } from "./context"
-import {Locale, Locales} from "./i18n"
+import { interpolate } from "../context"
+import {Locale, Locales} from "../i18n"
 
 describe("compile", () => {
   const englishPlurals = {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/compileMessage.ts b/packages/core/src/compile/compileMessage.ts
similarity index 95%
rename from packages/core/src/compileMessage.ts
rename to packages/core/src/compile/compileMessage.ts
index d2809f962..ef860384d 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/compileMessage.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/compile/compileMessage.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import {Content, parse, Token} from "@messageformat/parser"
-import {CompiledMessage, CompiledMessageToken} from "./i18n"
+import {CompiledMessage, CompiledMessageToken} from "../i18n"
 
 type MapTextFn =  (value: string) => string;
 
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ function processTokens(tokens: Array<Token>, mapText?: MapTextFn): CompiledMessa
 }
 
 // Message -> (Params -> String)
+/** @internal */
 export function compileMessage(
   message: string,
   mapText: MapTextFn = (v) => v,
diff --git a/packages/core/src/compile/index.ts b/packages/core/src/compile/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7ba52a74b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/compile/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export * from './compileMessage';
diff --git a/packages/core/src/dev/index.ts b/packages/core/src/dev/index.ts
index 32ce04ffa..1c79b9b49 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/dev/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/dev/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {compileMessage as compile} from "../compileMessage"
+import {compileMessage as compile} from "../compile/compileMessage"
 import loadLocaleData from "./loadLocaleData"
 
 export { compile, loadLocaleData }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/index.ts b/packages/core/src/index.ts
index d29ca6e6a..1e1db5314 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/index.ts
@@ -10,10 +10,6 @@ export {
   Locales,
 } from "./i18n"
 
-export {
-  compileMessage
-} from './compileMessage'
-
 // Default i18n object
 import { setupI18n } from "./i18n"
 export const i18n = setupI18n()
diff --git a/packages/remote-loader/src/browserCompiler.ts b/packages/remote-loader/src/browserCompiler.ts
index af0544262..f454d561d 100644
--- a/packages/remote-loader/src/browserCompiler.ts
+++ b/packages/remote-loader/src/browserCompiler.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { compileMessage } from "@lingui/core"
+import { compileMessage } from "@lingui/core/compile"
 
 export function createBrowserCompiledCatalog(messages: Record<string, any>) {
   return Object.keys(messages).reduce((obj, key: string) => {
diff --git a/scripts/build/bundles.ts b/scripts/build/bundles.ts
index 1b90143ea..0beae5a0b 100644
--- a/scripts/build/bundles.ts
+++ b/scripts/build/bundles.ts
@@ -7,10 +7,18 @@ export enum BundleType {
 
 export type BundleDef = {
   type: BundleType,
-  label?: string,
   externals?: string[]
 
+  /**
+   * Optional. Default index.js
+   */
+  entry?: string;
+
+  /**
+   * Name of package in packages/* folder
+   */
   packageName: string
+  label?: string,
   // all following not used now
   moduleType?: unknown,
   global?: unknown,
@@ -23,6 +31,13 @@ export const bundles: BundleDef[] = [
     packageName: "core",
     externals: []
   },
+  {
+    type: BundleType.UNIVERSAL,
+    packageName: "core",
+    entry: 'compile.entry.js',
+    label: 'compile',
+    externals: []
+  },
   {
     type: BundleType.UNIVERSAL,
     packageName: 'react',
diff --git a/scripts/build/rollup.ts b/scripts/build/rollup.ts
index 9ac9d5be6..4644ecc47 100644
--- a/scripts/build/rollup.ts
+++ b/scripts/build/rollup.ts
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ async function build(bundle: BundleDef, bundleType: RollupBundleType) {
   )
 
   const rollupConfig = {
-    input: path.resolve(getPackageDir(bundle.packageName), 'index.js'),
+    input: path.resolve(getPackageDir(bundle.packageName), bundle.entry || 'index.js'),
     treeshake: {
       moduleSideEffects,
     },
diff --git a/scripts/jest/config.integration.js b/scripts/jest/config.integration.js
index ef42d6e23..0106e8d9c 100644
--- a/scripts/jest/config.integration.js
+++ b/scripts/jest/config.integration.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-const { readdirSync, statSync } = require("fs")
+const { readdirSync } = require("fs")
 const { join } = require("path")
 const sourceConfig = require("./config.unit")
 
@@ -33,7 +33,12 @@ packages
     ] = `<rootDir>/packages/${name}/build/$1`
   })
 
-module.exports = Object.assign({}, sourceConfig, {
+/**
+ * @type {import('jest').Config}
+ */
+module.exports = {
+  ...sourceConfig,
+
   roots: ["<rootDir>/packages/"],
   testPathIgnorePatterns: ["/node_modules/"],
   // Redirect imports to the compiled bundles
@@ -49,4 +54,4 @@ module.exports = Object.assign({}, sourceConfig, {
   haste: {
     throwOnModuleCollision: false,
   }
-})
+}
diff --git a/scripts/jest/config.unit.js b/scripts/jest/config.unit.js
index 33acd3a49..447b89d09 100644
--- a/scripts/jest/config.unit.js
+++ b/scripts/jest/config.unit.js
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+const { pathsToModuleNameMapper } = require('ts-jest');
+const tsConfig = require( '../../tsconfig.json');
+
+/**
+ * @type {import('jest').Config}
+ */
 module.exports = {
   roots: ["<rootDir>/packages/"],
   rootDir: process.cwd(),
@@ -18,6 +24,9 @@ module.exports = {
   ],
   coverageReporters: ["html", "lcov", "text"],
   modulePathIgnorePatterns: ["/build"],
+  moduleNameMapper: pathsToModuleNameMapper(tsConfig.compilerOptions.paths, {
+    prefix: '<rootDir>/',
+  }),
 
   reporters: ["default", "jest-junit"],
   setupFiles: ['set-tz/utc'],
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index fab2cff6d..c2c42ed2e 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@
     "baseUrl": "./",
     "pretty": true,
     "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "stripInternal": true,
     "target": "es2017",
     "paths": {
       "@lingui/core": ["./packages/core/src"],
+      "@lingui/core/compile": ["./packages/core/src/compile/index.ts"],
       "@lingui/react": ["./packages/react/src"],
       "@lingui/conf": ["./packages/conf"],
       "@lingui/macro": ["./packages/macro/src"]