diff --git a/debian/libnymea1-dev.install.in b/debian/libnymea1-dev.install.in
index 8ddc9e8a..e3c0e18f 100644
--- a/debian/libnymea1-dev.install.in
+++ b/debian/libnymea1-dev.install.in
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 usr/lib/@DEB_HOST_MULTIARCH@/libnymea.so
-usr/lib/@DEB_HOST_MULTIARCH@/libnymea-core.so
 usr/include/nymea/* usr/include/nymea
 usr/bin/nymea-generateplugininfo usr/bin
 libnymea/plugin/plugin.pri usr/include/nymea/
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index ba66a033..b011dc3a 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ override_dh_auto_build:
 	make -j$(DEB_PARALLEL_JOBS) $(MAKE_TARGETS)
 
 override_dh_install: $(PREPROCESS_FILES:.in=)
+	# libnymea-core isn't public api... delete dev lib and just keep runtime libs.
+	rm $(CURDIR)/debian/tmp/usr/lib/$(DEB_HOST_MULTIARCH)/libnymea-core.so
 	dh_install --fail-missing
 	# installing the documentation as there is no extra install target
 	cp -a $(CURDIR)/doc/html $(CURDIR)/debian/nymea-doc/usr/share/doc/nymea/ || true