diff --git a/base/options.jl b/base/options.jl
index 4daae3752ccda..950bc2bed0bed 100644
--- a/base/options.jl
+++ b/base/options.jl
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ struct JLOptions
     task_metrics::Int8
     timeout_for_safepoint_straggler_s::Int16
     serialize_machine_code_only::Int8
+    drop_edges::Int8
 end
 
 # This runs early in the sysimage != is not defined yet
diff --git a/src/jloptions.c b/src/jloptions.c
index 732ec14e2da49..74cf952ba9f98 100644
--- a/src/jloptions.c
+++ b/src/jloptions.c
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_init_options(void)
                         0, // task_metrics
                         25, // timeout_for_safepoint_straggler_s
                         0, // serialize_machine_code_only
+                        0, // drop_edges
     };
     jl_options_initialized = 1;
 }
@@ -247,6 +248,7 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_parse_opts(int *argcp, char ***argvp)
            opt_inline,
            opt_polly,
            opt_serialize_machine_code_only,
+           opt_drop_edges,
            opt_timeout_for_safepoint_straggler,
            opt_trace_compile,
            opt_trace_compile_timing,
@@ -328,6 +330,7 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_parse_opts(int *argcp, char ***argvp)
         { "inline",          required_argument, 0, opt_inline },
         { "polly",           required_argument, 0, opt_polly },
         { "serialize-machine-code-only", no_argument, 0, opt_serialize_machine_code_only },
+        { "drop-edges", no_argument, 0, opt_drop_edges },
         { "timeout-for-safepoint-straggler", required_argument, 0, opt_timeout_for_safepoint_straggler },
         { "trace-compile",   required_argument, 0, opt_trace_compile },
         { "trace-compile-timing",  no_argument, 0, opt_trace_compile_timing },
@@ -899,6 +902,9 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_parse_opts(int *argcp, char ***argvp)
         case opt_serialize_machine_code_only:
             jl_options.serialize_machine_code_only = 1;
             break;
+        case opt_drop_edges:
+            jl_options.drop_edges = 1;
+            break;
         case opt_task_metrics:
             if (!strcmp(optarg, "no"))
                 jl_options.task_metrics = JL_OPTIONS_TASK_METRICS_OFF;
diff --git a/src/jloptions.h b/src/jloptions.h
index 84de297b81043..c8bf2e8b3f410 100644
--- a/src/jloptions.h
+++ b/src/jloptions.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ typedef struct {
     int8_t task_metrics;
     int16_t timeout_for_safepoint_straggler_s;
     int8_t serialize_machine_code_only;
+    int8_t drop_edges;
 } jl_options_t;
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/staticdata.c b/src/staticdata.c
index 9775b9ecc6f5a..2e3f9a1808071 100644
--- a/src/staticdata.c
+++ b/src/staticdata.c
@@ -2244,9 +2244,11 @@ static void strip_specializations_(jl_method_instance_t *mi)
         }
         codeinst = jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&codeinst->next);
     }
+    if (jl_options.strip_ir || jl_options.drop_edges) {
+        record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mi->backedges, NULL);
+    }
     if (jl_options.strip_ir) {
         record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mi->uninferred, NULL);
-        record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mi->backedges, NULL);
         record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mi->callbacks, NULL);
     }
 }
@@ -2300,7 +2302,7 @@ static int strip_all_codeinfos__(jl_typemap_entry_t *def, void *_env)
 
 static int strip_all_codeinfos_(jl_methtable_t *mt, void *_env)
 {
-    if (jl_options.strip_ir && mt->backedges)
+    if ((jl_options.strip_ir || jl_options.drop_edges) && mt->backedges)
         record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mt->backedges, NULL);
     return jl_typemap_visitor(mt->defs, strip_all_codeinfos__, NULL);
 }
@@ -2411,7 +2413,7 @@ static void jl_save_system_image_to_stream(ios_t *f, jl_array_t *mod_array,
 {
     htable_new(&field_replace, 0);
     // strip metadata and IR when requested
-    if (jl_options.strip_metadata || jl_options.strip_ir)
+    if (jl_options.strip_metadata || jl_options.strip_ir || jl_options.drop_edges)
         jl_strip_all_codeinfos();
 
     int en = jl_gc_enable(0);
@@ -2525,6 +2527,17 @@ static void jl_save_system_image_to_stream(ios_t *f, jl_array_t *mod_array,
             // Queue the new roots
             jl_queue_for_serialization(&s, method_roots_list);
             // Queue the edges
+            if (jl_options.drop_edges) {
+                // Empty ext_targets
+                ext_targets = jl_alloc_vec_any(0);
+                // The caller field in `edges` is used in loading so we only empty the
+                // callees array when we drop edges.
+                size_t i, l = jl_array_len(edges) / 2;
+                for (i = 0; i < l; i++) {
+                    jl_array_t *cids = jl_alloc_array_1d(jl_array_int32_type, 0);
+                    jl_array_ptr_set(edges, 2 * i + 1, cids);
+                }
+            }
             jl_queue_for_serialization(&s, ext_targets);
             jl_queue_for_serialization(&s, edges);
         }
diff --git a/src/staticdata_utils.c b/src/staticdata_utils.c
index 6a476340814d1..31063c87fd7fe 100644
--- a/src/staticdata_utils.c
+++ b/src/staticdata_utils.c
@@ -985,20 +985,22 @@ static jl_array_t *jl_verify_methods(jl_array_t *edges, jl_array_t *maxvalids)
             int32_t *idxs = (int32_t*)jl_array_data(callee_ids);
             size_t j;
             maxvalids2_data[i] = ~(size_t)0;
-            for (j = 0; j < idxs[0]; j++) {
-                int32_t idx = idxs[j + 1];
-                size_t max_valid = ((size_t*)(jl_array_data(maxvalids)))[idx];
-                if (max_valid != ~(size_t)0 && _jl_debug_method_invalidation) {
-                    jl_array_ptr_1d_push(_jl_debug_method_invalidation, (jl_value_t*)caller);
-                    loctag = jl_cstr_to_string("verify_methods");
-                    jl_array_ptr_1d_push(_jl_debug_method_invalidation, loctag);
-                    loctag = jl_box_int32((int32_t)idx);
-                    jl_array_ptr_1d_push(_jl_debug_method_invalidation, loctag);
+            if (jl_array_len(callee_ids) > 0) {
+                for (j = 0; j < idxs[0]; j++) {
+                    int32_t idx = idxs[j + 1];
+                    size_t max_valid = ((size_t*)(jl_array_data(maxvalids)))[idx];
+                    if (max_valid != ~(size_t)0 && _jl_debug_method_invalidation) {
+                        jl_array_ptr_1d_push(_jl_debug_method_invalidation, (jl_value_t*)caller);
+                        loctag = jl_cstr_to_string("verify_methods");
+                        jl_array_ptr_1d_push(_jl_debug_method_invalidation, loctag);
+                        loctag = jl_box_int32((int32_t)idx);
+                        jl_array_ptr_1d_push(_jl_debug_method_invalidation, loctag);
+                    }
+                    if (max_valid < maxvalids2_data[i])
+                        maxvalids2_data[i] = max_valid;
+                    if (max_valid == 0)
+                        break;
                 }
-                if (max_valid < maxvalids2_data[i])
-                    maxvalids2_data[i] = max_valid;
-                if (max_valid == 0)
-                    break;
             }
         }
         //jl_static_show((JL_STREAM*)ios_stderr, (jl_value_t*)caller);
@@ -1138,23 +1140,25 @@ static void jl_insert_backedges(jl_array_t *edges, jl_array_t *ext_targets, jl_a
         if (maxvalid == ~(size_t)0) {
             // if this callee is still valid, add all the backedges
             jl_array_t *callee_ids = (jl_array_t*)jl_array_ptr_ref(edges, 2 * i + 1);
-            int32_t *idxs = (int32_t*)jl_array_data(callee_ids);
-            for (size_t j = 0; j < idxs[0]; j++) {
-                int32_t idx = idxs[j + 1];
-                jl_value_t *invokesig = jl_array_ptr_ref(ext_targets, idx * 3);
-                jl_value_t *callee = jl_array_ptr_ref(ext_targets, idx * 3 + 1);
-                if (callee && jl_is_method_instance(callee)) {
-                    jl_method_instance_add_backedge((jl_method_instance_t*)callee, invokesig, caller);
-                }
-                else {
-                    jl_value_t *sig = callee == NULL ? invokesig : callee;
-                    jl_methtable_t *mt = jl_method_table_for(sig);
-                    // FIXME: rarely, `callee` has an unexpected `Union` signature,
-                    // see https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/43990#issuecomment-1030329344
-                    // Fix the issue and turn this back into an `assert((jl_value_t*)mt != jl_nothing)`
-                    // This workaround exposes us to (rare) 265-violations.
-                    if ((jl_value_t*)mt != jl_nothing)
-                        jl_method_table_add_backedge(mt, sig, (jl_value_t*)caller);
+            if (jl_array_len(callee_ids) > 0) {
+                int32_t *idxs = (int32_t*)jl_array_data(callee_ids);
+                for (size_t j = 0; j < idxs[0]; j++) {
+                    int32_t idx = idxs[j + 1];
+                    jl_value_t *invokesig = jl_array_ptr_ref(ext_targets, idx * 3);
+                    jl_value_t *callee = jl_array_ptr_ref(ext_targets, idx * 3 + 1);
+                    if (callee && jl_is_method_instance(callee)) {
+                        jl_method_instance_add_backedge((jl_method_instance_t*)callee, invokesig, caller);
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        jl_value_t *sig = callee == NULL ? invokesig : callee;
+                        jl_methtable_t *mt = jl_method_table_for(sig);
+                        // FIXME: rarely, `callee` has an unexpected `Union` signature,
+                        // see https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/43990#issuecomment-1030329344
+                        // Fix the issue and turn this back into an `assert((jl_value_t*)mt != jl_nothing)`
+                        // This workaround exposes us to (rare) 265-violations.
+                        if ((jl_value_t*)mt != jl_nothing)
+                            jl_method_table_add_backedge(mt, sig, (jl_value_t*)caller);
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/test/cmdlineargs.jl b/test/cmdlineargs.jl
index 27b828629c0b5..591c5447317ed 100644
--- a/test/cmdlineargs.jl
+++ b/test/cmdlineargs.jl
@@ -1137,3 +1137,8 @@ end
     exename = `$(Base.julia_cmd())`
     @test parse(Int,read(`$exename --serialize-machine-code-only -E "Base.JLOptions().serialize_machine_code_only"`, String)) == 1
 end
+
+@testset "--drop-edges" begin
+    exename = `$(Base.julia_cmd())`
+    @test parse(Int,read(`$exename --drop-edges -E "Base.JLOptions().drop_edges`, String)) == 1
+end