diff --git a/pkg/Makefile.am b/pkg/Makefile.am
index bf030d0c7c49..2ab7b8b8133f 100644
--- a/pkg/Makefile.am
+++ b/pkg/Makefile.am
@@ -19,9 +19,6 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 pcpmanifestdir = $(datadir)/cockpit/pcp
 dist_pcpmanifest_DATA = pkg/pcp/manifest.json
 
-sshmanifestdir = $(datadir)/cockpit/ssh
-dist_sshmanifest_DATA = pkg/ssh/manifest.json
-
 # one built file in dist/ which we use as dependency
 DIST_STAMP = $(srcdir)/dist/static/manifest.json
 
diff --git a/src/ssh/Makefile-ssh.am b/src/ssh/Makefile-ssh.am
index 195eec6e9c02..973f6e7f0829 100644
--- a/src/ssh/Makefile-ssh.am
+++ b/src/ssh/Makefile-ssh.am
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@ cockpit_ssh_CPPFLAGS = $(libcockpit_ssh_a_CPPFLAGS)
 cockpit_ssh_LDADD = $(libcockpit_ssh_a_LIBS)
 cockpit_ssh_SOURCES = src/ssh/ssh.c
 
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# C bridge config; Python bridge handles it internally
+
+if WITH_OLD_BRIDGE
+sshmanifestdir = $(datadir)/cockpit/ssh
+dist_sshmanifest_DATA = src/ssh/manifest.json
+endif
+
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # mock-ssh
 
diff --git a/pkg/ssh/manifest.json b/src/ssh/manifest.json
similarity index 100%
rename from pkg/ssh/manifest.json
rename to src/ssh/manifest.json
diff --git a/tools/cockpit.spec b/tools/cockpit.spec
index 8ac55c983a55..f0ac7f9f2915 100644
--- a/tools/cockpit.spec
+++ b/tools/cockpit.spec
@@ -224,8 +224,10 @@ echo '%dir %{_datadir}/cockpit/base1' >> base.list
 find %{buildroot}%{_datadir}/cockpit/base1 -type f -o -type l >> base.list
 echo '%{_sysconfdir}/cockpit/machines.d' >> base.list
 echo %{buildroot}%{_datadir}/polkit-1/actions/org.cockpit-project.cockpit-bridge.policy >> base.list
+%if 0%{?enable_old_bridge} && 0%{?build_basic}
 echo '%dir %{_datadir}/cockpit/ssh' >> base.list
 find %{buildroot}%{_datadir}/cockpit/ssh -type f >> base.list
+%endif
 echo '%{_libexecdir}/cockpit-ssh' >> base.list
 
 echo '%dir %{_datadir}/cockpit/pcp' > pcp.list
@@ -273,7 +275,7 @@ find %{buildroot}%{_datadir}/cockpit/static -type f >> static.list
 
 # when not building basic packages, remove their files
 %if 0%{?build_basic} == 0
-for pkg in base1 branding motd kdump networkmanager selinux shell sosreport ssh static systemd users metrics; do
+for pkg in base1 branding motd kdump networkmanager selinux shell sosreport static systemd users metrics; do
     rm -r %{buildroot}/%{_datadir}/cockpit/$pkg
     rm -f %{buildroot}/%{_datadir}/metainfo/org.cockpit-project.cockpit-${pkg}.metainfo.xml
 done
diff --git a/tools/debian/cockpit-bridge.install b/tools/debian/cockpit-bridge.install
index ff86e2ce14db..2b68a23dbb50 100644
--- a/tools/debian/cockpit-bridge.install
+++ b/tools/debian/cockpit-bridge.install
@@ -4,6 +4,5 @@ usr/lib/cockpit/cockpit-askpass
 usr/lib/cockpit/cockpit-ssh
 usr/lib/python*
 usr/share/cockpit/base1/
-usr/share/cockpit/ssh/
 usr/share/man/man1/cockpit-bridge.1
 usr/share/polkit-1/actions/org.cockpit-project.cockpit-bridge.policy