diff --git a/build-aux/minimize-po.pl b/build-aux/minimize-po.pl
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..497533a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-aux/minimize-po.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl
+
+my @block;
+my $msgstr = 0;
+my $empty = 0;
+my $unused = 0;
+my $fuzzy = 0;
+while (<>) {
+    if (/^$/) {
+        if (!$empty && !$unused && !$fuzzy) {
+            print @block;
+        }
+        @block = ();
+        $msgstr = 0;
+        $fuzzy = 0;
+        push @block, $_;
+    } else {
+        if (/^msgstr/) {
+            $msgstr = 1;
+            $empty = 1;
+        }
+        if (/^#.*fuzzy/) {
+            $fuzzy = 1;
+        }
+        if (/^#~ msgstr/) {
+            $unused = 1;
+        }
+        if ($msgstr && /".+"/) {
+            $empty = 0;
+        }
+        push @block, $_;
+    }
+}
+
+if (@block && !$empty && !$unused) {
+    print @block;
+}
diff --git a/po/Makefile.am b/po/Makefile.am
index 77a383e..0361de6 100644
--- a/po/Makefile.am
+++ b/po/Makefile.am
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 COPYRIGHT_HOLDER = The Virt Viewer authors
 MSGID_BUGS_ADDRESS = https://virt-manager.org/bugs/
 
-MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = $(GMOFILES) $(POTFILE)
+MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = $(GMOFILES) $(POTFILE) $(POFILES)
 
 LANGS := \
 	af am anp ar as ast bal be bg \
@@ -48,27 +48,28 @@
 	-e "s|Copyright (C) YEAR|Copyright (C) $$(date +'%Y')|" \
 	$(NULL)
 
-
-# Although they're in EXTRA_DIST, we still need to
-# copy these again, because update-gmo will change
-
-# their content, and dist-hook runs after the
-# things in EXTRA_DIST are copied.
-dist-hook: $(GMOFILES)
-	cp -f $(POTFILE) $(distdir)/
-	cp -f $(POFILES) $(distdir)/
-	cp -f $(GMOFILES) $(distdir)/
+all: update-po
 
 update-po: $(POFILES)
 
 update-gmo: $(GMOFILES)
+
+update-mini-po: $(POTFILE)
+	for lang in $(LANGS); do \
+	  echo "Minimizing $$lang content" && \
+	  $(MSGMERGE) --no-location --no-fuzzy-matching --sort-output \
+	    $(srcdir)/$$lang.po $(POTFILE) | \
+	  $(SED) $(SED_PO_FIXUP_ARGS) | \
+	  $(PERL) $(top_srcdir)/build-aux/minimize-po.pl > \
+	    $(srcdir)/$$lang.mini.po ; \
+	done
 
 push-pot: $(POTFILE)
 	zanata push --push-type=source
 
 pull-po: $(POTFILE)
 	zanata pull --create-skeletons
-	$(MAKE) update-po
+	$(MAKE) update-mini-po
 	$(MAKE) update-gmo
 
 $(POTFILE): POTFILES $(POTFILE_DEPS)
@@ -77,8 +78,9 @@
 	$(SED) $(SED_PO_FIXUP_ARGS) < $@-t > $@
 	rm -f $@-t
 
-$(srcdir)/%.po: $(POTFILE)
-	$(MSGMERGE) --backup=off --no-fuzzy-matching --update $@ $(POTFILE)
+$(srcdir)/%.po: $(srcdir)/%.mini.po $(POTFILE)
+	$(MSGMERGE) --no-fuzzy-matching $< $(POTFILE) | \
+	  $(SED) $(SED_PO_FIXUP_ARGS) > $@
 
 $(srcdir)/%.gmo: $(srcdir)/%.po
 	rm -f $@ $@-t
diff --git a/po/README.md b/po/README.md
index 20ebf83..a9c8e94 100644
--- a/po/README.md
+++ b/po/README.md
@@ -7,18 +7,39 @@
 Source repository
 =================
 
-The virt-viewer GIT repository stores the master "virt-viewer.pot" file and
-full "po" files for translations. The master "virt-viewer.pot" file can be
-re-generated using
+The virt-viewer GIT repository does NOT store the master "virt-viewer.pot"
+file, nor does it store full "po" files for translations. The master
+"virt-viewer.pot" file can be generated at any time using
 
    make virt-viewer.pot
 
-The full po files can have their source locations and msgids updated using
+The translations are kept in minimized files that are the same file format
+as normal po files but with all redundant information stripped and messages
+re-ordered. The key differences between the ".mini.po" files in GIT and the
+full ".po" files are
+
+  - msgids with no current translation are omitted
+  - msgids are sorted in alphabetical order not source file order
+  - msgids with a msgstr marked "fuzzy" are discarded
+  - source file locations are omitted
+
+The full po files can be created at any time using
 
    make update-po
 
-Normally these updates are only done when either refreshing translations from
-Zanata, or when creating a new release.
+This merges the "virt-viewer.pot" with the "$LANG.mini.po" for each language,
+to create the "$LANG.po" files. These are included in the release archives
+created by "make dist".
+
+When a full po file is updated, changes can be propagated back into the
+minimized po files using
+
+   make update-mini-po
+
+Note, however, that this is generally not something that should be run by
+developers normally, as it is triggered by 'make pull-po' when refreshing
+content from Zanata.
+
 
 Zanata web service
 ==================
@@ -30,9 +51,26 @@
 
 As such, changes to translations will generally NOT be accepted as patches
 directly to virt-viewer GIT. Any changes made to "$LANG.mini.po" files in
-virt-viewer GIT will be overwritten and lost the next time content is imported
-from Zanata.
+virt-viewer GIT will be overwritten and lost the next time content is
+imported from Zanata.
 
 The master "virt-viewer.pot" file is periodically pushed to Zanata to provide
-the translation team with content changes. New translated text is then
-periodically pulled down from Zanata to update the po files.
+the translation team with content changes, using
+
+  make push-pot
+
+New translated text is then periodically pulled down from Zanata to update the
+minimized po files, using
+
+  make pull-po
+
+Sometimes the translators make mistakes, most commonly with handling printf
+format specifiers. The "pull-po" command re-generates the .gmo files to try to
+identify such mistakes. If a mistake is made, the broken msgstr should be
+deleted in the local "$LANG.mini.po" file, and the Zanata web interface used
+to reject the translation so that the broken msgstr isn't pulled down next time.
+
+After pulling down new content the diff should be examined to look for any
+obvious mistakes that are not caught automatically. There have been bugs in
+Zanata tools which caused messges to go missing, so pay particular attention to
+diffs showing deletions where the msgid still exists in virt-viewer.pot