diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests_scripts.yml b/.github/workflows/tests_scripts.yml
index 9c4975c381..23bb36a7e8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests_scripts.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests_scripts.yml
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ on:
       - build_container.sh
       - install_software_layer.sh
       - run_in_compat_layer_env.sh
-      - utils.sh
+      - scripts/utils.sh
       - update_lmod_cache.sh
+      - create_directory_tarballs.sh
 
   pull_request:
     branches:
@@ -16,8 +17,9 @@ on:
       - build_container.sh
       - install_software_layer.sh
       - run_in_compat_layer_env.sh
-      - utils.sh
+      - scripts/utils.sh
       - update_lmod_cache.sh
+      - create_directory_tarballs.sh
 permissions:
   contents: read # to fetch code (actions/checkout)
 jobs:
@@ -49,3 +51,13 @@ jobs:
           # force using x86_64/generic, to avoid triggering an installation from scratch
           sed -i "s@./EESSI-pilot-install-software.sh@\"export EESSI_SOFTWARE_SUBDIR_OVERRIDE='x86_64/generic'; ./EESSI-pilot-install-software.sh\"@g" install_software_layer.sh
           ./build_container.sh run /tmp/$USER/EESSI /tmp/install_software_layer.sh
+
+    - name: test create_directory_tarballs.sh script
+      run: |
+          # scripts need to be copied to /tmp,
+          # since create_directory_tarballs.sh must be accessible from within build container
+          cp -a * /tmp/
+          cd /tmp
+          ./build_container.sh run /tmp/$USER/EESSI /tmp/create_directory_tarballs.sh 2021.12
+          # check if tarballs have been produced
+          ls -l *.tar.gz
diff --git a/EESSI-pilot-install-software.sh b/EESSI-pilot-install-software.sh
index e1b4089e2d..b76cb5d219 100755
--- a/EESSI-pilot-install-software.sh
+++ b/EESSI-pilot-install-software.sh
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ set -- "${POSITIONAL_ARGS[@]}"
 
 TOPDIR=$(dirname $(realpath $0))
 
-source $TOPDIR/utils.sh
+source $TOPDIR/scripts/utils.sh
 
 # honor $TMPDIR if it is already defined, use /tmp otherwise
 if [ -z $TMPDIR ]; then
diff --git a/check_missing_installations.sh b/check_missing_installations.sh
index 30f9cc6ff7..e4c75aebd8 100755
--- a/check_missing_installations.sh
+++ b/check_missing_installations.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ fi
 
 LOCAL_TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
 
-source $TOPDIR/utils.sh
+source $TOPDIR/scripts/utils.sh
 
 source $TOPDIR/configure_easybuild
 
diff --git a/create_init_tarball.sh b/create_directory_tarballs.sh
similarity index 51%
rename from create_init_tarball.sh
rename to create_directory_tarballs.sh
index 3393285a33..be282463eb 100755
--- a/create_init_tarball.sh
+++ b/create_directory_tarballs.sh
@@ -4,19 +4,6 @@ SOFTWARE_LAYER_TARBALL_URL=https://github.com/EESSI/software-layer/tarball/main
 
 set -eo pipefail
 
-function echo_green() {
-    echo -e "\e[32m$1\e[0m"
-}
-
-function echo_red() {
-    echo -e "\e[31m$1\e[0m"
-}
-
-function error() {
-    echo_red "ERROR: $1" >&2
-    exit 1
-}
-
 if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
     echo "Usage: $0 <EESSI version>" >&2
     exit 1
@@ -24,13 +11,18 @@ fi
 
 version=$1
 
+TOPDIR=$(dirname $(realpath $0))
+
+source $TOPDIR/scripts/utils.sh
+
 # Check if the EESSI version number encoded in the filename
 # is valid, i.e. matches the format YYYY.DD
 if ! echo "${version}" | egrep -q '^20[0-9][0-9]\.(0[0-9]|1[0-2])$'
 then
-    error "${version} is not a valid EESSI version."
+    fatal_error "${version} is not a valid EESSI version."
 fi
 
+# Create tarball of init directory
 tartmp=$(mktemp -t -d init.XXXXX)
 mkdir "${tartmp}/${version}"
 tarname="eessi-${version}-init-$(date +%s).tar.gz"
@@ -38,9 +30,20 @@ curl -Ls ${SOFTWARE_LAYER_TARBALL_URL} | tar xzf - -C "${tartmp}/${version}" --s
 source "${tartmp}/${version}/init/minimal_eessi_env"
 if [ "${EESSI_PILOT_VERSION}" != "${version}" ]
 then
-  error "Specified version ${version} does not match version ${EESSI_PILOT_VERSION} in the init files!"
+  fatal_error "Specified version ${version} does not match version ${EESSI_PILOT_VERSION} in the init files!"
 fi
 tar czf "${tarname}" -C "${tartmp}" "${version}"
 rm -rf "${tartmp}"
 
 echo_green "Done! Created tarball ${tarname}."
+
+# Create tarball of scripts directory
+# Version check has already been performed and would have caused script to exit at this point in case of problems
+tartmp=$(mktemp -t -d scripts.XXXXX)
+mkdir "${tartmp}/${version}"
+tarname="eessi-${version}-scripts-$(date +%s).tar.gz"
+curl -Ls ${SOFTWARE_LAYER_TARBALL_URL} | tar xzf - -C "${tartmp}/${version}" --strip-components=1 --wildcards '*/scripts/'
+tar czf "${tarname}" -C "${tartmp}" "${version}"
+rm -rf "${tartmp}"
+
+echo_green "Done! Created tarball ${tarname}."
diff --git a/utils.sh b/scripts/utils.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from utils.sh
rename to scripts/utils.sh
diff --git a/update_lmod_cache.sh b/update_lmod_cache.sh
index 89e2ecbeee..814bb2dae0 100755
--- a/update_lmod_cache.sh
+++ b/update_lmod_cache.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 TOPDIR=$(dirname $(realpath $0))
 
-source $TOPDIR/utils.sh
+source $TOPDIR/scripts/utils.sh
 
 if [ $# -ne 2 ]; then
     echo "Usage: $0 <path to compat layer directory> <path to software installation prefix>" >&2