diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index e81e4e5c3e23..578b22f963b0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -593,6 +593,12 @@ jobs:
         VERBOSE: ${{ runner.debug == '1' && '1' || '' }}
       run: build/tests/03-http2-admin-api.sh
 
+    - name: Smoke Tests - Uninstall Tests
+      env:
+        VERBOSE: ${{ runner.debug == '1' && '1' || '' }}
+        BUILD_LABEL: ${{ matrix.label }}
+      run: build/tests/04-uninstall.sh
+
   release-packages:
     name: Release Packages - ${{ matrix.label }} - ${{ needs.metadata.outputs.release-desc }}
     needs: [metadata, build-packages, build-images, smoke-tests]
diff --git a/build/package/nfpm.yaml b/build/package/nfpm.yaml
index 2650569fc6da..388b7d0be89f 100644
--- a/build/package/nfpm.yaml
+++ b/build/package/nfpm.yaml
@@ -15,25 +15,29 @@ license: "Apache-2.0"
 contents:
 - src: nfpm-prefix/bin
   dst: /usr/local/bin
+- src: kong/include
+  dst: /usr/local/kong/include
+  type: tree
 - src: nfpm-prefix/kong
   dst: /usr/local/kong
   type: tree
 - src: nfpm-prefix/lib
   dst: /usr/local/lib
+  type: tree
 - src: nfpm-prefix/etc/luarocks
   dst: /usr/local/etc/luarocks
 - src: nfpm-prefix/openresty
   dst: /usr/local/openresty
+  type: tree
 - src: nfpm-prefix/share
   dst: /usr/local/share
+  type: tree
 - src: nfpm-prefix/etc/kong
   dst: /etc/kong
 - src: bin/kong
   dst: /usr/local/bin/kong
 - src: bin/kong-health
   dst: /usr/local/bin/kong-health
-- src: kong/include
-  dst: /usr/local/kong/include
 - src: build/package/kong.service
   dst: /lib/systemd/system/kong.service
 - src: build/package/kong.logrotate
diff --git a/build/tests/04-uninstall.sh b/build/tests/04-uninstall.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..5bb2b270eac9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/tests/04-uninstall.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+if [ -n "${VERBOSE:-}" ]; then
+    set -x
+fi
+
+source .requirements
+source build/tests/util.sh
+
+remove_kong_command() {
+    local pkg_name=""
+    local remove_cmd=""
+
+    case "${BUILD_LABEL}" in
+        "ubuntu"| "debian")
+            remove_cmd="apt-get remove -y kong"
+            ;;
+        "rhel")
+            remove_cmd="yum remove -y kong"
+            ;;
+        *)
+            return 1
+    esac
+
+    echo "$remove_cmd"
+}
+
+msg_test '"kong" remove command'
+
+remove_command=$(remove_kong_command)
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+    docker_exec root "$remove_command"
+else
+    err_exit "can not find kong package"
+fi
+
+# kong would create include and lib directory in /usr/local/kong
+# but in ubuntu, kong would use /usr/local/kong as default prefix
+# so after remove kong, /usr/local/kong would left logs and conf files
+# we only check /usr/local/kong/include and /usr/local/kong/lib
+msg_test "/usr/local/kong/include has been removed after uninstall"
+assert_exec 1 'kong' "test -d /usr/local/kong/include"
+
+msg_test "/usr/local/kong/lib has been removed after uninstall"
+assert_exec 1 'kong' "test -d /usr/local/kong/lib"
+
+# if /usr/local/share/lua/5.1 has other files, it will not be removed
+# only remove files which are installed by kong
+msg_test "/usr/local/share/lua/5.1 has been removed after uninstall"
+assert_exec 1 'kong' "test -d /usr/local/share/lua/5.1"
+
+msg_test "/usr/local/openresty has been removed after uninstall"
+assert_exec 1 'kong' "test -d /usr/local/openresty"
diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/kong/postremove.yml b/changelog/unreleased/kong/postremove.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c3e0a805d12e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/kong/postremove.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+message: "cleanup of rpm/deb residual files after uninstall"
+type: feature
+scope: Core