diff --git a/hack/make.sh b/hack/make.sh
index 98b62ea6ae..f911c035f2 100755
--- a/hack/make.sh
+++ b/hack/make.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+set -e
 
 # This script builds various binary artifacts from a checkout of the docker
 # source code.
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@
 #   "docker run hack/make.sh" in the resulting container image.
 #
 
-set -e
+set -o pipefail
 
 # We're a nice, sexy, little shell script, and people might try to run us;
 # but really, they shouldn't. We want to be in a container!
diff --git a/hack/release.sh b/hack/release.sh
index 12ad27dce3..56538ea70a 100755
--- a/hack/release.sh
+++ b/hack/release.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
 
 # This script looks for bundles built by make.sh, and releases them on a
 # public S3 bucket.
@@ -9,11 +10,11 @@
 # official Dockerfile at the root of the Docker source code. The Dockerfile,
 # make.sh and release.sh should all be from the same source code revision.
 
-set -e
+set -o pipefail
 
 # Print a usage message and exit.
 usage() {
-	cat <<EOF
+	cat >&2 <<'EOF'
 To run, I need:
 - to be in a container generated by the Dockerfile at the top of the Docker
   repository;
@@ -26,11 +27,12 @@ To run, I need:
 - a generous amount of good will and nice manners.
 The canonical way to run me is to run the image produced by the Dockerfile: e.g.:"
 
-docker run -e AWS_S3_BUCKET=get-staging.docker.io \\
-              AWS_ACCESS_KEY=AKI1234... \\
-              AWS_SECRET_KEY=sEs4mE... \\
-              GPG_PASSPHRASE=m0resEs4mE... \\
-              f0058411
+docker run -e AWS_S3_BUCKET=get-staging.docker.io \
+           -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY=AKI1234... \
+           -e AWS_SECRET_KEY=sEs4mE... \
+           -e GPG_PASSPHRASE=m0resEs4mE... \
+           -i -t -privileged \
+           docker ./hack/release.sh
 EOF
 	exit 1
 }
@@ -39,8 +41,41 @@ EOF
 [ "$AWS_ACCESS_KEY" ] || usage
 [ "$AWS_SECRET_KEY" ] || usage
 [ "$GPG_PASSPHRASE" ] || usage
-[ -d /go/src/github.com/dotcloud/docker/ ] || usage
-cd /go/src/github.com/dotcloud/docker/ 
+[ -d /go/src/github.com/dotcloud/docker ] || usage
+cd /go/src/github.com/dotcloud/docker
+[ -x hack/make.sh ] || usage
+
+RELEASE_BUNDLES=(
+	binary
+	ubuntu
+)
+
+if [ "$1" != '--release-regardless-of-test-failure' ]; then
+	RELEASE_BUNDLES=( test "${RELEASE_BUNDLES[@]}" )
+fi
+
+if ! ./hack/make.sh "${RELEASE_BUNDLES[@]}"; then
+	echo >&2
+	echo >&2 'The build or tests appear to have failed.'
+	echo >&2
+	echo >&2 'You, as the release  maintainer, now have a couple options:'
+	echo >&2 '- delay release and fix issues'
+	echo >&2 '- delay release and fix issues'
+	echo >&2 '- did we mention how important this is?  issues need fixing :)'
+	echo >&2
+	echo >&2 'As a final LAST RESORT, you (because only you, the release maintainer,'
+	echo >&2 ' really knows all the hairy problems at hand with the current release'
+	echo >&2 ' issues) may bypass this checking by running this script again with the'
+	echo >&2 ' single argument of "--release-regardless-of-test-failure", which will skip'
+	echo >&2 ' running the test suite, and will only build the binaries and packages.  Please'
+	echo >&2 ' avoid using this if at all possible.'
+	echo >&2
+	echo >&2 'Regardless, we cannot stress enough the scarcity with which this bypass'
+	echo >&2 ' should be used.  If there are release issues, we should always err on the'
+	echo >&2 ' side of caution.'
+	echo >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
 
 VERSION=$(cat VERSION)
 BUCKET=$AWS_S3_BUCKET
@@ -81,11 +116,15 @@ s3_url() {
 # 1. A full APT repository is published at $BUCKET/ubuntu/
 # 2. Instructions for using the APT repository are uploaded at $BUCKET/ubuntu/info
 release_ubuntu() {
+	[ -e bundles/$VERSION/ubuntu ] || {
+		echo >&2 './hack/make.sh must be run before release_ubuntu'
+		exit 1
+	}
 	# Make sure that we have our keys
 	mkdir -p /.gnupg/
 	s3cmd sync s3://$BUCKET/ubuntu/.gnupg/ /.gnupg/ || true
 	gpg --list-keys releasedocker >/dev/null || {
-		gpg --gen-key --batch <<EOF   
+		gpg --gen-key --batch <<EOF
 Key-Type: RSA
 Key-Length: 2048
 Passphrase: $GPG_PASSPHRASE
@@ -99,7 +138,7 @@ EOF
 
 	# Sign our packages
 	dpkg-sig -g "--passphrase $GPG_PASSPHRASE" -k releasedocker \
-		 --sign builder bundles/$VERSION/ubuntu/*.deb
+		--sign builder bundles/$VERSION/ubuntu/*.deb
 
 	# Setup the APT repo
 	APTDIR=bundles/$VERSION/ubuntu/apt
@@ -116,8 +155,7 @@ EOF
 	reprepro -b $APTDIR includedeb docker $DEBFILE
 
 	# Sign
-	for F in $(find $APTDIR -name Release)
-	do
+	for F in $(find $APTDIR -name Release); do
 		gpg -u releasedocker --passphrase $GPG_PASSPHRASE \
 			--armor --sign --detach-sign \
 			--output $F.gpg $F
@@ -137,13 +175,20 @@ echo deb $(s3_url)/ubuntu docker main > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
 curl $(s3_url)/gpg | apt-key add -
 # Install docker
 apt-get update ; apt-get install -y lxc-docker
+
+#
+# Alternatively, just use the curl-able install.sh script provided at $(s3_url)
+#
 EOF
 	echo "APT repository uploaded. Instructions available at $(s3_url)/ubuntu/info"
 }
 
 # Upload a static binary to S3
 release_binary() {
-	[ -e bundles/$VERSION ]
+	[ -e bundles/$VERSION/binary/docker-$VERSION ] || {
+		echo >&2 './hack/make.sh must be run before release_binary'
+		exit 1
+	}
 	S3DIR=s3://$BUCKET/builds/Linux/x86_64
 	s3cmd --acl-public put bundles/$VERSION/binary/docker-$VERSION $S3DIR/docker-$VERSION
 	cat <<EOF | write_to_s3 s3://$BUCKET/builds/info