diff --git a/examples/README.md b/examples/README.md
index 88518b5b16..1c396091e2 100644
--- a/examples/README.md
+++ b/examples/README.md
@@ -1,25 +1,31 @@
 grpc Examples
 ==============================================
 
-In order to run the examples simply execute one of the gradle tasks `routeGuideServer`,
-`routeGuideClient`, `helloWorldServer`, or `helloWorldClient`.
-
-For example, say you want to play around with the route guide examples. First you want to start
-the server and then have the client connect to it and let the good times roll.
-
-Assuming you are in the grpc-java root folder you would first start the route guide server
-by running
+To build the examples, run in this directory:
 
 ```
-$ ./gradlew :grpc-examples:routeGuideServer
+$ ../gradlew installDist
 ```
 
-and in a different terminal window then run the route guide client by typing
+This creates the scripts `hello-world-server`, `hello-world-client`,
+`route-guide-server`, and `route-guide-client` in the
+`build/install/grpc-examples/bin/` directory that run the examples. Each
+example requires the server to be running before starting the client.
+
+For example, to try the hello world example first run:
 
 ```
-$ ./gradlew :grpc-examples:routeGuideClient
+$ ./build/install/grpc-examples/bin/hello-world-server
+```
+
+And in a different terminal window run:
+
+```
+$ ./build/install/grpc-examples/bin/hello-world-client
 ```
 
 That's it!
 
-Please refer to [Getting Started Guide for Java] (https://github.com/grpc/grpc-common/blob/master/java/javatutorial.md) for more information.
+Please refer to [Getting Started Guide for Java]
+(https://github.com/grpc/grpc-common/blob/master/java/javatutorial.md) for more
+information.
diff --git a/examples/build.gradle b/examples/build.gradle
index 18e2b551c5..0f3ea5b004 100644
--- a/examples/build.gradle
+++ b/examples/build.gradle
@@ -23,28 +23,40 @@ dependencies {
 
 configureProtoCompilation()
 
-task routeGuideServer(type: JavaExec) {
-    main = "io.grpc.examples.routeguide.RouteGuideServer"
-    description = "Executes the route guide server."
-    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+task routeGuideServer(type: CreateStartScripts) {
+    mainClassName = "io.grpc.examples.routeguide.RouteGuideServer"
+    applicationName = "route-guide-server"
+    outputDir = new File(project.buildDir, 'tmp')
+    classpath = jar.outputs.files + project.configurations.runtime
 }
 
-task routeGuideClient(type: JavaExec) {
-    main = "io.grpc.examples.routeguide.RouteGuideClient"
-    description = "Executes the route guide client."
-    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+task routeGuideClient(type: CreateStartScripts) {
+    mainClassName = "io.grpc.examples.routeguide.RouteGuideClient"
+    applicationName = "route-guide-client"
+    outputDir = new File(project.buildDir, 'tmp')
+    classpath = jar.outputs.files + project.configurations.runtime
 }
 
-task helloWorldServer(type: JavaExec) {
-    main = "io.grpc.examples.helloworld.HelloWorldServer"
-    description = "Executes the hello world server."
-    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+task helloWorldServer(type: CreateStartScripts) {
+    mainClassName = "io.grpc.examples.helloworld.HelloWorldServer"
+    applicationName = "hello-world-server"
+    outputDir = new File(project.buildDir, 'tmp')
+    classpath = jar.outputs.files + project.configurations.runtime
 }
 
-task helloWorldClient(type: JavaExec) {
-    main = "io.grpc.examples.helloworld.HelloWorldClient"
-    description = "Executes the hello world client."
-    classpath = sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+task helloWorldClient(type: CreateStartScripts) {
+    mainClassName = "io.grpc.examples.helloworld.HelloWorldClient"
+    applicationName = "hello-world-client"
+    outputDir = new File(project.buildDir, 'tmp')
+    classpath = jar.outputs.files + project.configurations.runtime
+}
+
+applicationDistribution.into("bin") {
+    from(routeGuideServer)
+    from(routeGuideClient)
+    from(helloWorldServer)
+    from(helloWorldClient)
+    fileMode = 0755
 }
 
 // Allow intellij projects to refer to generated-sources