diff --git a/.eslintrc.js b/.eslintrc.js
index e4b8d27b29..9bcf20c3e2 100644
--- a/.eslintrc.js
+++ b/.eslintrc.js
@@ -81,5 +81,7 @@ module.exports = {
     spyOnDev: true,
     spyOnDevAndProd: true,
     spyOnProd: true,
+    // TODO: Remove dependency on Promise.race
+    Promise: true,
   },
 };
diff --git a/scripts/release/build-commands/check-circle-ci-status.js b/scripts/release/build-commands/check-circle-ci-status.js
index c2c140d764..406246945f 100644
--- a/scripts/release/build-commands/check-circle-ci-status.js
+++ b/scripts/release/build-commands/check-circle-ci-status.js
@@ -43,5 +43,8 @@ const check = async ({cwd}) => {
 };
 
 module.exports = async params => {
+  if (params.local) {
+    return;
+  }
   return logPromise(check(params), 'Checking CircleCI status');
 };
diff --git a/scripts/release/build-commands/update-git.js b/scripts/release/build-commands/update-git.js
index 58255a48ca..467916a578 100644
--- a/scripts/release/build-commands/update-git.js
+++ b/scripts/release/build-commands/update-git.js
@@ -6,15 +6,21 @@ const chalk = require('chalk');
 const {exec} = require('child-process-promise');
 const {logPromise} = require('../utils');
 
-const update = async ({cwd}) => {
-  await exec('git fetch', {cwd});
-  await exec('git checkout master', {cwd});
-  await exec('git pull', {cwd});
+const update = async ({cwd, branch, local}) => {
+  if (!local) {
+    await exec('git fetch', {cwd});
+  }
+  await exec(`git checkout ${branch}`, {cwd});
+  if (!local) {
+    await exec('git pull', {cwd});
+  }
 };
 
-module.exports = async ({cwd}) => {
+module.exports = async params => {
   return logPromise(
-    update({cwd}),
-    `Updating checkout ${chalk.yellow.bold(cwd)}`
+    update(params),
+    `Updating checkout ${chalk.yellow.bold(
+      params.cwd
+    )} on branch ${chalk.yellow.bold(params.branch)}}`
   );
 };
diff --git a/scripts/release/config.js b/scripts/release/config.js
index 367cc2ef89..b6fe43b714 100644
--- a/scripts/release/config.js
+++ b/scripts/release/config.js
@@ -23,6 +23,25 @@ const paramDefinitions = [
     alias: 'v',
     description: 'Semantic version number',
   },
+  {
+    name: 'branch',
+    type: String,
+    alias: 'b',
+    description: 'Branch to build from; defaults to [bold]{master}',
+    defaultValue: 'master',
+  },
+  {
+    name: 'local',
+    type: Boolean,
+    description: "Don't pull changes from the remote branch. Also skips CI.",
+  },
+  {
+    name: 'tag',
+    type: String,
+    description:
+      'The npm dist tag; defaults to [bold]{latest} for a stable' +
+      'release, [bold]{next} for unstable',
+  },
 ];
 
 module.exports = {
diff --git a/scripts/release/publish-commands/check-build-status.js b/scripts/release/publish-commands/check-build-status.js
index b64d7e90ab..02ecf20424 100644
--- a/scripts/release/publish-commands/check-build-status.js
+++ b/scripts/release/publish-commands/check-build-status.js
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ const {existsSync} = require('fs');
 const {readJson} = require('fs-extra');
 const {join} = require('path');
 
-module.exports = async ({cwd, version}) => {
+module.exports = async ({cwd, version, local}) => {
+  if (local) {
+    return;
+  }
   const packagePath = join(
     cwd,
     'build',
diff --git a/scripts/release/publish-commands/publish-to-npm.js b/scripts/release/publish-commands/publish-to-npm.js
index 6b34e12a7c..af17c42a40 100644
--- a/scripts/release/publish-commands/publish-to-npm.js
+++ b/scripts/release/publish-commands/publish-to-npm.js
@@ -8,10 +8,21 @@ const {join} = require('path');
 const semver = require('semver');
 const {execRead, execUnlessDry, logPromise} = require('../utils');
 
-const push = async ({cwd, dry, packages, version}) => {
+const push = async ({cwd, dry, packages, version, tag}) => {
   const errors = [];
-  const isPrerelease = semver.prerelease(version);
-  const tag = isPrerelease ? 'next' : 'latest';
+  let isPrerelease;
+  if (tag === undefined) {
+    // No tag was provided. Check the version.
+    isPrerelease = semver.prerelease(version);
+    if (isPrerelease) {
+      tag = 'next';
+    } else {
+      tag = 'latest';
+    }
+  } else {
+    // Any tag besides `latest` is a prerelease
+    isPrerelease = tag === 'latest';
+  }
 
   const publishProject = async project => {
     try {
@@ -76,5 +87,6 @@ const push = async ({cwd, dry, packages, version}) => {
 };
 
 module.exports = async params => {
+  console.log(params);
   return logPromise(push(params), 'Publishing packages to NPM');
 };
diff --git a/scripts/release/publish-commands/push-git-remote.js b/scripts/release/publish-commands/push-git-remote.js
index c30d035f28..6d487ac546 100644
--- a/scripts/release/publish-commands/push-git-remote.js
+++ b/scripts/release/publish-commands/push-git-remote.js
@@ -10,5 +10,8 @@ const push = async ({cwd, dry}) => {
 };
 
 module.exports = async params => {
+  if (params.local) {
+    return;
+  }
   return logPromise(push(params), 'Pushing to git remote');
 };