diff --git a/tools/build-release.sh b/tools/build-release.sh
index 4e29d35f3..3a6252241 100755
--- a/tools/build-release.sh
+++ b/tools/build-release.sh
@@ -13,19 +13,58 @@ if [ x"$1" = x"--inside-docker" ]; then
     exit 0
 fi
 
-if [ "$(git status --porcelain -u no)" != "" ]; then
+ALL_TARGETS="bin-Fedora-28-amd64 bin-Ubuntu-16.04-amd64 bin-Ubuntu-16.04-i386 tarball sign"
+
+FORCE_VERSION=
+FORCE_UNCLEAN=false
+
+for arg; do
+    case "$arg" in
+	--force-version=*)
+	    FORCE_VERSION=${arg#*=}
+	    ;;
+	--force-unclean)
+	    FORCE_UNCLEAN=true
+	    ;;
+	--help)
+	    echo "Usage: [--force-version=<ver>] [--force-unclean] [TARGETS]"
+	    echo Known targets: "$ALL_TARGETS"
+	    exit 0
+	    ;;
+	-*)
+	    echo "Unknown arg $arg" >&2
+	    exit 1
+	    ;;
+	*)
+	    break
+	    ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+done
+
+if [ "$#" = 0 ]; then
+    TARGETS=" $ALL_TARGETS "
+else
+    TARGETS=" $* "
+fi
+
+if [ "$(git status --porcelain -u no)" != "" ] && ! $FORCE_UNCLEAN; then
     echo "Not a clean git directory" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
 VERSION=$(git tag --points-at HEAD)
+VERSION=${VERSION:-$FORCE_VERSION}
 if [ "$VERSION" = "" ]; then
     echo "No tagged version at HEAD?" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
+rm -rf release
 mkdir -p release
-for platform in Fedora-28-amd64 Ubuntu-16.04-amd64 Ubuntu-16.04-i386; do
+for target in $TARGETS; do
+    platform=${target#bin-}
+    [ "$platform" != "$target" ] || continue
     case $platform in
 	Fedora-28-amd64)
 	    DOCKERFILE=contrib/Dockerfile.builder.fedora
@@ -49,13 +88,16 @@ for platform in Fedora-28-amd64 Ubuntu-16.04-amd64 Ubuntu-16.04-i386; do
     docker run --rm=true -w /build $TAG rm -rf /"$VERSION-$platform" /build
 done
 
-# git archive won't go into submodules :(
-ln -sf .. "release/clightning-$VERSION"
-FILES=$(git ls-files --recurse-submodules | sed "s,^,clightning-$VERSION/,")
-# shellcheck disable=SC2086
-(cd release && zip "clightning-$VERSION.zip" $FILES)
-rm "release/clightning-$VERSION"
-exit 0
+if [ -z "${TARGETS##* tarball *}" ]; then
+    # git archive won't go into submodules :(
+    ln -sf .. "release/clightning-$VERSION"
+    FILES=$(git ls-files --recurse-submodules | sed "s,^,clightning-$VERSION/,")
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2086
+    (cd release && zip "clightning-$VERSION.zip" $FILES)
+    rm "release/clightning-$VERSION"
+fi
 
-sha256sum release/clightning-"$VERSION"* > release/SHA256SUMS
-gpg -sb --armor -o release/SHA256SUMS.asc-"$(gpgconf --list-options gpg | awk -F: '$1 == "default-key" {print $10}' | tr -d '"')" release/SHA256SUMS
+if [ -z "${TARGETS##* sign *}" ]; then
+    sha256sum release/clightning-"$VERSION"* > release/SHA256SUMS
+    gpg -sb --armor -o release/SHA256SUMS.asc-"$(gpgconf --list-options gpg | awk -F: '$1 == "default-key" {print $10}' | tr -d '"')" release/SHA256SUMS
+fi