diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 7ba39ff..1c889ee 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ setup_args['cmdclass'] = {
     'build_py': css_js_prerelease(
             check_package_data_first(git_prebuild('IPython')),
         strict=False),
-    'sdist' : css_js_prerelease(git_prebuild('IPython', sdist)),
+    'sdist' : css_js_prerelease(git_prebuild('IPython', sdist), strict=False),
     'upload_wininst' : UploadWindowsInstallers,
     'submodule' : UpdateSubmodules,
     'css' : CompileCSS,
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ if 'setuptools' in sys.modules:
     # setup.py develop should check for submodules
     from setuptools.command.develop import develop
     setup_args['cmdclass']['develop'] = require_submodules(develop)
-    setup_args['cmdclass']['bdist_wheel'] = css_js_prerelease(get_bdist_wheel())
+    setup_args['cmdclass']['bdist_wheel'] = css_js_prerelease(get_bdist_wheel(), strict=False)
     
     setuptools_extra_args['zip_safe'] = False
     setuptools_extra_args['entry_points'] = {'console_scripts':find_entry_points()}
diff --git a/tools/release b/tools/release
index 56a82a8..098db17 100755
--- a/tools/release
+++ b/tools/release
@@ -22,9 +22,11 @@ if not os.path.exists(ipbackupdir):
 cd(ipdir)
 
 # Load release info
-execfile(pjoin('IPython','core','release.py'))
+execfile(pjoin('IPython','core','release.py'), globals())
 # ensure js version is in sync
 sh('./setup.py jsversion')
+# build minified css and sourcemaps
+sh('./setup.py css -x -f')
 
 # Build site addresses for file uploads
 release_site = '%s/release/%s' % (archive, version)
diff --git a/tools/toollib.py b/tools/toollib.py
index a448d57..32e178b 100644
--- a/tools/toollib.py
+++ b/tools/toollib.py
@@ -59,3 +59,10 @@ def compile_tree():
         msg = '*** ERROR: Some Python files in tree do NOT compile! ***\n'
         msg += 'See messages above for the actual file that produced it.\n'
         raise SystemExit(msg)
+
+try:
+    execfile
+except NameError:
+    def execfile(fname, globs, locs=None):
+        locs = locs or globs
+        exec(compile(open(fname).read(), fname, "exec"), globs, locs)