diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9d1fb48c0a..1bccbca563 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -107,6 +107,9 @@ You can configure the app by copying `vector/config.sample.json` to
    valid location on this network. This is used as a hint to the user to indicate
    when a valid location has been entered so it's not necessary for this to be
    exactly correct. Optional.
+1. `update_base_url` (electron app only): HTTPS URL to a web server to download
+   updates from. This should be the path to the directory containing `install`
+   and `update`.
 
 Running as a Desktop app
 ========================
diff --git a/electron/src/electron-main.js b/electron/src/electron-main.js
index 3fabd01bb4..a8bdc7f97a 100644
--- a/electron/src/electron-main.js
+++ b/electron/src/electron-main.js
@@ -99,9 +99,9 @@ function pollForUpdates() {
     }
 }
 
-function startAutoUpdate(update_url) {
-    if (update_url.slice(-1) !== '/') {
-        update_url = update_url + '/';
+function startAutoUpdate() {
+    if (process.platform != 'darwin' && process.platform != 'win32') {
+        return;
     }
     try {
         // Since writing, the electron auto update process has changed from being
@@ -111,7 +111,19 @@ function startAutoUpdate(update_url) {
         // package.json. There is no autoupdate for Linux: it's expected that
         // the distro will provide it.
         if (process.platform == 'darwin') {
-            autoUpdater.setFeedURL(update_base_url + 'update/macos/');
+            const update_base_url = vectorConfig.update_base_url;
+            if (!update_base_url) {
+                console.log("No update_base_url: disabling auto-update");
+                return;
+            }
+            if (update_base_url.slice(-1) !== '/') {
+                update_base_url = update_url + '/';
+            }
+            const update_url = update_base_url + 'update/macos/tmp/';
+            console.log("Starting auto update with URL: " + update_url);
+            autoUpdater.setFeedURL(update_url);
+        } else {
+            console.log("Starting auto update with baked-in URL");
         }
         // We check for updates ourselves rather than using 'updater' because we need to
         // do it in the main process (and we don't really need to check every 10 minutes:
@@ -138,12 +150,7 @@ process.on('uncaughtException', function (error) {
 electron.ipcMain.on('install_update', installUpdate);
 
 electron.app.on('ready', () => {
-    if (vectorConfig.update_url) {
-        console.log("Starting auto update with URL: " + vectorConfig.update_url);
-        startAutoUpdate(vectorConfig.update_url);
-    } else {
-        console.log("No update_url is defined: auto update is disabled");
-    }
+    startAutoUpdate();
 
     mainWindow = new electron.BrowserWindow({
         icon: `${__dirname}/../img/riot.ico`,
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0f16ce7157..2ffb5773fc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     "build:compile": "babel --source-maps -d lib src",
     "build:bundle": "NODE_ENV=production webpack -p --progress",
     "build:bundle:dev": "webpack --optimize-occurence-order --progress",
-    "build:electron": "rimraf electron/dist && npm run clean && npm run build && build -wml --ia32 --x64 && scripts/check-electron.sh",
+    "build:electron": "rimraf electron/dist && npm run clean && npm run build && build -wml --ia32 --x64",
     "build": "node scripts/babelcheck.js && npm run build:res && npm run build:config && npm run build:emojione && npm run build:css && npm run build:bundle",
     "build:dev": "node scripts/babelcheck.js && npm run build:res && npm run build:config && npm run build:emojione && npm run build:css && npm run build:bundle:dev",
     "dist": "scripts/package.sh",
diff --git a/scripts/check-electron.sh b/scripts/check-electron.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 82b24a6cc3..0000000000
--- a/scripts/check-electron.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-update_url=`jq .update_url webapp/config.json`
-echo "***************************************************"
-echo
-if [ $? = 0 ]; then
-    echo "Built electron package with update url: $update_url"
-else
-    echo "Built electron package with no update url"
-    echo "This build will not auto-update."
-fi
-echo
-echo "***************************************************"
diff --git a/scripts/electron-dist.sh b/scripts/electron-dist.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 0e8efd560a..0000000000
--- a/scripts/electron-dist.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-set -e
-set -x
-
-if [ $# = 0 ]; then
-    echo "Usage: $0 <target directory>"
-    echo ""
-    echo "Adds the build in electron/dist/ to a given Riot electron"
-    echo "download tree. If target directory is empty, create a new"
-    echo "download tree. This tree can be placed on a web server to"
-    echo "serve auto-updates (although auto-update for Mac requires"
-    echo "additional logic)."
-    exit
-fi
-
-ver=`basename electron/dist/mac/*.dmg | cut -d '-' -f 2 | sed -e 's/\.dmg$//'`
-dir=$1
-
-echo "Copying files for version $ver to $dir"
-
-# Install packages: what the user downloads the first time,
-# (DMGs for mac, exe installer for windows)
-mkdir -p "$dir/install/macos"
-cp electron/dist/mac/*.dmg "$dir/install/macos/"
-echo "$ver" > "$dir/install/macos/latest"
-
-mkdir -p "$dir/install/win32/ia32"
-cp electron/dist/win-ia32/*.exe "$dir/install/win32/ia32/"
-
-mkdir -p "$dir/install/win32/x64"
-cp electron/dist/win/*.exe "$dir/install/win32/x64/"
-
-
-# Packages for auto-update. It would be nice if squirrel's
-# auto update used the installer packages, but it doesn't
-# for Reasons. zip for mac, nupkg for windows.
-mkdir -p "$dir/update/macos"
-cp electron/dist/mac/*.zip "$dir/update/macos/"
-echo "$ver" > "$dir/update/macos/latest"
-
-mkdir -p "$dir/update/win32/ia32"
-cp electron/dist/win-ia32/*.nupkg "$dir/update/win32/ia32/"
-cat electron/dist/win-ia32/RELEASES >> "$dir/update/win32/ia32/RELEASES"
-echo >> "$dir/update/win32/ia32/RELEASES"
-
-mkdir -p "$dir/update/win32/x64"
-cp electron/dist/win/*.nupkg "$dir/update/win32/x64/"
-cat electron/dist/win/RELEASES >> "$dir/update/win32/x64/RELEASES"
-echo >> "$dir/update/win32/x64/RELEASES"
-
-
-echo "All done!"
-echo "$dir can now be copied to your web server."
diff --git a/scripts/electron-package.sh b/scripts/electron-package.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8b1ccd4b03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/electron-package.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+usage() {
+    echo "Usage: $0 -v <version> -c <config file> [-n]"
+    echo
+    echo "version: commit-ish to check out and build"
+    echo "config file: a path to a json config file to"
+    echo "ship with the build. In addition, update_base_url:"
+    echo "from this file is used to set up auto-update."
+    echo "-n: build with no config file."
+    echo
+    echo "Values may also be passed as environment variables"
+}
+
+conffile=
+version=
+skipcfg=0
+while getopts "c:v:n" opt; do
+    case $opt in
+        c)
+            conffile=$OPTARG
+            ;;
+        v)
+            version=$OPTARG
+            ;;
+        n)
+            skipcfg=1
+            ;;
+        \?)
+            echo "Invalid option: -$OPTARG" >&2
+            usage
+            exit
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+if [ -z "$version" ]; then
+    echo "No version supplied"
+    usage
+    exit
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$conffile" ] && [ "$skipcfg" = 0 ]; then
+    echo "No config file given. Use -c to supply a config file or"
+    echo "-n to build with no config file (and no auto update)."
+    exit
+fi
+
+if [ -n "$conffile" ]; then
+    update_base_url=`jq -r .update_base_url $conffile`
+
+    if [ -z "$update_base_url" ]; then
+        echo "No update URL supplied. Use update_base_url: null if you really"
+        echo "want a build with no auto-update."
+        usage
+        exit
+    fi
+    # Make sure the base URL ends in a slash if it doesn't already
+    update_base_url=`echo $update_base_url | sed -e 's#\([^\/]\)$#\1\/#'`
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f package.json ]; then
+    echo "No package.json found. This script must be run from"
+    echo "the vector-web directory."
+    exit
+fi
+
+echo "Building $version using Update base URL $update_base_url"
+
+projdir=`pwd`
+builddir=`mktemp -d 2>/dev/null || mktemp -d -t 'buildtmp'`
+pushd "$builddir"
+git clone "$projdir" .
+git checkout "$version"
+
+if [ -n "$conffile" ]; then
+    popd
+    cp "$conffile" "$builddir/"
+    pushd "$builddir"
+fi
+
+if [ "$update_base_url" != "null" ]; then
+    # Inject a 'publish' configuration into the package.json.  This is what
+    # electron-builder needs for auto-update on windows but we don't want to
+    # keep it in the package.json as we don't want everyone cloning the source
+    # and building it for themselves to get our auto-update URL.
+    update_url=$update_base_url/install/win32/
+    jq '.build.publish.provider="generic"' package.json \
+        | jq '.build.publish.url="$update_url"' \
+        > package.json.tmp
+    mv package.json.tmp package.json
+fi
+
+npm install
+npm run build:electron
+
+popd
+
+distdir="$builddir/electron/dist"
+pubdir="$projdir/electron/pub"
+rm -r "$pubdir" || true
+mkdir -p "$pubdir"
+
+# figure out what version this build is known as
+# (since we could be building from a branch or indeed
+# any commit-ish, not just a version tag)
+vername=`python -c 'import yaml; import sys; print yaml.load(sys.stdin)["version"]' < $builddir/electron/dist/latest.yml`
+
+# Install packages: what the user downloads the first time,
+# (DMGs for mac, exe installer for windows)
+mkdir -p "$pubdir/install/macos"
+cp $distdir/mac/*.dmg "$pubdir/install/macos/"
+
+mkdir -p "$pubdir/install/win32/"
+cp $distdir/*.exe "$pubdir/install/win32/"
+cp $distdir/latest.yml "$pubdir/install/win32/"
+
+# Packages for auto-update on mac (Windows (NSIS) uses the installer exe)
+mkdir -p "$pubdir/update/macos"
+cp $distdir/mac/*.zip "$pubdir/update/macos/"
+echo "$ver" > "$pubdir/update/macos/latest"
+
+# Move the debs to the main project dir's dist folder
+rm -r "$projdir/electron/dist" || true
+mkdir -p "$projdir/electron/dist"
+cp $distdir/*.deb "$projdir/electron/dist/"
+
+rm -rf "$builddir"
+
+echo "Riot Desktop $vername is ready to go in $pubdir: this directory can be hosted on your web server."
+echo "deb archives are in electron/dist/ - these should be added into your debian repository"