diff --git a/contrib/make-release b/contrib/make-release
index ffdabfd8..dfaf03a1 100755
--- a/contrib/make-release
+++ b/contrib/make-release
@@ -1,28 +1,37 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 # GNU Wget: Make a new release
 #
 # This is a helper script to make a new release of GNU Wget
 #
-# Make sure that
+# Author: Darshit Shah <darnir@gnu.org>
 
 set -e
 set -o pipefail
 set -u
 
 export CFLAGS="-g -O2 -Wall"
+export LC_ALL=C
 
 EXTENSIONS="gzip lzip"
 
 ask_continue() {
 	printf "Continue? [y/N]: "
-	read inp
+	read -r inp
 	[ "$inp" != "y" ] && [ "$inp" != "Y" ] && exit 1
 	# For some completely weird reason, this set +x is required. Else, the test
 	# *ALWAYS* fails
 	set +x
 }
 
+REQUIRED_PROGRAMS="ncftpput sponge"
+for prog in $REQUIRED_PROGRAMS; do
+    if ! command -v "$prog" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        2>&1 echo "Required program $prog not found. Please install before proceeding"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+done
+
 if [ ! -d ".git" ]; then
 	echo "Please run this script from the root of the git repository"
 fi
@@ -36,6 +45,7 @@ git clean -dxfq
 
 echo "=> Bootstrap"
 ./bootstrap > /dev/null 2>&1
+autoreconf -ivf
 
 echo "=> Configure"
 ./configure -q
@@ -46,42 +56,33 @@ APP_VER=$(grep "^PACKAGE_VERSION='" configure | cut -d "'" -f2)
 echo "Making release for $APP_NAME $APP_VER"
 ask_continue
 
-NEWS_VERSION=$(grep -i "Changes in $APP_NAME" NEWS | head -1 | awk '{print $5}')
+NEWS_VERSION=$(grep -i "Noteworthy changes in release" NEWS | head -1 | awk '{print $6}')
 if [ "$NEWS_VERSION" != "$APP_VER" ]; then
 	echo "Latest version in NEWS file does not match latest tag"
 	exit 1
 fi
-CUR_VER=$(git describe | sed 's/^v//')
-PREV_VER=$(git describe --abbrev=0 --tags $(git rev-list --tags --skip=1 --max-count=1) | sed 's/^v//')
-LNO_CVER=$(grep -in "Changes in $APP_NAME" NEWS | head -1 | cut -f1 -d:)
+PREV_VER=$(cat .prev-version)
+LNO_CVER=$(grep -in "Noteworthy changes in release" NEWS | head -1 | cut -f1 -d:)
 LNO_PVER=$(grep -in "Changes in $APP_NAME" NEWS | head -2 | tail -1 | cut -f1 -d:)
 sed -n "${LNO_CVER},${LNO_PVER}p" NEWS
 echo "This is the current contents of your NEWS"
 ask_continue
 
-echo "=> Make distcheck"
-make -s distcheck > /dev/null 2>&1
-
-for ext in $EXTENSIONS; do
-	[ "$ext" = 'gz' ] && ext="gzip"
-	[ "$ext" = 'lz' ] && ext="lzip"
-	echo "=> Making $APP_NAME-$CUR_VER.tar.$ext"
-	make -s "dist-$ext" > /dev/null
-done
-
 echo ""
 REL_TYPE=
-REL_LOC=
 while [ -z $REL_TYPE ]; do
 	printf "Enter release type (alpha, beta, stable): "
 	read x
 	case $x in
-		a|A|alpha|Alpha) REL_TYPE=alpha && REL_LOC="alpha.gnu.org";;
-		b|B|beta|Beta) REL_TYPE=beta && REL_LOC="alpha.gnu.org";;
-		s|S|stable|Stable) REL_TYPE=stable && REL_LOC="ftp.gnu.org";;
+		a|A|alpha|Alpha) REL_TYPE=alpha;;
+		b|B|beta|Beta) REL_TYPE=beta;;
+		s|S|stable|Stable) REL_TYPE=stable;;
 	esac
 done
 
+echo "=> Make release"
+make -s release RELEASE_TYPE=$REL_TYPE
+
 GPG_KEY=
 while [ -z $GPG_KEY ]; do
 	printf "Enter GPG Key ID for Signing: "
@@ -94,19 +95,27 @@ done
 
 echo ""
 
-APP_LOWER="$(echo "$APP_NAME" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')"
-./build-aux/gnupload --to "$REL_LOC:$APP_LOWER" --user "$GPG_KEY" --symlink-regex "$APP_LOWER-$CUR_VER".tar.*
+upload_command=$(make -s emit_upload_commands RELEASE_TYPE=stable \
+    | sponge \
+    | head -n3 \
+    | tail -1 \
+    | sed "s/--to/--user $GPG_KEY --symlink-regex --to/g"
+)
 
-echo ""
-
-build-aux/announce-gen --release-type "$REL_TYPE" --package-name "$APP_LOWER" --previous-version="$PREV_VER" --current-version "$CUR_VER" --gpg-key-id="$GPG_KEY" --url-directory "https://${REL_LOC}/gnu/${APP_LOWER}" --news=NEWS > "$APP_NAME-$APP_VER.announce"
+echo "=> Uploading"
+echo "Upload tarballs?"
+echo "$upload_command"
+ask_continue
+$upload_command
 
 echo ""
 echo "Remaining Release Checklist:
   1. Send a mail to coordinator@translationproject.org with the subject
 	 \"Requesting Translations for $APP_NAME-$APP_VER.POT\"
-  2. Announce email template placed at $APP_NAME-$APP_VER.announce.
+  2. Announce email template placed at ~/announce-$APP_NAME-$APP_VER
      Send an announce mail to info-gnu@gnu.org
+  3. Run \`make web-manual\` and \`make web-manual-update\` to update manual online
+  (Only Stable)
 "
 
 echo ""