diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 23507e158..b85e86ae0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@
 **/.ijwb
 **/.aswb
 **/.vscode
-**/trace.profile.gz
+trace.profile.gz
diff --git a/BUILD b/BUILD
index ef5d666ea..42a7c57b5 100644
--- a/BUILD
+++ b/BUILD
@@ -39,11 +39,10 @@ test_suite(
 # Release target.
 release_archive(
     name = "rules_kotlin_release",
-    dist_files = {
-        "BUILD": "",
-        "WORKSPACE": """workspace(name = "io_bazel_rules_kotlin")""",
+    src_map = {
+        "BUILD.release.bazel.bazel" : "BUILD.bazel",
+        "WORKSPACE.release.bazel" : "WORKSPACE",
     },
-    extension = "tgz",
     deps = [
         "//kotlin:pkg",
         "//src/main/kotlin:pkg",
diff --git a/BUILD.release.bazel b/BUILD.release.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a8c9e0a5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/BUILD.release.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Copyright 2020 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/WORKSPACE.release.bazel b/WORKSPACE.release.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..093556198
--- /dev/null
+++ b/WORKSPACE.release.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Copyright 2018 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+workspace(name = "io_bazel_rules_kotlin")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kotlin/internal/BUILD b/kotlin/internal/BUILD
index 3f19ab5f0..4e70dae66 100644
--- a/kotlin/internal/BUILD
+++ b/kotlin/internal/BUILD
@@ -24,11 +24,8 @@ release_archive(
     name = "pkg",
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     srcs = glob(["*.bzl"]),
-    dist_files = {
-      "BUILD": """
-load("//kotlin/internal:toolchains.bzl", "kt_configure_toolchains")
-kt_configure_toolchains()
-""",
+    src_map = {
+      "BUILD.release.bazel.bazel" : "BUILD.bazel",
     },
     deps = [
        "//kotlin/internal/js:pkg",
diff --git a/kotlin/internal/BUILD.release.bazel b/kotlin/internal/BUILD.release.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..71eaa250a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kotlin/internal/BUILD.release.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Copyright 2020 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+load("//kotlin/internal:toolchains.bzl", "kt_configure_toolchains")
+kt_configure_toolchains()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kotlin/internal/js/BUILD b/kotlin/internal/js/BUILD
index 29e4c981d..1df9fb3b4 100644
--- a/kotlin/internal/js/BUILD
+++ b/kotlin/internal/js/BUILD
@@ -26,12 +26,7 @@ release_archive(
         "*.bzl",
         "*.py",
     ]),
-    dist_files = {
-        "BUILD": """
-py_binary(
-  name = "importer",
-  srcs = ["importer.py"],
-  visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
-)""",
-    },
+   src_map = {
+       "BUILD.release.bazel" : "BUILD.bazel"
+   }
 )
diff --git a/kotlin/internal/js/BUILD.release.bazel b/kotlin/internal/js/BUILD.release.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..15963e227
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kotlin/internal/js/BUILD.release.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Copyright 2018 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+py_binary(
+  name = "importer",
+  srcs = ["importer.py"],
+  visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kotlin/internal/repositories/BUILD b/kotlin/internal/repositories/BUILD
index 502110d72..20f51c974 100644
--- a/kotlin/internal/repositories/BUILD
+++ b/kotlin/internal/repositories/BUILD
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ release_archive(
         "BUILD",
         "BUILD.com_github_jetbrains_kotlin",
     ],
-    renames = {
+    src_map = {
         "nomaven_repositories.bzl" : "repositories.bzl",
     }
 )
diff --git a/kotlin/internal/utils/packager.bzl b/kotlin/internal/utils/packager.bzl
index 7e46c4cc7..0ed94227a 100644
--- a/kotlin/internal/utils/packager.bzl
+++ b/kotlin/internal/utils/packager.bzl
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@
 
 load("@rules_pkg//:pkg.bzl", "pkg_tar")
 
-def release_archive(name, dist_files = {}, srcs = None, renames = {}, **kwargs):
+def release_archive(name, srcs = None, src_map = {}, package_dir = None, extension="tgz", deps=None):
     """
-    Creates an tar of the srcs, dist_files, and renamed label artifacts.
+    Creates an tar of the srcs, and renamed label artifacts.
 
     Usage:
 
@@ -24,11 +24,10 @@ def release_archive(name, dist_files = {}, srcs = None, renames = {}, **kwargs):
     load("//kotlin/internal/utils:packager.bzl", "release_archive")
     release_archive(
         name = "release_archive",
-        dist_files = {
-            "BUILD": "",
-            "WORKSPACE": "workspace(name = "io_bazel_rules_kotlin")",
+        src_map = {
+            "BUILD.release.bazel.bazel": "BUILD.bazel",
+            "WORKSPACE.release.bazel": "WORKSPACE",
         },
-        extension = "tgz",
         deps = [
             "//dep:pkg"
         ],
@@ -46,34 +45,25 @@ def release_archive(name, dist_files = {}, srcs = None, renames = {}, **kwargs):
 
     Args:
         name: target identifier, points to a pkg_tar target.
-        package_dir: directory to place the srcs, renames, and dist_files under. Defaults to the current directory.
+        package_dir: directory to place the srcs, src_map, and dist_files under. Defaults to the current directory.
         dist_files: dict of <filename string>:<contents string> for files to be generated in the distribution artifact.
-        renames: dict of <label>:<name string> for labels to be renamed and included in the distribution.
+        src_map: dict of <label>:<name string> for labels to be renamed and included in the distribution.
         srcs: files to include in the distribution.
         ext: Extension of the archive. Controls the type of tar file generated.
+        deps: release_archives to be included.
     """
 
-    if "package_dir" not in kwargs:
+    if package_dir == None:
         pkg_name = native.package_name()
         local_pkg_index = pkg_name.rfind("/")
         if local_pkg_index > -1:
             pkg_name = pkg_name[local_pkg_index:]
-        kwargs["package_dir"] = pkg_name
+        package_dir = pkg_name
 
-    # release_archives are always public.
-    kwargs["visibility"] = ["//visibility:public"]
     if srcs == None:
         srcs = []
-    for path, content in dist_files.items():
-        gen_name = name + "_" + path
-        _gen_file(
-            name = gen_name,
-            contents = content,
-            path = path,
-        )
-        srcs += [gen_name]
 
-    for source, target in renames.items():
+    for source, target in src_map.items():
         rename_name = name + "_" + target
         _rename(
             name = rename_name,
@@ -84,49 +74,12 @@ def release_archive(name, dist_files = {}, srcs = None, renames = {}, **kwargs):
 
     pkg_tar(
         name = name,
-        srcs = srcs,
-        **kwargs
+        srcs = srcs if srcs == None else [],
+        extension = extension,
+        visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
+        deps = deps if deps == None else [],
     )
 
-_file_header = """
-# Copyright 2020 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-"""
-
-def _gen_file_impl(ctx):
-    """
-    Creates a file in a directory based on the rule name.
-    Useful for creating source files that may overlap existing sources in a given directory.
-
-    ** This is not windows safe. **
-
-    Args:
-        path: a valid, raltive path string. Unvalidated.
-        contents: string to write to the path.
-    """
-    out = ctx.actions.declare_file(ctx.label.name + "/" + ctx.attr.path)
-    ctx.actions.write(out, _file_header + ctx.attr.contents)
-    return [DefaultInfo(files = depset([out]))]
-
-_gen_file = rule(
-    implementation = _gen_file_impl,
-    attrs = {
-        "contents": attr.string(mandatory = True),
-        "path": attr.string(mandatory = True),
-    },
-)
-
 def _rename_impl(ctx):
     out_file = ctx.actions.declare_file(ctx.label.name + "/" + ctx.attr.target)
     in_file = ctx.file.source
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/BUILD b/src/main/kotlin/BUILD
index 17bf3e313..c4f83da7e 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/BUILD
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/BUILD
@@ -65,34 +65,10 @@ release_archive(
     srcs = [
         ":compiler_lib.jar",
     ],
-    # Generate the release build file, relying on precompiled jars.
-    dist_files = {
-        "BUILD": """
-java_import(
-  name = "import_builder",
-  jars = ["kotlin_deploy.jar"],
-)
-
-java_import(
-  name = "compiler_lib",
-  jars = ["compiler_lib.jar"],
-)
-
-java_binary(
-  name = "builder",
-  main_class = "io.bazel.kotlin.builder.KotlinBuilderMain",
-  visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
-  runtime_deps = [":import_builder"],
-  data = [
-    ":compiler_lib",
-    "@com_github_jetbrains_kotlin//:lib/kotlin-compiler.jar",
-  ],
-)
-""",
-    },
     package_dir = "src/main/kotlin",  # explicitly set the package directory, as there are no parent release_archives.
-    renames = {
+    src_map = {
         # must rename, otherwise it creates a cyclical dependency in the release.
-        ":builder_deploy.jar": "kotlin_deploy.jar",
+        ":builder_deploy.jar": "kotlin_linc.jar",
+        "BUILD.release.bazel" :"BUILD.bazel",
     },
 )
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/BUILD.release.bazel b/src/main/kotlin/BUILD.release.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..25e879910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/BUILD.release.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Copyright 2018 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+java_import(
+  name = "import_builder",
+  jars = ["kotlin_linc.jar"],
+)
+
+java_import(
+  name = "compiler_lib",
+  jars = ["compiler_lib.jar"],
+)
+
+java_binary(
+  name = "builder",
+  main_class = "io.bazel.kotlin.builder.KotlinBuilderMain",
+  visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
+  runtime_deps = [":import_builder"],
+  data = [
+    ":compiler_lib",
+    "@com_github_jetbrains_kotlin//:lib/kotlin-compiler.jar",
+  ],
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/third_party/BUILD b/third_party/BUILD
index 443ea6177..59936c4c2 100644
--- a/third_party/BUILD
+++ b/third_party/BUILD
@@ -106,17 +106,8 @@ release_archive(
     name = "pkg",
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     srcs = ["empty.jar"],
-    dist_files = {
-      "BUILD" : """
-exports_files(["empty.jar"])
-
-java_import(
-    name = "android_sdk",
-    jars = ["@bazel_tools//tools/android:android_jar"],
-    neverlink = 1,
-    visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
-)
-"""
+    src_map = {
+      "BUILD.release.bazel" : "BUILD.bazel",
     },
 )
 
diff --git a/third_party/BUILD.release.bazel b/third_party/BUILD.release.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9dca20f02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third_party/BUILD.release.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Copyright 2018 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+exports_files(["empty.jar"])
+
+java_import(
+    name = "android_sdk",
+    jars = ["@bazel_tools//tools/android:android_jar"],
+    neverlink = 1,
+    visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
+)
\ No newline at end of file