diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f1f0ceecd407..01b6eec8f688 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
     "@types/hammerjs": "^2.0.30",
     "@types/jasmine": "^2.2.31",
     "@types/merge2": "0.0.28",
+    "@types/minimist": "^1.1.28",
     "@types/node": "^6.0.34",
     "@types/run-sequence": "0.0.27",
     "browserstacktunnel-wrapper": "^1.4.2",
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@
     "karma-sauce-launcher": "^1.0.0",
     "madge": "^0.6.0",
     "merge2": "^1.0.2",
+    "minimist": "^1.2.0",
     "node-sass": "^3.4.2",
     "protractor": "^3.3.0",
     "protractor-accessibility-plugin": "0.1.1",
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/release.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/release.ts
index f9a92d6727b2..95a1fd4724bc 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/release.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/release.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
-import {execSync} from 'child_process';
-import {readdirSync, statSync} from 'fs';
+import {spawn} from 'child_process';
+import {existsSync, readdirSync, statSync} from 'fs';
 import {task} from 'gulp';
 import gulpRunSequence = require('run-sequence');
 import path = require('path');
+import minimist = require('minimist');
 
 import {execTask} from '../task_helpers';
 import {DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT} from '../constants';
 
+const argv = minimist(process.argv.slice(3));
+
 
 task('build:release', function(done: () => void) {
   // Synchronously run those tasks.
@@ -27,24 +30,64 @@ task(':publish:whoami', execTask('npm', ['whoami'], {
 
 task(':publish:logout', execTask('npm', ['logout']));
 
-task(':publish', function() {
-  const label = process.argv.slice(2)[1];  // [0] would be ':publish'
-  const labelArg = label ? `--tag ${label}` : '';
-  const currentDir = process.cwd();
 
-  readdirSync(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT)
-    .forEach(dirName => {
-      const componentPath = path.join(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, dirName);
-      const stat = statSync(componentPath);
+function _execNpmPublish(componentName: string, label: string): Promise<void> {
+  const componentPath = path.join(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, componentName);
+  const stat = statSync(componentPath);
 
-      if (!stat.isDirectory()) {
-        return;
-      }
+  if (!stat.isDirectory()) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (!existsSync(path.join(componentPath, 'package.json'))) {
+    console.log(`Skipping ${componentPath} as it does not have a package.json.`);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  process.chdir(componentPath);
+  console.log(`Publishing ${componentName}...`);
+
+  const command = 'npm';
+  const args = ['publish', '--access', 'public', label ? `--tag` : undefined, label || undefined];
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    console.log(`Executing "${command} ${args.join(' ')}"...`);
+
+    const childProcess = spawn(command, args);
+    childProcess.stdout.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
+      console.log(`stdout: ${data.toString().split(/[\n\r]/g).join('\n        ')}`);
+    });
+    childProcess.stderr.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
+      console.error(`stderr: ${data.toString().split(/[\n\r]/g).join('\n        ')}`);
+    });
 
-      process.chdir(componentPath);
-      execSync(`npm publish --access public ${labelArg}`);
+    childProcess.on('close', (code: number) => {
+      if (code == 0) {
+        resolve();
+      } else {
+        reject(new Error(`Component ${componentName} did not publish, status: ${code}.`));
+      }
     });
-  process.chdir(currentDir);
+  });
+}
+
+task(':publish', function(done: (err?: any) => void) {
+  const label = argv['tag'];
+  const currentDir = process.cwd();
+
+  if (!label) {
+    console.log('You can use a label with --tag=labelName.');
+    console.log('Publishing using the latest tag.');
+  } else {
+    console.log(`Publishing using the ${label} tag.`);
+  }
+  console.log('\n\n');
+
+  // Build a promise chain that publish each component.
+  readdirSync(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT)
+    .reduce((prev, dirName) => prev.then(() => _execNpmPublish(dirName, label)), Promise.resolve())
+    .then(() => done())
+    .catch((err: Error) => done(err))
+    .then(() => process.chdir(currentDir));
 });
 
 task('publish', function(done: () => void) {