diff --git a/do_jdbc/Rakefile b/do_jdbc/Rakefile
index 6e22c905..e518c3e7 100644
--- a/do_jdbc/Rakefile
+++ b/do_jdbc/Rakefile
@@ -1,54 +1,16 @@
-require 'pathname'
 require 'rubygems'
 require 'rake'
-require 'rake/rdoctask'
-require 'spec/rake/spectask'
-require 'lib/do_jdbc/version.rb'
+require 'rake/clean'
+
+require 'pathname'
+require 'lib/do_jdbc/version'
 
 ROOT    = Pathname(__FILE__).dirname.expand_path
 JRUBY   = RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /java/
 WINDOWS = Gem.win_platform?
 SUDO    = (WINDOWS || JRUBY) ? '' : ('sudo' unless ENV['SUDOLESS'])
 
-AUTHOR = "Alex Coles"
-EMAIL  = "alex@alexcolesportfolio.com"
-GEM_NAME = "do_jdbc"
-GEM_VERSION = DataObjects::Jdbc::VERSION
-GEM_DEPENDENCIES = [["data_objects", GEM_VERSION]]
-GEM_CLEAN = ['build/*','dist/*','lib/**/*.jar']
-GEM_EXTRAS = { :platform => 'java', :has_rdoc => false, :extra_rdoc_files => %w[ README.markdown MIT-LICENSE GPL-LICENSE ] }
-
-PROJECT_NAME = "dorb"
-PROJECT_URL  = "http://rubyforge.org/projects/dorb"
-PROJECT_DESCRIPTION = PROJECT_SUMMARY = "JDBC support for DataObjects.rb drivers"
-
-
-if (tasks_dir = ROOT.parent + 'tasks').directory?
-  require tasks_dir + 'hoe'
-  require tasks_dir + 'ext_helper_java'
-
-  setup_java_extension  "#{GEM_NAME}_internal", HOE.spec,
-    :source_dir => 'src/java', :add_buildr_task => false
-end
-
-def sudo_gem(cmd)
-  sh "#{SUDO} #{RUBY} -S gem #{cmd}", :verbose => false
-end
-
-# Installation
-
-task :default => [ :compile ]
-
-task :filelist do
-  puts FileList['pkg/**/*'].inspect
-end
+Dir['tasks/*.rake'].each { |f| import f }
 
-desc "Install #{GEM_NAME} #{GEM_VERSION}"
-task :install => [ :package ] do
-  sudo_gem "install pkg/#{GEM_NAME}-#{GEM_VERSION} --no-update-sources"
-end
+CLEAN.include(%w[ {tmp,pkg}/ **/*.{o,so,bundle,jar,log,a,gem,dSYM,obj,pdb,exp,DS_Store,rbc,db} ext-java/target ])
 
-desc "Uninstall #{GEM_NAME} #{GEM_VERSION}"
-task :uninstall => [ :clean ] do
-  sudo_gem "uninstall #{GEM_NAME} -v#{GEM_VERSION} -I -x"
-end
diff --git a/do_jdbc/tasks/gem.rake b/do_jdbc/tasks/gem.rake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..121f8068
--- /dev/null
+++ b/do_jdbc/tasks/gem.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+require 'rubygems/package_task'
+
+GEM_SPEC = Gem::Specification.new do |s|
+  # basic information
+  s.name        = "do_jdbc"
+  s.version     = DataObjects::Jdbc::VERSION
+
+  # description and details
+  s.summary     = 'DataObjects JDBC support library'
+  s.description = "Provides JDBC support for usage in DO drivers for JRuby"
+
+  # dependencies
+  s.add_dependency "addressable", "~>2.0.0"
+  s.add_dependency "extlib", "~>0.9.12"
+  s.add_dependency "data_objects", DataObjects::Jdbc::VERSION
+  s.platform = "java"
+
+  # development dependencies
+  s.add_development_dependency 'rspec', '~>1.2.0'
+
+  # components, files and paths
+  s.files = FileList["lib/**/*.rb", "spec/**/*.rb", "tasks/**/*.rake",
+                      "MIT-LICENSE", "GPL-LICENSE", "Rakefile", "*.{rdoc,txt,yml}", "lib/*.jar"]
+
+  s.require_path = 'lib'
+
+  # documentation
+  s.has_rdoc = false
+
+  # project information
+  s.homepage          = 'http://github.com/datamapper/do'
+  s.rubyforge_project = 'dorb'
+
+  # author and contributors
+  s.author      = 'Alex Coles'
+  s.email       = 'alex@alexcolesportfolio.com'
+end
+
+gem_package = Gem::PackageTask.new(GEM_SPEC) do |pkg|
+  pkg.need_tar = false
+  pkg.need_zip = false
+end
+
+file "#{GEM_SPEC.name}.gemspec" => ['Rakefile', 'tasks/gem.rake'] do |t|
+  puts "Generating #{t.name}"
+  File.open(t.name, 'w') { |f| f.puts GEM_SPEC.to_yaml }
+end
+
+desc "Generate or update the standalone gemspec file for the project"
+task :gemspec => ["#{GEM_SPEC.name}.gemspec"]
diff --git a/do_jdbc/tasks/install.rake b/do_jdbc/tasks/install.rake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c9d6d7f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/do_jdbc/tasks/install.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+def sudo_gem(cmd)
+  sh "#{SUDO} #{RUBY} -S gem #{cmd}", :verbose => false
+end
+
+# Installation
+
+desc "Install #{GEM_SPEC.name} #{GEM_SPEC.version}"
+task :install => [ :package ] do
+  sudo_gem "install pkg/#{GEM_SPEC.name}-#{GEM_SPEC.version} --no-update-sources"
+end
+
+desc "Uninstall #{GEM_SPEC.name} #{GEM_SPEC.version}"
+task :uninstall => [ :clean ] do
+  sudo_gem "uninstall #{GEM_SPEC.name} -v#{GEM_SPEC.version} -I -x"
+end
diff --git a/do_jdbc/tasks/native.rake b/do_jdbc/tasks/native.rake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eb766248
--- /dev/null
+++ b/do_jdbc/tasks/native.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+if (tasks_dir = ROOT.parent + 'tasks').directory?
+  require tasks_dir + 'ext_helper_java'
+  setup_java_extension("#{GEM_SPEC.name}_internal", GEM_SPEC, :source_dir => 'src/java', :add_buildr_task => false)
+end
diff --git a/do_jdbc/tasks/release.rake b/do_jdbc/tasks/release.rake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4915ea7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/do_jdbc/tasks/release.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+begin
+  gem 'rubyforge', '~> 1.0.1'
+  require 'rubyforge'
+rescue Exception
+  nil
+end
+
+if defined?(RubyForge) then
+  if defined?(GEM_SPEC) then
+    desc 'Package and upload to RubyForge'
+    task :release => [:package] do |t|
+      ver = ENV['VERSION'] or fail "Must supply VERSION (rake release VERSION=x.y.z)."
+
+      # compare versions to avoid mistakes
+      unless ver == GEM_SPEC.version.to_s then
+        fail "Version mismatch (supplied and specification versions differ)."
+      end
+
+      # no rubyforge project? no release for you!
+      if GEM_SPEC.rubyforge_project == 'TODO' or GEM_SPEC.rubyforge_project.nil? then
+        fail "Must define rubyforge_project in your gem specification."
+      end
+
+      # instantiate a RubyForge object
+      rf = RubyForge.new
+
+      # read project info and overview
+      notes = begin
+                r = File.read("README.rdoc")
+                r.split(/^(=+ .*)/)[1..4].join.strip
+              rescue
+                warn "Missing README.rdoc"
+                ''
+              end
+
+      # read changes
+      changes = begin
+                  h = File.read("History.txt")
+                  h.split(/^(==+ .*)/)[1..2].join.strip
+                rescue
+                  warn "Missing History.txt"
+                  ''
+                end
+
+      # build the configuration for the release
+      config = Hash.new
+      config["release_notes"] = notes
+      config["release_changes"] = changes
+      config["preformatted"] = true
+
+      # prepare configuration
+      rf.configure config
+
+      files = FileList["pkg/#{GEM_SPEC.name}-#{GEM_SPEC.version}*.*"].to_a
+      fail "No files found for the release." if files.empty?
+
+      puts "Logging in RubyForge..."
+      rf.login
+
+      puts "Files to upload:"
+      files.each do |f|
+        puts "  * #{f}"
+      end
+
+      puts "Releasing #{GEM_SPEC.name} version #{GEM_SPEC.version}..."
+      rf.add_release GEM_SPEC.rubyforge_project, GEM_SPEC.name, GEM_SPEC.version, *files
+      puts "Done."
+    end
+    Rake::Task['release'].prerequisites.unshift('clean', 'cross', 'native')
+  else
+    warn "no GEM_SPEC is found or defined. 'release' task cannot work without it."
+  end
+else
+  warn "rubyforge gem is required to generate releases, please install it (gem install rubyforge)."
+end