diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 4db122ec758b..2c1192f0728d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -50,11 +50,11 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Dist
       if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/release'
-      run: cargo xtask dist --client --version 0.2.$GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER         --tag $(date --iso --utc)
+      run: cargo xtask dist --client 0.2.$GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER
 
     - name: Dist
       if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest' && github.ref != 'refs/heads/release'
-      run: cargo xtask dist --client --version 0.3.$GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER-nightly --tag nightly
+      run: cargo xtask dist --nightly --client 0.3.$GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER-nightly
 
     - name: Dist
       if: matrix.os != 'ubuntu-latest'
diff --git a/xtask/src/dist.rs b/xtask/src/dist.rs
index 3255eefb9de2..67ae6106ab7b 100644
--- a/xtask/src/dist.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/dist.rs
@@ -3,24 +3,21 @@ use std::path::PathBuf;
 use anyhow::Result;
 
 use crate::{
-    not_bash::{fs2, pushd, rm_rf, run},
+    not_bash::{date_iso, fs2, pushd, rm_rf, run},
     project_root,
 };
 
-pub struct ClientOpts {
-    pub version: String,
-    pub release_tag: String,
-}
 
-pub fn run_dist(client_opts: Option<ClientOpts>) -> Result<()> {
+pub fn run_dist(nightly: bool, client_version: Option<String>) -> Result<()> {
     let dist = project_root().join("dist");
     rm_rf(&dist)?;
     fs2::create_dir_all(&dist)?;
 
-    if let Some(ClientOpts { version, release_tag }) = client_opts {
+    if let Some(version) = client_version {
+        let release_tag = if nightly { "nightly".to_string() } else { date_iso()? };
         dist_client(&version, &release_tag)?;
     }
-    dist_server()?;
+    dist_server(nightly)?;
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -50,7 +47,7 @@ fn dist_client(version: &str, release_tag: &str) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn dist_server() -> Result<()> {
+fn dist_server(nightly: bool) -> Result<()> {
     if cfg!(target_os = "linux") {
         std::env::set_var("CC", "clang");
         run!(
@@ -60,7 +57,9 @@ fn dist_server() -> Result<()> {
             // We'd want to add, but that requires setting the right linker somehow
             // --features=jemalloc
         )?;
-        run!("strip ./target/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/release/rust-analyzer")?;
+        if !nightly {
+            run!("strip ./target/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/release/rust-analyzer")?;
+        }
     } else {
         run!("cargo build --manifest-path ./crates/rust-analyzer/Cargo.toml --bin rust-analyzer --release")?;
     }
diff --git a/xtask/src/lib.rs b/xtask/src/lib.rs
index 0b8243f62e61..9d087daa248c 100644
--- a/xtask/src/lib.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/lib.rs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ use walkdir::{DirEntry, WalkDir};
 
 use crate::{
     codegen::Mode,
-    not_bash::{fs2, pushd, rm_rf, run},
+    not_bash::{date_iso, fs2, pushd, rm_rf, run},
 };
 
 pub use anyhow::Result;
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ pub fn run_release(dry_run: bool) -> Result<()> {
     let website_root = project_root().join("../rust-analyzer.github.io");
     let changelog_dir = website_root.join("./thisweek/_posts");
 
-    let today = run!("date --iso")?;
+    let today = date_iso()?;
     let commit = run!("git rev-parse HEAD")?;
     let changelog_n = fs2::read_dir(changelog_dir.as_path())?.count();
 
diff --git a/xtask/src/main.rs b/xtask/src/main.rs
index a9adcfba4722..dff3ce4a1dd6 100644
--- a/xtask/src/main.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/main.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use std::env;
 use pico_args::Arguments;
 use xtask::{
     codegen::{self, Mode},
-    dist::{run_dist, ClientOpts},
+    dist::run_dist,
     install::{ClientOpt, InstallCmd, ServerOpt},
     not_bash::pushd,
     pre_commit, project_root, run_clippy, run_fuzzer, run_pre_cache, run_release, run_rustfmt,
@@ -103,16 +103,10 @@ FLAGS:
             run_release(dry_run)
         }
         "dist" => {
-            let client_opts = if args.contains("--client") {
-                Some(ClientOpts {
-                    version: args.value_from_str("--version")?,
-                    release_tag: args.value_from_str("--tag")?,
-                })
-            } else {
-                None
-            };
+            let nightly = args.contains("--nightly");
+            let client_version: Option<String> = args.opt_value_from_str("--client")?;
             args.finish()?;
-            run_dist(client_opts)
+            run_dist(nightly, client_version)
         }
         _ => {
             eprintln!(
diff --git a/xtask/src/not_bash.rs b/xtask/src/not_bash.rs
index 2d45e5dff45e..ef1699934918 100644
--- a/xtask/src/not_bash.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/not_bash.rs
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ pub fn run_process(cmd: String, echo: bool) -> Result<String> {
     run_process_inner(&cmd, echo).with_context(|| format!("process `{}` failed", cmd))
 }
 
+pub fn date_iso() -> Result<String> {
+    run!("date --iso --utc")
+}
+
 fn run_process_inner(cmd: &str, echo: bool) -> Result<String> {
     let mut args = shelx(cmd);
     let binary = args.remove(0);