diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
index 1d50c38b9f8da05f3329f4a10293cc72ddca99ab..1c154c361644aed6b5555786e08766d9be510d43 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
@@ -70,17 +70,18 @@ module.exports = {
 };
 // @remove-on-eject-end
 
-// @remove-on-publish-begin
-module.exports = {
-  appBuild: resolveOwn('../../../build'),
-  appPublic: resolveOwn('../template/public'),
-  appHtml: resolveOwn('../template/public/index.html'),
-  appIndexJs: resolveOwn('../template/src/index.js'),
-  appPackageJson: resolveOwn('../package.json'),
-  appSrc: resolveOwn('../template/src'),
-  testsSetup: resolveOwn('../template/src/setupTests.js'),
-  appNodeModules: resolveOwn('../node_modules'),
-  ownNodeModules: resolveOwn('../node_modules'),
-  nodePaths: nodePaths
-};
-// @remove-on-publish-end
+// config before publish: we're in ./packages/react-scripts/config/
+if (__dirname.indexOf(path.join('packages', 'react-scripts', 'config')) !== -1) {
+  module.exports = {
+    appBuild: resolveOwn('../../../build'),
+    appPublic: resolveOwn('../template/public'),
+    appHtml: resolveOwn('../template/public/index.html'),
+    appIndexJs: resolveOwn('../template/src/index.js'),
+    appPackageJson: resolveOwn('../package.json'),
+    appSrc: resolveOwn('../template/src'),
+    testsSetup: resolveOwn('../template/src/setupTests.js'),
+    appNodeModules: resolveOwn('../node_modules'),
+    ownNodeModules: resolveOwn('../node_modules'),
+    nodePaths: nodePaths
+  };
+}
diff --git a/tasks/cra.sh b/tasks/cra.sh
index 9b25885457bce765035e1b0cdcad008ac4234390..c4d9e42bd039605d6c0bdf08cd053343f573ef8e 100755
--- a/tasks/cra.sh
+++ b/tasks/cra.sh
@@ -16,10 +16,8 @@ cd "$(dirname "$0")"
 
 function cleanup {
   echo 'Cleaning up.'
-  cd $root_path
   # Uncomment when snapshot testing is enabled by default:
   # rm ./template/src/__snapshots__/App.test.js.snap
-  rm -rf $clean_path
 }
 
 # Error messages are redirected to stderr
@@ -53,41 +51,17 @@ root_path=$PWD
 # Pack react-scripts so we can verify they work.
 # ******************************************************************************
 
-# Packing react-scripts takes some work because we want to clean it up first.
-# Create a temporary clean folder that contains production only code.
-# Do not overwrite any files in the current folder.
-clean_path=`mktemp -d 2>/dev/null || mktemp -d -t 'clean_path'`
-
-# Copy some of the react-scripts project files to the temporary folder.
-# Exclude folders that definitely won’t be part of the package from processing.
-# We will strip the dev-only code there, `npm pack`, and copy the package back.
-cd $root_path
-rsync -av --exclude='.git' --exclude=$clean_path\
-  --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='build'\
-  './' $clean_path  >/dev/null
-
-# Open the clean folder
-cd $clean_path/packages/react-scripts
-
-# Now remove all the code relevant to development of Create React App.
-files="$(find -L . -name "*.js" -type f)"
-for file in $files; do
-  sed -i.bak '/\/\/ @remove-on-publish-begin/,/\/\/ @remove-on-publish-end/d' $file
-  rm $file.bak
-done
-
 # Install all our packages
-cd $clean_path
 $root_path/node_modules/.bin/lerna bootstrap
 
-cd $clean_path/packages/react-scripts
+cd packages/react-scripts
 
 # Like bundle-deps, this script modifies packages/react-scripts/package.json,
 # copying own dependencies (those in the `packages` dir) to bundledDependencies
-node $clean_path/tasks/bundle-own-deps.js
+node $root_path/tasks/bundle-own-deps.js
 
 # Finally, pack react-scripts
-scripts_path=$clean_path/packages/react-scripts/`npm pack`
+scripts_path=$root_path/packages/react-scripts/`npm pack`
 
 # ******************************************************************************
 # Now that we have packed them, call the global CLI.
diff --git a/tasks/release.sh b/tasks/release.sh
index 8177688c4c028a61e962cf1f268e2c9cc3c61f8c..14b5cb77b1850f5b3232c25b13ac738cbbf5d2e7 100755
--- a/tasks/release.sh
+++ b/tasks/release.sh
@@ -39,25 +39,6 @@ if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
   exit 1;
 fi
 
-# Create a temporary clean folder that contains production only code.
-# Do not overwrite any files in the current folder.
-clean_path=`mktemp -d 2>/dev/null || mktemp -d -t 'clean_path'`
-
-# Copy some of the project files to the temporary folder.
-# Exclude folders that definitely won’t be part of the package from processing.
-# We will strip the dev-only code there, and publish from it.
-rsync -av --exclude=$clean_path\
-  --exclude='node_modules' --exclude='build'\
-  './' $clean_path  >/dev/null
-cd $clean_path
-
-# Now remove all the code relevant to development of Create React App.
-files="$(find -L . -name "*.js" -type f)"
-for file in $files; do
-  sed -i.bak '/\/\/ @remove-on-publish-begin/,/\/\/ @remove-on-publish-end/d' $file
-  rm $file.bak
-done
-
 # Update deps
 rm -rf node_modules
 rm -rf ~/.npm
@@ -72,14 +53,9 @@ npm dedupe
 # Since it's in optionalDependencies, it will attempt install outside bundle
 rm -rf node_modules/fsevents
 
-# This modifies $clean_path/package.json to copy all dependencies to bundledDependencies
+# This modifies package.json to copy all dependencies to bundledDependencies
 node ./node_modules/.bin/bundle-deps
 
-cd $clean_path
-
+cd $root_path
 # Go!
 ./node_modules/.bin/lerna publish --independent "$@"
-
-# cleanup
-cd ..
-rm -rf $clean_path