diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5f6366acd..540da7571 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
-BUILD_PATH=.build
-SWIFT_BUILD_FLAGS=--product periphery --configuration release --disable-sandbox --scratch-path ${BUILD_PATH}
-
+SWIFT_BUILD_FLAGS=--product periphery --configuration release --disable-sandbox --scratch-path .build
 EXECUTABLE_X86_64=$(shell swift build ${SWIFT_BUILD_FLAGS} --arch x86_64 --show-bin-path)/periphery
 EXECUTABLE_ARM64=$(shell swift build ${SWIFT_BUILD_FLAGS} --arch arm64 --show-bin-path)/periphery
-EXECUTABLE=${BUILD_PATH}/periphery
 
 clean:
 	@swift package clean
@@ -15,11 +12,9 @@ build_arm64:
 	@swift build ${SWIFT_BUILD_FLAGS} --arch arm64
 
 build_release: clean build_x86_64 build_arm64
-	@lipo -create -output ${EXECUTABLE} ${EXECUTABLE_X86_64} ${EXECUTABLE_ARM64}
-	@strip -rSTX ${EXECUTABLE}
-
-show_bin_path:
-	@echo ${EXECUTABLE}
+	@mkdir -p .release
+	@lipo -create -output .release/periphery ${EXECUTABLE_X86_64} ${EXECUTABLE_ARM64}
+	@strip -rSTX .release/periphery
 
 swiftformat:
 	@./scripts/lint/swiftformat.sh
diff --git a/scripts/release b/scripts/release
index 4fc5f5469..27bac0eaf 100755
--- a/scripts/release
+++ b/scripts/release
@@ -44,10 +44,13 @@ cat scripts/artifactbundle_info.json.template | sed s/__VERSION__/${version}/ >
 echo -e "\nUpdate CHANGELOG.md"
 confirm "Continue?"
 
-bin_path=$(make show_bin_path)
-rm -rf "$bin_path"
 make build_release
-cp "$bin_path" .release/
+
+if [ ! -f .release/periphery ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Missing release binary?"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 cp LICENSE.md .release/
 cp scripts/release_notes.md.template .release/release_notes.md