diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 1b8f75df221fc3d6c7ae6bb85a08b09192904977..860a09321676254c52bd980fdc9476a26a67ebb2 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ test:go1.8:
 verify:
   stage: test
   script:
-    - make notice-up-to-date
-    - make verify
+    - ./run notice-up-to-date
+    - ./run verify
 
 package:
   stage: package
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3acb0c2e8a695e173a5f0f3f92c9b9b74bf62324..0f85c1df2317353cec5bbaf4e7c4f451027e1841 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ BIN_BUILD_DIR=${BUILD_DIR}/_build/bin
 PKG_BUILD_DIR:=${BUILD_DIR}/_build/src/${PKG}
 CMDS:=$(shell cd cmd && ls)
 TEST_REPO=internal/testhelper/testdata/data/gitlab-test.git
-VERSION=$(shell git describe)-$(shell date -u +%Y%m%d.%H%M%S)
 
 export GOPATH=${BUILD_DIR}/_build
 export GO15VENDOREXPERIMENT=1
@@ -14,61 +13,30 @@ export PATH:=${GOPATH}/bin:$(PATH)
 .PHONY: all
 all: build
 
-.PHONY: ${BUILD_DIR}/_build
-${BUILD_DIR}/_build:
-	mkdir -p $@/src/${PKG}
-	tar -cf - --exclude _build --exclude .git . | (cd $@/src/${PKG} && tar -xf -)
-	touch $@
-
-build:	clean-build ${BUILD_DIR}/_build $(shell find . -name '*.go' -not -path './vendor/*' -not -path './_build/*')
-	rm -f -- "${BIN_BUILD_DIR}/*"
-	go install -ldflags "-X main.version=${VERSION}" ${PKG}/cmd/...
-	cp ${BIN_BUILD_DIR}/* ${BUILD_DIR}/
+build:
+	./run build
 
 install: build
 	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)${PREFIX}/bin/
 	cd ${BIN_BUILD_DIR} && install ${CMDS} ${DESTDIR}${PREFIX}/bin/
 
-verify: lint check-formatting govendor-status
-
-check-formatting: install-developer-tools
-	go run _support/gofmt-all.go -n
-
-govendor-status: ${BUILD_DIR}/_build install-developer-tools
-	cd ${PKG_BUILD_DIR} && govendor status
-
 ${TEST_REPO}:
 	git clone --bare https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-test.git $@
 
-test: clean-build ${TEST_REPO} ${BUILD_DIR}/_build
+test: ${TEST_REPO}
+	./run prepare-build
 	go test ${PKG}/...
 
-lint: install-developer-tools
-	go run _support/lint.go
-
 package: build
 	./_support/package/package ${CMDS}
 
-notice:	${BUILD_DIR}/_build install-developer-tools
+notice:
+	./run prepare-build
+	./run install-developer-tools
 	rm -f ${PKG_BUILD_DIR}/NOTICE # Avoid NOTICE-in-NOTICE
 	cd ${PKG_BUILD_DIR} && govendor license -template _support/notice.template -o ${BUILD_DIR}/NOTICE
 
-notice-up-to-date:	notice
-	git ls-files --error-unmatch NOTICE # NOTICE is a tracked file
-	git diff --exit-code # there are no changed files
-
-clean:	clean-build
+clean:
+	./run clean-build
 	rm -rf internal/testhelper/testdata
 	rm -f $(foreach cmd,${CMDS},./${cmd})
-
-clean-build:
-	rm -rf ${BUILD_DIR}/_build
-
-.PHONY: format
-format:
-	@go run _support/gofmt-all.go -f
-
-.PHONY: install-developer-tools
-install-developer-tools:
-	@go run _support/go-get-if-missing.go govendor github.com/kardianos/govendor
-	@go run _support/go-get-if-missing.go golint github.com/golang/lint/golint
diff --git a/_run/build b/_run/build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d747ab634d1b849ad3b8e8832c6ee6f33ca72c37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/build
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+./run prepare-build
+GOPATH=$(pwd)/_run go run _support/build.go
diff --git a/_run/check-formatting b/_run/check-formatting
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ffb28f1c7491f646f388341827a313fee53851a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/check-formatting
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+./run install-developer-tools
+go run _support/gofmt-all.go -n
diff --git a/_run/clean-build b/_run/clean-build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0a09c1ecee4d1c6baaf1040460854374a86e5af7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/clean-build
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+GOPATH=$(pwd)/_run go run _support/clean-build.go
diff --git a/_run/format b/_run/format
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..775a53e14a6927f88a7b9927daa2fe81b032a8cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/format
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+go run _support/gofmt-all.go -f
diff --git a/_run/govendor-status b/_run/govendor-status
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f156b7bf018617797e1bd48078769098db342161
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/govendor-status
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+./run prepare-build
+./run install-developer-tools
+./run with-gopath govendor status
diff --git a/_run/install-developer-tools b/_run/install-developer-tools
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a9490d2ccf49c7ec4b94993468280c3ea57bda4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/install-developer-tools
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+go run _support/go-get-if-missing.go govendor github.com/kardianos/govendor
+go run _support/go-get-if-missing.go golint github.com/golang/lint/golint
diff --git a/_run/lint b/_run/lint
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..44a9cb4826331436cf112f0fc021768241e2288e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/lint
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+./run install-developer-tools
+go run _support/lint.go
diff --git a/_run/notice-up-to-date b/_run/notice-up-to-date
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e4de130512c8266afd22e07187c0fe352490c203
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/notice-up-to-date
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+git ls-files --error-unmatch NOTICE # NOTICE is a tracked file
+git diff --exit-code # there are no changed files
diff --git a/_run/prepare-build b/_run/prepare-build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..426a285c8354398862f696e62ae63a036c991f25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/prepare-build
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+GOPATH=$(pwd)/_run go run _support/prepare-build.go
diff --git a/_run/src/build/config.go b/_run/src/build/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4593810cb52048e185e2c0e8294a1fd83030b276
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/src/build/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package build
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path"
+)
+
+type Config struct {
+	BuildDir    string `json:"build_dir"`
+	Package     string `json:"package"`
+	BuildGopath string
+}
+
+func ReadConfig() (*Config, error) {
+	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile("build_config.json")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	result := &Config{}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(data, result)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	for _, s := range []string{result.BuildDir, result.Package} {
+		if len(s) == 0 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid build config: %q", data)
+		}
+	}
+	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	result.BuildGopath = path.Join(cwd, result.BuildDir)
+	return result, nil
+}
+
+func (c *Config) PackageBuildDir() string {
+	return path.Join(c.BuildGopath, "src", c.Package)
+}
+
+func Version() (string, error) {
+	describe, err := exec.Command("git", "describe").Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	date, err := exec.Command("date", "-u", "+%Y%m%d.%H%M%S").Output() // TODO use package 'time'
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", bytes.TrimSpace(describe), bytes.TrimSpace(date)), nil
+}
diff --git a/_run/verify b/_run/verify
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..17c38e3300a07d83aa47b00b26e8eee265ca6f5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/verify
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+./run lint
+./run check-formatting
+./run govendor-status
diff --git a/_run/with-gopath b/_run/with-gopath
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8298efcf0a3b3da3720bd40aa965508d0e6e4337
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_run/with-gopath
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+GOPATH=$(pwd)/_run go run _support/with-gopath.go "$@"
diff --git a/_support/build.go b/_support/build.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6f1e9a604f5c56d0c327f6f4710fa100bb870fdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_support/build.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"build"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	if err := run(); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "fatal: %v\n", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func run() error {
+	config, err := build.ReadConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	binDir := path.Join(config.BuildDir, "bin")
+	if err := os.RemoveAll(binDir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	version, err := build.Version()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	goInstall := exec.Command("go", "install", "-ldflags", "-X main.version="+version, config.Package+"/cmd/...")
+	goInstall.Stdout = os.Stdout
+	goInstall.Stderr = os.Stderr
+	env := []string{}
+	for _, s := range os.Environ() {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s, "GOPATH=") {
+			continue
+		}
+		env = append(env, s)
+	}
+	goInstall.Env = append(env, "GOPATH="+config.BuildGopath)
+	if err := goInstall.Run(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	cp := exec.Command("sh", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("cp %s/* .", binDir))
+	cp.Stdout = os.Stdout
+	cp.Stderr = os.Stderr
+	return cp.Run()
+}
diff --git a/_support/clean-build.go b/_support/clean-build.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2d5419f10dd623871778b67cdacc1d906099602a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_support/clean-build.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"build"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	if err := run(); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "fatal: %v\n", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func run() error {
+	config, err := build.ReadConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return os.RemoveAll(config.BuildDir)
+}
diff --git a/_support/gofmt-all.go b/_support/gofmt-all.go
index 32a1a1753c7a66c40fb45d5ef41e38031a49d952..631bda0412cdc58317bb7b7199bc6b0ad1d2ce64 100644
--- a/_support/gofmt-all.go
+++ b/_support/gofmt-all.go
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func gofmt(write bool) error {
 	fmt.Printf("%s", output)
 
 	if !write && len(output) > 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("Please run 'make format'")
+		return fmt.Errorf("Please run './run format'")
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/_support/prepare-build.go b/_support/prepare-build.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..32a8053a1e9283574209068deca1bab6e1f19655
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_support/prepare-build.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"build"
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	if err := run(); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "fatal: %v\n", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func run() error {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+
+	config, err := build.ReadConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := os.RemoveAll(config.BuildDir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(config.PackageBuildDir(), 0755); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	tarSource := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "tar", "-cf", "-", "--exclude", config.BuildDir, "--exclude", ".git", ".")
+	tarSource.Stderr = os.Stderr
+	sourcePipe, err := tarSource.StdoutPipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	tarDest := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "tar", "-xf", "-")
+	tarDest.Stdin = sourcePipe
+	tarDest.Stderr = os.Stderr
+	tarDest.Dir = config.PackageBuildDir()
+
+	for _, err := range []error{tarSource.Start(), tarDest.Start()} {
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	if err := sourcePipe.Close(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	for _, err := range []error{tarSource.Wait(), tarDest.Wait()} {
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/_support/release b/_support/release
index 091004639b7986f1690ab9cf4f54fc2dd6835195..92913448eee3f9eaf781ce4529a8823d500e0556 100755
--- a/_support/release
+++ b/_support/release
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ require 'erb'
 require_relative 'run.rb'
 
 def main(version)
-  run!(%w[make notice-up-to-date])
+  run!(%w[./run notice-up-to-date])
   run!(%w[make test])
 
   puts 'Testing for changed files'
diff --git a/_support/with-gopath.go b/_support/with-gopath.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d85930410b31a3f80ddd498bc95dc5575c7c5ec7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_support/with-gopath.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"build"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"syscall"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	if err := run(); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "fatal: %v\n", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func run() error {
+	if len(os.Args) <= 1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("need at least one argument")
+	}
+	config, err := build.ReadConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	executable, err := exec.LookPath(os.Args[1])
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	os.Setenv("GOPATH", config.BuildGopath)
+	if err := os.Chdir(config.PackageBuildDir()); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return syscall.Exec(executable, os.Args[1:], os.Environ())
+}
diff --git a/build_config.json b/build_config.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..146eefdeea3b986ff8f630ff786216c7eca60eff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build_config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+"build_dir": "_build",
+"package":"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/run b/run
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..63f9919ca653cde145c79a15b5ee44fadf113294
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+sub_command=$1
+shift
+exec sh -e -x -- ./_run/"$sub_command" "$@"