diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ab5b2a2df1..291d9947b3 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -27,9 +27,13 @@
     "babel-preset-react": "^6.24.1",
     "commit-status": "^4.1.0",
     "css-loader": "^0.28.4",
+    "execa": "^0.8.0",
+    "fs-extra": "^4.0.2",
     "gh-pages": "^1.0.0",
     "glob": "^7.1.2",
+    "globby": "^6.1.0",
     "html-to-react": "^1.2.11",
+    "isomorphic-fetch": "^2.2.1",
     "lerna": "^2.4.0",
     "node-sass": "^4.5.3",
     "npm-run-all": "^4.0.2",
@@ -41,6 +45,7 @@
     "react": "^15.6.1",
     "react-dom": "^15.6.1",
     "react-svg-inline": "^2.0.0",
+    "registry-url": "^3.1.0",
     "remark": "^8.0.0",
     "sass-loader": "^6.0.6",
     "semver": "^5.3.0",
diff --git a/script/compare-published b/script/compare-published
index 2f637c674e..df2cb2762c 100755
--- a/script/compare-published
+++ b/script/compare-published
@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@ set -e
 # script/compare-published [tag]
 tag=${1:-${NPM_TAG:-latest}}
 
-# this is way faster than `lerna exec npm info . .name`
-# (but will skip modules that don't have "primer-" in them)
-modules=`ls -1 modules | egrep primer-`
+packages=$($(dirname $0)/get-packages)
 
 # tabular output separator for column(1)
 s=,
@@ -15,9 +13,10 @@ s=,
 echo "📦  Comparing Primer modules published @${tag}..."
 (
     echo "module${s}tag${s}published${s}local"
-    for module in $modules; do
-        v_published=`npm info ${module}@${tag} .version`
-        v_local=`jq -Mr .version modules/${module}/package.json`
+    for package in $packages; do
+        module=$(jq -r .name "$package/package.json")
+        v_published=$(npm info "$module@$tag" .version)
+        v_local=$(jq -Mr .version "$package/package.json")
         echo "${module}${s}${tag}${s}${v_published:-x}${s}${v_local}"
     done
 ) | column -t -s=${s}
diff --git a/script/get-packages b/script/get-packages
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..671d7b3784
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/get-packages
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+const fs = require('fs')
+const globby = require('globby')
+const path = require('path')
+
+const getPackages = (debug) => {
+  const lernaConfig = require('../lerna.json')
+  const packageGlobs = lernaConfig.packages
+  return globby(packageGlobs)
+    .then(packagePaths => {
+      return packagePaths.filter(pkg => {
+        try {
+          require.resolve(`../${pkg}/package.json`)
+          return true
+        } catch (error) {
+          if (debug) {
+            console.warn('No package.json in %s', pkg)
+          }
+        }
+      })
+    })
+}
+
+if (module.parent) {
+  module.exports = getPackages
+} else {
+  getPackages(true).then(packages => {
+    console.warn('%d packages:', packages.length)
+    packages.forEach(pkg => console.log(pkg))
+  })
+}
diff --git a/script/get-release-version b/script/get-release-version
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..a23154a22b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/get-release-version
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+const RELEASE_PREFIX = 'release-'
+
+const getReleaseVersion = (pkg, branch) => {
+  const version = require(`../modules/${pkg}/package.json`).version
+
+  if (branch && branch.indexOf(RELEASE_PREFIX) === 0) {
+    const release = branch.replace(RELEASE_PREFIX, '')
+    if (release !== version) {
+      console.warn('⚠️   Release branch version mismatch:')
+      console.warn('    "%s" should be "%s" in %s/package.json', version, release, pkg)
+    }
+    return release
+  } else {
+    return version
+  }
+}
+
+if (module.parent) {
+  module.exports = getReleaseVersion
+} else {
+  const args = process.argv.slice(2)
+  const pkg = args.shift() || 'primer-css'
+  const branch = args.shift() || process.env.TRAVIS_BRANCH
+  const version = getReleaseVersion(pkg, branch)
+  console.log(version)
+}
diff --git a/script/release-candidate b/script/release-candidate
index ce7f80b659..8aa0ca0ee1 100755
--- a/script/release-candidate
+++ b/script/release-candidate
@@ -1,23 +1,144 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -e
-echo "👌  Publishing release candidate..."
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+const execa = require('execa')
+const fetch = require('isomorphic-fetch')
+const fse = require('fs-extra')
+const registryUrl = require('registry-url')
+const semver = require('semver')
 
-npm_tag=rc
+const bin = 'node_modules/.bin/'
+const lernaBin = `${bin}lerna`
+const getPackages = require('./get-packages')
+const getReleaseVersion = require('./get-release-version')
+const revertPackages = require('./revert-packages')
 
-# if this is the same version, we need to bump the prerelease
-# for all of the modules using the same prerelease identifier
-echo "Updating all module versions in place..."
-echo
-module_dirs=modules/*primer*
-for module_dir in $module_dirs; do
-  module=$(basename $module_dir)
-  $(dirname $0)/bump-rc $module
-done
+const PRERELEASE = 'prerelease'
+const DIST_TAG = 'rc'
+const PRIMER_CSS = 'primer-css'
+const RELEASE_VERSION = getReleaseVersion(
+  PRIMER_CSS,
+  process.env.TRAVIS_BRANCH
+)
 
-# publish all the things!
-$(dirname $0)/notify pending
+const depFields = [
+  'dependencies',
+  'devDependencies',
+  'optionalDependencies',
+  'peerDependencies',
+]
 
-# note: this should NOT fail, so --bail=true applies
-$(npm bin)/lerna exec -- npm publish --tag=$npm_tag
+const getUpdated = (args) => {
+  return execa(lernaBin, ['updated', '--json'])
+    .then(res => JSON.parse(res.stdout))
+    .then(updated => updated.map(pkg => pkg.name))
+}
 
-$(dirname $0)/notify success
+const notify = status => {
+  return execa('script/notify', ['error'], {env: process.env})
+    .catch(error => {
+      console.error('notify error:', error)
+    })
+}
+
+const writePackage = (pkg) => {
+  const {dir} = pkg
+  delete pkg.dir
+  const json = JSON.stringify(pkg, null, '  ') + '\n'
+  pkg.dir = dir
+  return fse.writeFile(`${pkg.dir}/package.json`, json, 'utf8')
+    .then(() => pkg)
+}
+
+const bump = (pkg, by, preid) => {
+  if (pkg.name === PRIMER_CSS) {
+    pkg.version = RELEASE_VERSION
+  }
+
+  const original = pkg.version
+  let version = increment(pkg.version, by, preid)
+  return getPackageInfo(pkg.name)
+    .then(info => {
+      while (version in info.versions) {
+        version = increment(version, by, preid)
+      }
+      console.warn('%s %s -> %s', pkg.name, original, version)
+      pkg.version = version
+      return writePackage(pkg)
+    })
+}
+
+const getPackageInfo = (name) => {
+  const url = registryUrl() + name
+  return fetch(url).then(res => res.json())
+}
+
+const increment = (version, by, preid) => {
+  const {major, minor, patch} = semver(version)
+  const prev = [major, minor, patch].join('.')
+  const next = semver.inc(version, by, preid)
+  // if this is a prerelease, "revert" major.minor.patch
+  // so that only the prerelease id is incremented
+  return by === PRERELEASE
+    ? next.replace(/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+/, prev)
+    : next
+}
+
+const updateDependants = (pkg, pkgs) => {
+  return pkgs.filter(other => {
+    return depFields.some(field => {
+      if (other[field] && (pkg.name in other[field])) {
+        other[field][pkg.name] = pkg.version
+        return true
+      }
+    })
+  })
+}
+
+revertPackages()
+  .then(() => getPackages())
+  .then(dirs => {
+    return dirs.map(dir => {
+      const pkg = require(`../${dir}/package.json`)
+      pkg.dir = dir
+      return pkg
+    })
+  })
+  .then(pkgs => {
+    const by = PRERELEASE
+    const preid = DIST_TAG
+    return getUpdated()
+      .then(updated => {
+        console.warn('%d packages updated...', updated.length)
+        return pkgs.filter(pkg => updated.includes(pkg.name))
+      })
+      .then(updated => {
+        const changed = new Set(updated)
+        return Promise.all(updated.map(pkg => {
+          return bump(pkg, by, preid)
+            .then(pkg => updateDependants(pkg, pkgs))
+            .then(dependants => {
+              dependants.forEach(dep => changed.add(dep))
+            })
+        }))
+        .then(() => {
+          const tasks = Array.from(changed)
+            .map(writePackage)
+          return Promise.all(tasks)
+        })
+        .then(updated => {
+          const tasks = updated.map(pkg => {
+            return execa('npm', ['publish', '--tag', DIST_TAG], {
+              cwd: pkg.dir,
+              stdio: 'inherit',
+            })
+          })
+          return Promise.all(tasks)
+        })
+        .then(() => notify('success'))
+      })
+  })
+  .catch(error => {
+    console.error('Error:', error)
+    process.exitCode = 1
+    return notify('error')
+  })
+  .then(() => process.exit())
diff --git a/script/revert-packages b/script/revert-packages
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..0c55add5d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/revert-packages
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+const execa = require('execa')
+const fse = require('fs-extra')
+const globby = require('globby')
+
+const revertPackages = () => {
+  const lernaConfig = require('../lerna.json')
+  const globs = lernaConfig.packages
+  const jsons = globs.map(glob => glob + '/package.json')
+  const tarballs = globs.map(glob => glob + '/*.tgz')
+  const opts = {stdio: 'inherit'}
+  return Promise.all([
+    execa('git', ['checkout', '--'].concat(globs), opts),
+    globby(tarballs)
+      .then(paths => {
+        if (paths.length) {
+          console.warn('deleting %d tarball(s)', paths.length)
+          return Promise.all(
+            paths.map(tgz => fse.remove(tgz))
+          )
+        }
+      }),
+  ])
+}
+
+if (module.parent) {
+  module.exports = revertPackages
+} else {
+  revertPackages().then(() => process.exit(0))
+}