diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index 713d691080..c87a7fa67a 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -30,10 +30,12 @@ test --nolegacy_external_runfiles
 
 ###############################
 # Release support             #
+# Turn on these settings with #
+#  --config=release           #
 ###############################
 
 # Releases should always be stamped with version control info
-build --workspace_status_command=./tools/bazel_stamp_vars.sh
+build:release --workspace_status_command=./tools/bazel_stamp_vars.sh
 
 ###############################
 # Output                      #
diff --git a/packages/bazel/package.bzl b/packages/bazel/package.bzl
index 1d043ec8e0..e956f0d058 100644
--- a/packages/bazel/package.bzl
+++ b/packages/bazel/package.bzl
@@ -18,12 +18,13 @@ def rules_angular_dependencies():
 
     #
     # Download Bazel toolchain dependencies as needed by build actions
-    #
+    # Use a SHA to get fix for needing symlink_prefix during npm publishing
+    # TODO(alexeagle): updated to next tagged rules_typescript release
     _maybe(
         http_archive,
         name = "build_bazel_rules_nodejs",
-        url = "https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_nodejs/archive/0.16.2.zip",
-        strip_prefix = "rules_nodejs-0.16.2",
+        url = "https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_nodejs/archive/ee218e2a98b9f09ba07cecac8496a5918c47bc5d.zip",
+        strip_prefix = "rules_nodejs-ee218e2a98b9f09ba07cecac8496a5918c47bc5d",
     )
 
     _maybe(
diff --git a/packages/bazel/src/esm5.bzl b/packages/bazel/src/esm5.bzl
index adc31a309d..52e278bbc7 100644
--- a/packages/bazel/src/esm5.bzl
+++ b/packages/bazel/src/esm5.bzl
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ def flatten_esm5(ctx):
       ctx: the skylark rule execution context
 
     Returns:
-      list of flattened files
+      depset of flattened files
     """
     esm5_sources = []
     result = []
@@ -186,4 +186,4 @@ def flatten_esm5(ctx):
             template = f,
             substitutions = {},
         )
-    return result
+    return depset(result)
diff --git a/scripts/build-packages-dist.sh b/scripts/build-packages-dist.sh
index e9da5efbee..89ecc1b946 100755
--- a/scripts/build-packages-dist.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-packages-dist.sh
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ function buildTargetPackages() {
   echo "  mode: ${desc}"
   echo "##################################"
 
-  echo "$targets" | xargs ${bazelBin} build --define=compile=$compileMode
+  # Use --config=release so that snapshot builds get published with embedded version info
+  echo "$targets" | xargs ${bazelBin} build --config=release --define=compile=$compileMode
 
   [ -d "${basedir}/${destPath}" ] || mkdir -p $basedir/${destPath}
 
diff --git a/scripts/release/publish-latest b/scripts/release/publish-latest
index 4f507d8dc1..f3b46e804a 100755
--- a/scripts/release/publish-latest
+++ b/scripts/release/publish-latest
@@ -2,21 +2,24 @@
 
 set -u -e -o pipefail
 
-# Use for BETA and RC releases
+# Use for production releases
 # Query Bazel for npm_package and ng_package rules with tags=["release-with-framework"]
 # Publish them to npm (tagged next)
 
 # We need to resolve the Bazel binary in the node modules because running Bazel
 # through `yarn bazel` causes additional output that throws off the command stdout.
 BAZEL_BIN=$(yarn bin)/bazel
+# Build into a distinct output location so that artifacts from previous builds are not reused
+BAZEL_OUTPUT_BASE=$(mktemp -d -t angular-release-latest.XXXXXXX)
+BAZEL="$BAZEL_BIN --output_base=$BAZEL_OUTPUT_BASE"
 
 # query for all npm packages to be released as part of the framework release
 NPM_PACKAGE_LABELS=`${BAZEL_BIN} query --output=label 'attr("tags", "\[.*release-with-framework.*\]", //packages/...) intersect kind(".*_package", //packages/...)'`
 # build all npm packages in parallel
-${BAZEL_BIN} build $NPM_PACKAGE_LABELS
+$BAZEL build --config=release $NPM_PACKAGE_LABELS
 # publish all packages in sequence to make it easier to spot any errors or warnings
 for packageLabel in $NPM_PACKAGE_LABELS; do
   echo "publishing $packageLabel"
-  ${BAZEL_BIN} run -- ${packageLabel}.publish --access public --tag latest
+  $BAZEL run -- ${packageLabel}.publish --access public --tag latest
 done
 
diff --git a/scripts/release/publish-next b/scripts/release/publish-next
index ddcf703f2f..321bbc6403 100755
--- a/scripts/release/publish-next
+++ b/scripts/release/publish-next
@@ -9,13 +9,16 @@ set -u -e -o pipefail
 # We need to resolve the Bazel binary in the node modules because running Bazel
 # through `yarn bazel` causes additional output that throws off the command stdout.
 BAZEL_BIN=$(yarn bin)/bazel
+# Build into a distinct output location so that artifacts from previous builds are not reused
+BAZEL_OUTPUT_BASE=$(mktemp -d -t angular-release-next.XXXXXXX)
+BAZEL="$BAZEL_BIN --output_base=$BAZEL_OUTPUT_BASE"
 
 # query for all npm packages to be released as part of the framework release
 NPM_PACKAGE_LABELS=`${BAZEL_BIN} query --output=label 'attr("tags", "\[.*release-with-framework.*\]", //packages/...) intersect kind(".*_package", //packages/...)'`
 # build all npm packages in parallel
-${BAZEL_BIN} build $NPM_PACKAGE_LABELS
+$BAZEL build --config=release $NPM_PACKAGE_LABELS
 # publish all packages in sequence to make it easier to spot any errors or warnings
 for packageLabel in $NPM_PACKAGE_LABELS; do
   echo "publishing $packageLabel"
-  ${BAZEL_BIN} run -- ${packageLabel}.publish --access public --tag next
+  $BAZEL run -- ${packageLabel}.publish --access public --tag next
 done