diff --git a/.travis-create-release.sh b/.travis-create-release.sh
index b39a00137a..3407de7117 100644
--- a/.travis-create-release.sh
+++ b/.travis-create-release.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,3 @@
 #! /bin/sh
 
-# $1 is expected to be $TRAVIS_OS_NAME
-
-./Configure dist
-if [ "$1" == osx ]; then
-    make NAME='_srcdist' TARFILE='_srcdist.tar' \
-         TAR_COMMAND='$(TAR) $(TARFLAGS) -cf -' tar
-else
-    make TARFILE='_srcdist.tar' NAME='_srcdist' dist
-fi
+./util/mktar.sh --name=_srcdist
diff --git a/Configurations/dist.conf b/Configurations/dist.conf
deleted file mode 100644
index 2a458bcddf..0000000000
--- a/Configurations/dist.conf
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-## -*- mode: perl; -*-
-## Build configuration targets for openssl-team members
-
-# This is to support 'make dist'
-my %targets = (
-    "dist" => {
-        inherit_from     => [ 'BASE_unix' ],
-        CC               => "cc",
-        CFLAGS           => "-O",
-        thread_scheme    => "(unknown)",
-    },
-);
diff --git a/Configurations/unix-Makefile.tmpl b/Configurations/unix-Makefile.tmpl
index c64c154939..b5c6991a48 100644
--- a/Configurations/unix-Makefile.tmpl
+++ b/Configurations/unix-Makefile.tmpl
@@ -872,37 +872,8 @@ tags TAGS: FORCE
 
 # Release targets (note: only available on Unix) #####################
 
-# If your tar command doesn't support --owner and --group, make sure to
-# use one that does, for example GNU tar
-TAR_COMMAND=$(TAR) $(TARFLAGS) --owner 0 --group 0 -cf -
-PREPARE_CMD=:
 tar:
-	set -e; \
-	TMPDIR=/var/tmp/openssl-copy.$$$$; \
-	DISTDIR=$(NAME); \
-	mkdir -p $$TMPDIR/$$DISTDIR; \
-	(cd $(SRCDIR); \
-	 excl_re=`git submodule status | sed -e 's/^.//' | cut -d' ' -f2`; \
-	 excl_re="^(fuzz/corpora|Configurations/.*\.norelease\.conf|`echo $$excl_re | sed -e 's/ /$$|/g'`\$$)"; \
-	 echo "$$excl_re"; \
-	 git ls-tree -r --name-only --full-tree HEAD \
-	 | egrep -v "$$excl_re" \
-	 | while read F; do \
-	       mkdir -p $$TMPDIR/$$DISTDIR/`dirname $$F`; \
-	       cp $$F $$TMPDIR/$$DISTDIR/$$F; \
-	   done); \
-	(cd $$TMPDIR/$$DISTDIR; \
-	 $(PREPARE_CMD); \
-	 find . -type d -print | xargs chmod 755; \
-	 find . -type f -print | xargs chmod a+r; \
-	 find . -type f -perm -0100 -print | xargs chmod a+x); \
-	(cd $$TMPDIR; $(TAR_COMMAND) $$DISTDIR) \
-	| (cd $(SRCDIR); gzip --best > $(TARFILE).gz); \
-	rm -rf $$TMPDIR
-	cd $(SRCDIR); ls -l $(TARFILE).gz
-
-dist:
-	@$(MAKE) PREPARE_CMD='$(PERL) ./Configure dist' TARFILE="$(TARFILE)" NAME="$(NAME)" tar
+	$(SRCDIR)/util/mktar.sh --name='$(NAME)' --tarfile='$(TARFILE)'
 
 # Helper targets #####################################################