diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index e47ace50..2dc02e7e 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@
 
 ## Process this file with automake to produce Makefile.in
 
+# Location of the released tarball archives.  Note that this is an
+# internal archive and before uploading this to the public server,
+# manual tests should be run and the git release tat set and pushed.
+# Adjust as needed.
+RELEASE_ARCHIVE_DIR  = wk@vigenere:tarballs/gpgme/
+
+# The key used to sign the released sources.  Adjust as needed.
+RELEASE_SIGNING_KEY  = D8692123C4065DEA5E0F3AB5249B39D24F25E3B6
+
+# Autoconf flags
 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
 
 DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS =
@@ -57,9 +67,9 @@ distcheck-hook:
 	  esac;\
 	done ) | tee $(distdir).swdb
 
+.PHONY: gen-ChangeLog release sign-release
 
 gen_start_date = 2011-12-01T00:00:00
-.PHONY: gen-ChangeLog
 gen-ChangeLog:
 	if test -d $(top_srcdir)/.git; then				\
 	  (cd $(top_srcdir) &&                      			\
@@ -70,3 +80,50 @@ gen-ChangeLog:
 	  rm -f $(distdir)/ChangeLog;					\
 	  mv $(distdir)/cl-t $(distdir)/ChangeLog;			\
 	fi
+
+
+# Macro to help the release target.
+RELEASE_NAME = $(PACKAGE_TARNAME)-$(PACKAGE_VERSION)
+
+release:
+	+(set -e;\
+	 if [ "$(abs_top_builddir)" = "$(abs_top_srcdir)" ]; then \
+           echo "error: build directory must not be the source directory" >&2;\
+	   exit 2;\
+         fi ;\
+	 echo "/* Build started at $$(date -uIseconds) */" ;\
+	 cd $(top_srcdir); \
+	 ./autogen.sh --force; \
+	 cd $(abs_top_builddir); \
+	 rm -rf dist; mkdir dist ; cd dist ; \
+	 $(abs_top_srcdir)/configure --enable-maintainer-mode; \
+	 $(MAKE) distcheck TESTFLAGS=--parallel; \
+	 echo "/* Build finished at $$(date -uIseconds) */" ;\
+         echo "/*" ;\
+	 echo " * Please run the final step interactivly:" ;\
+	 echo " *   make sign-release" ;\
+	 echo " */" ;\
+	) 2>&1 | tee "$(RELEASE_NAME).buildlog"
+
+sign-release:
+	 +(set -e; \
+	  cd dist; \
+	  files1="$(RELEASE_NAME).tar.bz2" ;\
+	  files2="$(RELEASE_NAME).tar.bz2.sig \
+		  $(RELEASE_NAME).swdb \
+		  $(RELEASE_NAME).buildlog" ;\
+	  echo "/* Signing the source tarball ..." ;\
+	  gpg -sbu $(RELEASE_SIGNING_KEY) $(RELEASE_NAME).tar.bz2 ;\
+	  cat $(RELEASE_NAME).swdb >swdb.snippet;\
+	  echo >>swdb.snippet ;\
+	  sha1sum $${files1} >>swdb.snippet ;\
+          cat "../$(RELEASE_NAME).buildlog" swdb.snippet \
+               | gzip >$(RELEASE_NAME).buildlog ;\
+          echo "Copying to local archive ..." ;\
+	  scp -p $${files1} $${files2} $(RELEASE_ARCHIVE_DIR)/ || true;\
+          echo "Uploading documentation ..." ;\
+	  $(MAKE) -C doc online; \
+	  echo '/*' ;\
+	  echo ' * All done; for checksums see dist/swdb.snippet' ;\
+	  echo ' */' ;\
+         )