diff --git a/tools/release.js b/tools/release.js
index f43a81b3..0ec4bb2c 100644
--- a/tools/release.js
+++ b/tools/release.js
@@ -82,6 +82,12 @@ async function startRelease() {
     return;
   }
 
+  // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  log(`Step ${step++}/${STEPS}: updating package.json...`);
+  await writeFile("package.json", JSON.stringify({...package, version: next}, null, 2) + "\n");
+  await writeFile("package-lock.json", JSON.stringify({...packageLock, version: next}, null, 2) + "\n");
+  await writeFile("./src/version.ts", `// do not modify manually. This file is generated by the release script.\nexport const version = "${next}";\n`);
+
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   log(`Step ${step++}/${STEPS}: building owl...`);
   await execCommand("rm -rf dist/");
@@ -108,13 +114,6 @@ async function startRelease() {
   await execCommand("cd dist && zip -r owl-devtools.zip devtools-chrome devtools-firefox && cd ..");
   await execCommand("rm -r dist/devtools-chrome dist/devtools-firefox && rm dist/compiler.js");
 
-  // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  log(`Step ${step++}/${STEPS}: updating package.json...`);
-  await writeFile("package.json", JSON.stringify({...package, version: next}, null, 2) + "\n");
-  await writeFile("package-lock.json", JSON.stringify({...packageLock, version: next}, null, 2) + "\n");
-  await writeFile("./src/version.ts", `// do not modify manually. This file is generated by the release script.\nexport const version = "${next}";\n`);
-
-
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   log(`Step ${step++}/${STEPS}: updating owl on github page...`);
   await fs.copyFileSync("dist/owl.es.js", "docs/owl.js");