diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3c7a9911d..38f28736b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -41,11 +41,6 @@ WIN32_DIR=$(PLATFORM_DIR)/win32
 INSTALL_FILES=reader.lua setupkoenv.lua frontend resources defaults.lua datastorage.lua \
 		l10n tools README.md COPYING
 
-# for gettext
-DOMAIN=koreader
-TEMPLATE_DIR=l10n/templates
-KOREADER_MISC_TOOL=../koreader-misc
-XGETTEXT_BIN=$(KOREADER_MISC_TOOL)/gettext/lua_xgettext.py
 
 
 all: $(if $(ANDROID),,$(KOR_BASE)/$(OUTPUT_DIR)/luajit)
@@ -348,6 +343,13 @@ android-toolchain:
 pocketbook-toolchain:
 	$(MAKE) -C $(KOR_BASE) pocketbook-toolchain
 
+
+# for gettext
+DOMAIN=koreader
+TEMPLATE_DIR=l10n/templates
+KOREADER_MISC_TOOL=../koreader-misc
+XGETTEXT_BIN=$(KOREADER_MISC_TOOL)/gettext/lua_xgettext.py
+
 pot:
 	mkdir -p $(TEMPLATE_DIR)
 	$(XGETTEXT_BIN) reader.lua `find frontend -iname "*.lua"` \
@@ -355,10 +357,13 @@ pot:
 		`find tools -iname "*.lua"` \
 		> $(TEMPLATE_DIR)/$(DOMAIN).pot
 	# push source file to Transifex
-	$(MAKE) -i -C l10n bootstrap push
+	$(MAKE) -i -C l10n bootstrap
+	$(MAKE) -C l10n push
 
 po:
-	$(MAKE) -i -C l10n bootstrap pull
+	$(MAKE) -i -C l10n bootstrap
+	$(MAKE) -C l10n pull
+
 
 static-check:
 	@if which luacheck > /dev/null; then \
diff --git a/kodev b/kodev
index 457c75498..8576bd7bf 100755
--- a/kodev
+++ b/kodev
@@ -178,7 +178,11 @@ function kodev-release() {
     # SUPPORTED_RELEASE_TARGETS=$(echo ${SUPPORTED_TARGETS} | sed 's/win32//')
     SUPPORTED_RELEASE_TARGETS="${SUPPORTED_TARGETS/emu*/""}"
     RELEASE_HELP_MSG="
-usage: release <TARGET>
+usage: release <OPTIONS> <TARGET>
+
+OPTIONS:
+
+    --ignore-translation  do not fetch translation for release
 
 TARGET:
 ${SUPPORTED_RELEASE_TARGETS}"
@@ -187,10 +191,15 @@ ${SUPPORTED_RELEASE_TARGETS}"
         exit 1
     }
 
+    ignore_translation=0
+
     while [[ $1 == '-'* ]]; do
         PARAM=$(echo "$1" | awk -F= '{print $1}')
         VALUE=$(echo "$1" | awk -F= '{print $2}')
         case $PARAM in
+            --ignore-translation)
+                ignore_translation=1
+                ;;
             -v | --verbose)
                 export VERBOSE=1
                 ;;
@@ -207,7 +216,17 @@ ${SUPPORTED_RELEASE_TARGETS}"
         shift 1
     done
 
-    which tx>/dev/null && make po || echo "WARN: Transifex client not found, no translation pulled."
+    if [ "${ignore_translation}" -eq 0 ]; then
+        if which tx>/dev/null; then
+            make po || {
+                echo "ERROR: failed to fetch translation."
+                echo "Tip: Use --ignore-translation OPTION if you want to build a release without translation."
+                exit 1
+            }
+        else
+            echo "WARN: Transifex client not found, no translation pulled."
+        fi
+    fi
 
     case $1 in
         kindle)