diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 81c8197d4f8fc8..803a1f96e71a4c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -851,13 +851,29 @@ BINARYNAME=$(TARNAME)-$(PLATFORM)-$(ARCH)
 endif
 BINARYTAR=$(BINARYNAME).tar
 # OSX doesn't have xz installed by default, http://macpkg.sourceforge.net/
-XZ=$(shell which xz > /dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?)
+HAS_XZ ?= $(shell which xz > /dev/null 2>&1; [[ $$? = 0 ]] && echo 1 || echo 0)
+# Supply SKIP_XZ=1 to explicitly skip .tar.xz creation
+SKIP_XZ ?= 0
+XZ = $(shell [[ $(HAS_XZ) = 1 && $(SKIP_XZ) = 0 ]] && echo 1 || echo 0)
 XZ_COMPRESSION ?= 9e
 PKG=$(TARNAME).pkg
 MACOSOUTDIR=out/macos
 
+ifeq ($(SKIP_XZ), 1)
+check-xz:
+	@echo "SKIP_XZ=1 supplied, skipping .tar.xz creation"
+else
+ifeq ($(HAS_XZ), 1)
+check-xz:
+else
+check-xz:
+	@echo "No xz command, cannot continue"
+	@exit 1
+endif
+endif
+
 .PHONY: release-only
-release-only:
+release-only: check-xz
 	@if [ "$(DISTTYPE)" = "release" ] && `grep -q REPLACEME doc/api/*.md`; then \
 		echo 'Please update REPLACEME in Added: tags in doc/api/*.md (See doc/releases.md)' ; \
 		exit 1 ; \
@@ -983,7 +999,7 @@ $(TARBALL): release-only $(NODE_EXE) doc
 	tar -cf $(TARNAME).tar $(TARNAME)
 	$(RM) -r $(TARNAME)
 	gzip -c -f -9 $(TARNAME).tar > $(TARNAME).tar.gz
-ifeq ($(XZ), 0)
+ifeq ($(XZ), 1)
 	xz -c -f -$(XZ_COMPRESSION) $(TARNAME).tar > $(TARNAME).tar.xz
 endif
 	$(RM) $(TARNAME).tar
@@ -997,7 +1013,7 @@ tar-upload: tar
 	chmod 664 $(TARNAME).tar.gz
 	scp -p $(TARNAME).tar.gz $(STAGINGSERVER):nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME).tar.gz
 	ssh $(STAGINGSERVER) "touch nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME).tar.gz.done"
-ifeq ($(XZ), 0)
+ifeq ($(XZ), 1)
 	chmod 664 $(TARNAME).tar.xz
 	scp -p $(TARNAME).tar.xz $(STAGINGSERVER):nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME).tar.xz
 	ssh $(STAGINGSERVER) "touch nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME).tar.xz.done"
@@ -1023,7 +1039,7 @@ $(TARBALL)-headers: release-only
 	tar -cf $(TARNAME)-headers.tar $(TARNAME)
 	$(RM) -r $(TARNAME)
 	gzip -c -f -9 $(TARNAME)-headers.tar > $(TARNAME)-headers.tar.gz
-ifeq ($(XZ), 0)
+ifeq ($(XZ), 1)
 	xz -c -f -$(XZ_COMPRESSION) $(TARNAME)-headers.tar > $(TARNAME)-headers.tar.xz
 endif
 	$(RM) $(TARNAME)-headers.tar
@@ -1035,7 +1051,7 @@ tar-headers-upload: tar-headers
 	chmod 664 $(TARNAME)-headers.tar.gz
 	scp -p $(TARNAME)-headers.tar.gz $(STAGINGSERVER):nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME)-headers.tar.gz
 	ssh $(STAGINGSERVER) "touch nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME)-headers.tar.gz.done"
-ifeq ($(XZ), 0)
+ifeq ($(XZ), 1)
 	chmod 664 $(TARNAME)-headers.tar.xz
 	scp -p $(TARNAME)-headers.tar.xz $(STAGINGSERVER):nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME)-headers.tar.xz
 	ssh $(STAGINGSERVER) "touch nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME)-headers.tar.xz.done"
@@ -1060,7 +1076,7 @@ endif
 	tar -cf $(BINARYNAME).tar $(BINARYNAME)
 	$(RM) -r $(BINARYNAME)
 	gzip -c -f -9 $(BINARYNAME).tar > $(BINARYNAME).tar.gz
-ifeq ($(XZ), 0)
+ifeq ($(XZ), 1)
 	xz -c -f -$(XZ_COMPRESSION) $(BINARYNAME).tar > $(BINARYNAME).tar.xz
 endif
 	$(RM) $(BINARYNAME).tar
@@ -1075,7 +1091,7 @@ binary-upload: binary
 	chmod 664 $(TARNAME)-$(OSTYPE)-$(ARCH).tar.gz
 	scp -p $(TARNAME)-$(OSTYPE)-$(ARCH).tar.gz $(STAGINGSERVER):nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME)-$(OSTYPE)-$(ARCH).tar.gz
 	ssh $(STAGINGSERVER) "touch nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME)-$(OSTYPE)-$(ARCH).tar.gz.done"
-ifeq ($(XZ), 0)
+ifeq ($(XZ), 1)
 	chmod 664 $(TARNAME)-$(OSTYPE)-$(ARCH).tar.xz
 	scp -p $(TARNAME)-$(OSTYPE)-$(ARCH).tar.xz $(STAGINGSERVER):nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME)-$(OSTYPE)-$(ARCH).tar.xz
 	ssh $(STAGINGSERVER) "touch nodejs/$(DISTTYPEDIR)/$(FULLVERSION)/$(TARNAME)-$(OSTYPE)-$(ARCH).tar.xz.done"