diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index acd8ed52..f6db60c3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,3 +7,5 @@
 *.swp
 *.tmp
 .tags
+
+polybar-*.tar
diff --git a/common/release-archive.sh b/common/release-archive.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..222dc570
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/release-archive.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+git_url="https://github.com/polybar/polybar.git"
+wd="$(realpath .)"
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<EOF
+Usage: $0 [-h] TAG
+
+Creates a polybar release archive for the given git tag.
+
+-h           Print this help message
+EOF
+}
+
+
+cleanup() {
+  if [ -d "$tmp_dir" ]; then
+    rm -rf "$tmp_dir"
+  fi
+}
+
+if [ $# -ne 1 ] ; then
+  usage
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ "$1" = "-h" ]; then
+  usage
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+version="$1"
+tmp_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
+archive="$wd/polybar-${version}.tar"
+
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+git clone "$git_url" "$tmp_dir/polybar"
+
+cd "$tmp_dir/polybar"
+
+echo "Looking for tag '$version'"
+
+if [ "$(git tag -l "$version" | wc -l)" != "1" ]; then
+  echo "Tag '$version' not found"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+git checkout "$version"
+git submodule update --init --recursive >/dev/null
+
+find . -type d -name ".git" -exec rm -rf {} \+
+
+cd "$tmp_dir"
+tar cf "$archive" "polybar"
+sha256sum "$archive"