diff --git a/cmds/update-rc.js b/cmds/update-rc.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cf05dbd33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmds/update-rc.js
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+'use strict'
+
+module.exports = {
+  command: 'update-rc [branch]',
+  desc: 'Update a release candidate',
+  builder: {
+    branch: {
+      describe: 'Where the latest release branch is',
+      type: 'string'
+    },
+    distTag: {
+      describe: 'The dist tag to publish the rc as',
+      type: 'string',
+      default: 'next'
+    },
+    preId: {
+      describe: 'What to call the rc',
+      type: 'string',
+      default: 'rc'
+    }
+  },
+  handler (argv) {
+    const publishRc = require('../src/update-rc')
+    const onError = require('../src/error-handler')
+    publishRc(argv).catch(onError)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/publish-rc/index.js b/src/publish-rc/index.js
index aefdd4d2b..5734a2fc7 100644
--- a/src/publish-rc/index.js
+++ b/src/publish-rc/index.js
@@ -23,6 +23,12 @@ async function publishRc (opts) {
   console.info(`Checking out branch ${opts.branch}`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
   await exec('git', ['checkout', opts.branch])
 
+  console.info(`Removing dependencies`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await exec('rm', ['-rf', 'node_modules', 'package-lock.json'])
+
+  console.info(`Installing dependencies`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await exec('npm', ['ci'])
+
   console.info('Reading version number') // eslint-disable-line no-console
   const pkg = require(path.join(process.cwd(), 'package.json'))
 
@@ -58,8 +64,11 @@ async function publishRc (opts) {
     publish: true,
     ghrelease: true,
     docs: true,
-    ghtoken: process.env.AEGIR_GHTOKEN
+    ghtoken: opts.ghtoken || process.env.AEGIR_GHTOKEN
   })
+
+  console.info(`Updating branch ${opts.branch}`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await exec('git', ['push'])
 }
 
 module.exports = publishRc
diff --git a/src/update-rc/index.js b/src/update-rc/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8ac9d91fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/update-rc/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+'use strict'
+
+const {
+  exec
+} = require('../utils')
+const release = require('../release')
+
+async function updateRc (opts) {
+  try {
+    console.info(`Removing local copy of ${opts.branch}`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+    await exec('git', ['branch', '-D', opts.branch])
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (!err.message.includes(`branch '${opts.branch}' not found`)) {
+      throw err
+    }
+  }
+
+  console.info('Fetching repo history') // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await exec('git', ['fetch'])
+
+  console.info(`Checking out branch ${opts.branch}`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await exec('git', ['checkout', opts.branch])
+
+  console.info(`Removing dependencies`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await exec('rm', ['-rf', 'node_modules', 'package-lock.json'])
+
+  console.info(`Installing dependencies`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await exec('npm', ['ci'])
+
+  console.info('Updating', opts.preId) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await release({
+    type: `prerelease`,
+    preid: opts.preId,
+    'dist-tag': opts.distTag,
+    build: false,
+    test: false,
+    lint: false,
+    docsFormats: ['html'],
+    contributors: true,
+    bump: true,
+    changelog: true,
+    publish: true,
+    ghrelease: true,
+    docs: true,
+    ghtoken: opts.ghtoken || process.env.AEGIR_GHTOKEN
+  })
+
+  console.info(`Updating branch ${opts.branch}`) // eslint-disable-line no-console
+  await exec('git', ['push'])
+}
+
+module.exports = updateRc