diff --git a/bootstrap_sdk b/bootstrap_sdk
index 24c5afd86d..668f3ef4e1 100755
--- a/bootstrap_sdk
+++ b/bootstrap_sdk
@@ -36,17 +36,11 @@ SCRIPT_ROOT=$(dirname $(readlink -f "$0"))
 TYPE="coreos-sdk"
 ARCH=$(portageq envvar ARCH)
 DEFAULT_PROFILE="coreos:default/linux/${ARCH}/10.0"
-UPLOAD_ROOT="gs://storage.core-os.net/coreos/sdk/${ARCH}"
-UPLOAD_DEFAULT=${FLAGS_FALSE}
-if [[ ${COREOS_OFFICIAL:-0} -eq 1 ]]; then
-    UPLOAD_DEFAULT=${FLAGS_TRUE}
-fi
 
 . "${SCRIPT_ROOT}/lib/catalyst.sh" || exit 1
 
-DEFINE_boolean parallel ${FLAGS_TRUE} "Enable parallelism in gsutil."
-DEFINE_boolean upload ${UPLOAD_DEFAULT} \
-    "Upload final tarball and all packages via gsutil."
+# include upload options
+. "${BUILD_LIBRARY_DIR}/release_util.sh" || exit 1
 
 ## Define the stage4 config template
 catalyst_stage4() {
@@ -60,21 +54,7 @@ catalyst_stage_default
 }
 
 catalyst_init "$@"
-
-# Search for .boto, this runs under sudo so ~/.boto may not be right
-if [[ ${FLAGS_upload} -eq ${FLAGS_TRUE} ]]; then
-    for boto in "$HOME/.boto" "/home/$SUDO_USER/.boto" /etc/boto.cfg; do
-        if [[ -f "$boto" ]]; then
-            info "Using boto config $boto"
-            export BOTO_CONFIG="$boto"
-            break
-        fi
-    done
-    if [[ ! -f "$BOTO_CONFIG" ]]; then
-        die_notrace "Please run gsutil config to create ~/.boto"
-    fi
-fi
-
+check_gsutil_opts
 catalyst_build
 
 info "Build complete! Changing output name to something more sensible."
@@ -100,21 +80,9 @@ done
 
 info "SDK ready: $BUILDS/${release_name}"
 
-GSUTIL_OPTS=
-if [[ ${FLAGS_parallel} -eq ${FLAGS_TRUE} ]]; then
-    GSUTIL_OPTS="-m"
-fi
-
-if [[ ${FLAGS_upload} -eq ${FLAGS_TRUE} ]]; then
-    info "Uploading tarball"
-    gsutil ${GSUTIL_OPTS} cp \
-        "$BUILDS/${release_name}" \
-        "$BUILDS/${release_name}.CONTENTS" \
-        "$BUILDS/${release_name}.DIGESTS" \
-        "${UPLOAD_ROOT}/${FLAGS_version}/"
-    info "Uploading packages"
-    gsutil ${GSUTIL_OPTS} cp -R "${BINPKGS}"/* \
-        "${UPLOAD_ROOT}/${FLAGS_version}/pkgs/"
-fi
+def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/coreos/sdk/${ARCH}/${FLAGS_version}"
+upload_files "tarball" "${def_upload_path}" "" "$BUILDS/${release_name}" \
+    "$BUILDS/${release_name}.CONTENTS" "$BUILDS/${release_name}.DIGESTS"
+upload_files "packages" "${def_upload_path}" "pkgs/" "${BINPKGS}"/*
 
 command_completed
diff --git a/build_library/release_util.sh b/build_library/release_util.sh
index cbd75476fb..bab54f07f6 100644
--- a/build_library/release_util.sh
+++ b/build_library/release_util.sh
@@ -32,20 +32,55 @@ check_gsutil_opts() {
         UPLOAD_PATH="${FLAGS_upload_path%%/}"
     fi
 
-    if [[ ! -f "$HOME/.boto" ]]; then
+    # Search for .boto, may be run via sudo
+    local boto
+    for boto in "$HOME/.boto" "/home/$SUDO_USER/.boto"; do
+        if [[ -f "$boto" ]]; then
+            info "Using boto config $boto"
+            export BOTO_CONFIG="$boto"
+            break
+        fi
+    done
+    if [[ ! -f "$BOTO_CONFIG" ]]; then
         die_notrace "Please run gsutil config to create ~/.boto"
     fi
 }
 
+# Generic upload function
+# Usage: upload_files "file type" "${UPLOAD_ROOT}/default/path" "" files...
+#  arg1: file type reported via log
+#  arg2: default upload path, overridden by --upload_path
+#  arg3: upload path suffix that can't be overridden, must end in /
+#  argv: remaining args are files or directories to upload
+upload_files() {
+    [[ ${FLAGS_upload} -eq ${FLAGS_TRUE} ]] || return 0
+
+    local msg="$1"
+    local local_upload_path="$2"
+    local extra_upload_suffix="$3"
+    shift 3
+
+    if [[ -n "${UPLOAD_PATH}" ]]; then
+        local_upload_path="${UPLOAD_PATH}"
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -n "${extra_upload_suffix}" && "${extra_upload_suffix}" != */ ]]
+    then
+        die "upload suffix '${extra_upload_suffix}' doesn't end in /"
+    fi
+
+    info "Uploading ${msg} to ${local_upload_path}"
+    gsutil ${GSUTIL_OPTS} cp -R "$@" \
+        "${local_upload_path}/${extra_upload_suffix}"
+}
+
 upload_packages() {
     [[ ${FLAGS_upload} -eq ${FLAGS_TRUE} ]] || return 0
     [[ -n "${BOARD}" ]] || die "board_options.sh must be sourced first"
 
-    local BOARD_PACKAGES="${1:-"${BOARD_ROOT}/packages"}"
-    : ${UPLOAD_PATH:="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"}
-
-    info "Uploading packages"
-    gsutil ${GSUTIL_OPTS} cp -R "${BOARD_PACKAGES}"/* "${UPLOAD_PATH}/pkgs/"
+    local board_packages="${1:-"${BOARD_ROOT}/packages"}"
+    local def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+    upload_files packages ${def_upload_path} "pkgs/" "${board_packages}"/*
 }
 
 make_digests() {
@@ -66,7 +101,6 @@ upload_image() {
     [[ -n "${BOARD}" ]] || die "board_options.sh must be sourced first"
 
     local BUILT_IMAGE="$1"
-    : ${UPLOAD_PATH:="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"}
 
     if [[ ! -f "${BUILT_IMAGE}" ]]; then
         die "Image '${BUILT_IMAGE}' does not exist!"
@@ -83,7 +117,8 @@ upload_image() {
     # produces for the SDK tarballs and up upload it too.
     make_digests "${BUILT_IMAGE}"
 
-    info "Uploading ${BUILT_IMAGE##*/}"
-    gsutil ${GSUTIL_OPTS} cp "${BUILT_IMAGE}" \
-        "${BUILT_IMAGE}.DIGESTS" "${UPLOAD_PATH}/"
+    local log_msg="${BUILT_IMAGE##*/}"
+    local def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+    upload_files "${log_msg}" "${def_upload_path}" "" \
+        "${BUILT_IMAGE}" "${BUILT_IMAGE}.DIGESTS"
 }
diff --git a/lib/catalyst.sh b/lib/catalyst.sh
index 334b39410c..7b514bd745 100644
--- a/lib/catalyst.sh
+++ b/lib/catalyst.sh
@@ -41,8 +41,6 @@ DEFINE_string profile "${DEFAULT_PROFILE}" \
     "Portage profile, may be prefixed with repo:"
 DEFINE_boolean rebuild ${FLAGS_FALSE} \
     "Rebuild and overwrite stages that already exist."
-DEFINE_integer make_jobs ${NUM_JOBS} "Tune make's concurrency."
-DEFINE_integer emerge_jobs ${NUM_JOBS} "Tune emerge's concurrency."
 DEFINE_boolean debug ${FLAGS_FALSE} "Enable verbose output from catalyst."
 
 #####################
@@ -73,9 +71,9 @@ EOF
 }
 
 catalystrc() {
-cat "${SCRIPTS_DIR}/lib/catalystrc"
-echo "export MAKEOPTS=-j$FLAGS_make_jobs"
-echo "export EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS=--jobs=$FLAGS_emerge_jobs"
+echo "export MAKEOPTS='--jobs=${NUM_JOBS} --load-average=${NUM_JOBS}'"
+echo "export EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS=--jobs=${NUM_JOBS}"
+echo "export FEATURES='parallel-install -ebuild-locks'"
 }
 
 # Common values for all stage spec files
diff --git a/lib/catalyst_sdk_stage4.sh b/lib/catalyst_sdk_stage4.sh
index 44ad54587f..2012daa05f 100644
--- a/lib/catalyst_sdk_stage4.sh
+++ b/lib/catalyst_sdk_stage4.sh
@@ -11,12 +11,11 @@ for cross_chost in x86_64-cros-linux-gnu; do
         --stable --ex-gdb --init-target \
         --target "${cross_chost}" || exit 1
 
-    # If PKGCACHE is enabled check to see if binary packages are available
-    # or (due to --noreplace) the packages are already installed. If so then
-    # we don't need to perform a full bootstrap and just call emerge instead.
+    # If PKGCACHE is enabled check to see if binary packages are available.
+    # If so then don't perform a full bootstrap and just call emerge instead.
     if [[ -n "${clst_PKGCACHE}" ]] && \
         emerge ${clst_myemergeopts} --usepkgonly --binpkg-respect-use=y \
-            --noreplace "${cross_pkgs[@]}" &>/dev/null
+            --pretend "${cross_pkgs[@]}" &>/dev/null
     then
         run_merge -u "${cross_pkgs[@]}"
     else
@@ -26,6 +25,11 @@ for cross_chost in x86_64-cros-linux-gnu; do
             --stable --ex-gdb --stage4 \
             --target "${cross_chost}" || exit 1
     fi
+
+    # There is no point to including the built packages in the final tarball
+    # because the packages will have to be downloaded anyway due to how the
+    # cross toolchains are managed in board sysroots.
+    crossdev --force -C "${cross_chost}"
 done
 
 echo "Double checking everything is fresh and happy."
diff --git a/lib/catalystrc b/lib/catalystrc
deleted file mode 100644
index 06f12c11cd..0000000000
--- a/lib/catalystrc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# setup some configs catalyst doesn't handle
-# i.e: update locale.gen to speed up builds
-maybe_append() {
-    [[ -f "$1" && ! -w "$1" ]] && return
-    if ! grep -q "^$2" "$1"; then
-        echo "$2" >> "$1"
-    fi
-}
-
-fixup_rootfs() {
-    mkdir -p "$1/etc" 2>/dev/null || return
-    maybe_append "$1/etc/locale.gen" "en_US ISO-8859-1"
-    maybe_append "$1/etc/locale.gen" "en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8"
-}
-
-# Fix both / and $ROOT (if it exists)
-fixup_rootfs
-[[ "${ROOT:-/}" != / ]] && fixup_rootfs "$ROOT"
-unset fixup_rootfs maybe_append
diff --git a/update_chroot b/update_chroot
index ac146ad916..c6c69160eb 100755
--- a/update_chroot
+++ b/update_chroot
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ fi
 # can cause serious issues later.
 if [ "${FLAGS_skip_toolchain_update}" -eq "${FLAGS_FALSE}" ]; then
   # First update crossdev.
-  sudo -E ${EMERGE_CMD} ${EMERGE_FLAGS} crossdev
+  sudo -E ${EMERGE_CMD} ${EMERGE_FLAGS} crossdev sysroot-wrappers
 
   TOOLCHAIN_FLAGS=( "--include-boards=${FLAGS_toolchain_boards}" )
   # This should really only be skipped while bootstrapping.