diff --git a/bin/release b/bin/release
index 38deda612..e78c1d7bb 100755
--- a/bin/release
+++ b/bin/release
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ BUILD_DIR=$1
 
 MANAGE_FILE=$(cd "$BUILD_DIR" && find . -maxdepth 3 -type f -name 'manage.py' | head -1)
 MANAGE_FILE=${MANAGE_FILE:2}
-PYTHON_BUILDPACK_NO_DEFAULT_ADDON=${PYTHON_BUILDPACK_NO_DEFAULT_ADDON:-}
+PYTHON_BUILDPACK_NO_DEFAULT_ADDON="$BUILD_DIR/no_default_addons"
 
 cat <<EOF
 ---
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ config_vars:
 EOF
 
 
-if [[ $MANAGE_FILE && -z $PYTHON_BUILDPACK_NO_DEFAULT_ADDON ]]; then
+if [[ $MANAGE_FILE ]] && [[ ! -f $PYTHON_BUILDPACK_NO_DEFAULT_ADDON ]]; then
 cat <<EOF
 
 addons: