diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 43d3257f6..9b1832354 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -93,20 +93,12 @@ This directory contains the python dependencies used by Electrum.
 Mac OS X / macOS
 --------
 
-::
-
-    # On MacPorts installs: 
-    sudo python3 setup-release.py py2app
-    
-    # On Homebrew installs: 
-    ARCHFLAGS="-arch i386 -arch x86_64" sudo python3 setup-release.py py2app --includes sip
-    
-    sudo hdiutil create -fs HFS+ -volname "Electrum" -srcfolder dist/Electrum.app dist/electrum-VERSION-macosx.dmg
+See `contrib/build-osx/`.
 
 Windows
 -------
 
-See `contrib/build-wine/README` file.
+See `contrib/build-wine/`.
 
 
 Android
diff --git a/contrib/build-osx/README.md b/contrib/build-osx/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..af43e05ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/build-osx/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Building Mac OS binaries
+========================
+
+This guide explains how to build Electrum binaries for macOS systems.
+We build our binaries on El Capitan (10.11.6) as building it on High Sierra
+makes the binaries incompatible with older versions.
+
+This assumes that the Xcode command line tools (and thus git) are already installed. 
+
+
+## 1. Run the script
+
+
+
+    ./make_osx
+
+## 2. Done
diff --git a/contrib/build-osx/make_osx b/contrib/build-osx/make_osx
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..d8af8c9d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/build-osx/make_osx
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+BLUE='\033[0,34m'
+NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+function info {
+	printf "\r💬 ${BLUE}INFO:${NC} ${1}\n"
+}
+function fail {
+    printf "\r🗯 ${RED}ERROR:${NC} ${1}\n"
+    exit 1
+}
+
+build_dir=$(dirname "$0")
+test -n "$build_dir" -a -d "$build_dir" || exit
+cd $build_dir/../..
+
+export PYTHONHASHSEED=22
+VERSION=`git describe --tags`
+PYTHON_VERSION=3.6.4
+
+
+info "Installing Python $PYTHON_VERSION"
+export PATH="~/.pyenv/bin:~/.pyenv/shims:$PATH:~/Library/Python/3.6/bin"
+if [ -d "~/.pyenv" ]; then
+  pyenv update
+else
+  curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pyenv/pyenv-installer/master/bin/pyenv-installer | bash > /dev/null 2>&1
+fi
+PYTHON_CONFIGURE_OPTS="--enable-framework" pyenv install -s $PYTHON_VERSION && \
+pyenv global $PYTHON_VERSION || \
+fail "Unable to use Python $PYTHON_VERSION"
+
+
+if ! which pyinstaller > /dev/null; then
+  info "Installing pyinstaller"
+  python3 -m pip install pyinstaller -I --user || fail "Could not install pyinstaller"
+fi
+
+info "Using these versions for building Electrum:"
+sw_vers
+python3 --version
+echo -n "Pyinstaller "
+pyinstaller --version
+
+rm -rf ./dist
+
+
+rm  -rf /tmp/electrum-build > /dev/null 2>&1
+mkdir /tmp/electrum-build
+
+info "Downloading icons and locale..."
+for repo in icons locale; do
+  git clone https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum-$repo /tmp/electrum-build/electrum-$repo
+done
+
+cp -R /tmp/electrum-build/electrum-locale/locale/ ./lib/locale/
+cp    /tmp/electrum-build/electrum-icons/icons_rc.py ./gui/qt/
+
+info "Installing requirements..."
+python3 -m pip install -Ir ./contrib/deterministic-build/requirements.txt --user && \
+python3 -m pip install pyqt5 --user || \
+fail "Could not install requirements"
+
+info "Installing hardware wallet requirements..."
+python3 -m pip install -Ir ./contrib/deterministic-build/requirements-hw.txt --user || \
+fail "Could not install hardware wallet requirements"
+
+info "Building Electrum..."
+python3 setup.py install --user > /dev/null || fail "Could not build Electrum"
+
+info "Building binary"
+pyinstaller --noconfirm --ascii --name $VERSION contrib/build-osx/osx.spec || fail "Could not build binary"
+
+info "Creating .DMG"
+hdiutil create -fs HFS+ -volname "Electrum" -srcfolder dist/Electrum.app dist/electrum-$VERSION.dmg || fail "Could not create .DMG"
diff --git a/contrib/osx.spec b/contrib/build-osx/osx.spec
similarity index 94%
rename from contrib/osx.spec
rename to contrib/build-osx/osx.spec
index 9dabf291c..cfce7172f 100644
--- a/contrib/osx.spec
+++ b/contrib/build-osx/osx.spec
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ for i, x in enumerate(sys.argv):
 else:
     raise BaseException('no version')
 
-electrum = "../"
-block_cipher=None
+electrum = os.path.abspath(".") + "/"
+block_cipher = None
 
 # see https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller/issues/2005
 hiddenimports = []
diff --git a/contrib/make_osx b/contrib/make_osx
deleted file mode 100755
index f354e331a..000000000
--- a/contrib/make_osx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-rm -rf dist
-export PYTHONHASHSEED=22
-VERSION=`git describe --tags`
-pyinstaller --noconfirm --ascii --name $VERSION contrib/osx.spec
-hdiutil create -fs HFS+ -volname "Electrum" -srcfolder dist/Electrum.app dist/electrum-$VERSION.dmg