diff --git a/contrib/android/make_apk.sh b/contrib/android/make_apk.sh
index 5f0d383fb..7f2a34890 100755
--- a/contrib/android/make_apk.sh
+++ b/contrib/android/make_apk.sh
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ fi
 
 if [[ "$2" == "all" ]] ; then
     # build all apks
+    # FIXME failures are not propagated out: we should fail the script if any arch build fails
     export APP_ANDROID_ARCH=armeabi-v7a
     make $TARGET
     export APP_ANDROID_ARCH=arm64-v8a
diff --git a/contrib/release.sh b/contrib/release.sh
index ce5b59634..3320eb8a5 100755
--- a/contrib/release.sh
+++ b/contrib/release.sh
@@ -259,6 +259,18 @@ else
 
     cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
 
+    # check we have each binary
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$tarball"    || fail "tarball not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$srctarball" || fail "srctarball not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$appimage"   || fail "appimage not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$win1"       || fail "win1 not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$win2"       || fail "win2 not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$win3"       || fail "win3 not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$apk1"       || fail "apk1 not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$apk2"       || fail "apk2 not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$apk3"       || fail "apk3 not found among built files"
+    test -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/dist/$dmg"        || fail "dmg not found among built files"
+
     if [ $REV != $VERSION ]; then
         fail "versions differ, not uploading"
     fi