diff --git a/project/ActivatorDist.scala b/project/ActivatorDist.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7d6298859f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/project/ActivatorDist.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package akka
+
+import sbt._
+import sbt.Keys._
+import sbt.classpath.ClasspathUtilities
+import sbt.Project.Initialize
+import java.io.File
+
+object ActivatorDist {
+
+  val activatorDistDirectory = SettingKey[File]("activator-dist-directory")
+  val activatorDist = TaskKey[File]("activator-dist", "Create a zipped distribution of each activator sample.")
+
+  lazy val settings: Seq[Setting[_]] = Seq(
+    activatorDistDirectory <<= crossTarget / "activator-dist",
+    activatorDist <<= activatorDistTask
+  )
+
+  def aggregatedProjects(projectRef: ProjectRef, structure: Load.BuildStructure): Seq[ProjectRef] = {
+    val aggregate = Project.getProject(projectRef, structure).toSeq.flatMap(_.aggregate)
+    aggregate flatMap { ref =>
+      ref +: aggregatedProjects(ref, structure)
+    }
+  }
+
+  def activatorDistTask: Initialize[Task[File]] = {
+    (thisProjectRef, baseDirectory, activatorDistDirectory, version, buildStructure, streams) map {
+      (project, projectBase, activatorDistDirectory, version, structure, s) => {
+        val allProjects = aggregatedProjects(project, structure).flatMap(p => Project.getProject(p, structure))
+        val rootGitignoreLines = IO.readLines(AkkaBuild.akka.base / ".gitignore")
+        for (p <- allProjects) {
+         val localGitignoreLines = if ((p.base / ".gitignore").exists) IO.readLines(p.base / ".gitignore") else Nil
+         val gitignorePathFinder = (".gitignore" :: localGitignoreLines ::: rootGitignoreLines).foldLeft(PathFinder.empty)(
+             (acc, x) => acc +++ (p.base * x))
+          val filteredPathFinder = (p.base * "*") --- gitignorePathFinder
+          for (f <- filteredPathFinder.get) {
+            val target = activatorDistDirectory / p.id / f.name
+            println("copy: " + target)
+            IO.copyDirectory(f, target, overwrite = true,  preserveLastModified = true)
+          }
+          Dist.zip(activatorDistDirectory / p.id, activatorDistDirectory / (p.id + "-" + version + ".zip"))
+        }
+        
+        activatorDistDirectory
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/project/AkkaBuild.scala b/project/AkkaBuild.scala
index 7cd57af88a..d76946a623 100644
--- a/project/AkkaBuild.scala
+++ b/project/AkkaBuild.scala
@@ -70,11 +70,9 @@ object AkkaBuild extends Build {
       S3.host in S3.upload := "downloads.typesafe.com.s3.amazonaws.com",
       S3.progress in S3.upload := true,
       mappings in S3.upload <<= (Release.releaseDirectory, version) map { (d, v) =>
-        def distMapping(extension: String): (File, String) = {
-          val file = d / "downloads" / ("akka-" + v + "." + extension)
-          file -> ("akka/" + file.getName)
-        }
-        Seq(distMapping("zip"), distMapping("tgz"))
+        val downloads = d / "downloads"
+        val archivesPathFinder = (downloads * ("*" + v + ".zip")) +++ (downloads * ("*" + v + ".tgz")) 
+        archivesPathFinder.get.map(file => (file -> ("akka/" + file.getName)))
       }
       
     ),
@@ -445,7 +443,7 @@ object AkkaBuild extends Build {
   lazy val samples = Project(
     id = "akka-samples",
     base = file("akka-samples"),
-    settings = parentSettings,
+    settings = parentSettings ++ ActivatorDist.settings,
     aggregate = Seq(camelSampleJava, camelSampleScala, mainSampleJava, mainSampleScala, 
           remoteSampleJava, remoteSampleScala, clusterSampleJava, clusterSampleScala,
           fsmSample, persistenceSample,
diff --git a/project/Release.scala b/project/Release.scala
index d6ff181a99..f35b228bab 100644
--- a/project/Release.scala
+++ b/project/Release.scala
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ object Release {
     val (state2, (api, japi)) = extracted.runTask(Unidoc.unidoc, state1)
     val (state3, docs) = extracted.runTask(generate in Sphinx, state2)
     val (state4, dist) = extracted.runTask(Dist.dist, state3)
+    val (state5, activatorDist) = extracted.runTask(ActivatorDist.activatorDist in LocalProject(AkkaBuild.samples.id), state4)
+    
     IO.delete(release)
     IO.createDirectory(release)
     IO.copyDirectory(repo, release / "releases")
@@ -35,7 +37,9 @@ object Release {
     IO.copyDirectory(japi, release / "japi" / "akka" / releaseVersion)
     IO.copyDirectory(docs, release / "docs" / "akka" / releaseVersion)
     IO.copyFile(dist, release / "downloads" / dist.name)
-    state4
+    for (f <- (activatorDist * "*.zip").get)
+      IO.copyFile(f, release / "downloads" / f.name)
+    state5
   }
 
   def uploadReleaseCommand = Command.command("upload-release") { state =>