diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1900a2f2cf9..e69b43c07bd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 node_modules/
 build
+staging
 .DS_Store
 *.tgz
 my-app*
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1029bc47758..ab5e9aefdc4 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     "e2e": "tasks/e2e.sh",
     "postinstall": "lerna bootstrap",
     "publish": "tasks/release.sh",
+    "stage": "node packages/react-scripts/scripts/stage.js",
     "start": "node packages/react-scripts/scripts/start.js",
     "test": "node packages/react-scripts/scripts/test.js --env=jsdom"
   },
diff --git a/packages/babel-preset-react-app/index.js b/packages/babel-preset-react-app/index.js
index 34e9efabb72..26a949afdce 100644
--- a/packages/babel-preset-react-app/index.js
+++ b/packages/babel-preset-react-app/index.js
@@ -45,11 +45,11 @@ module.exports = {
 // https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/issues/720
 // It’s also nice that we can enforce `NODE_ENV` being specified.
 var env = process.env.BABEL_ENV || process.env.NODE_ENV;
-if (env !== 'development' && env !== 'test' && env !== 'production') {
+if (env !== 'development' && env !== 'test' && env !== 'production' && env !== 'staging') {
   throw new Error(
     'Using `babel-preset-react-app` requires that you specify `NODE_ENV` or '+
     '`BABEL_ENV` environment variables. Valid values are "development", ' +
-    '"test", and "production". Instead, received: ' + JSON.stringify(env) + '.'
+    '"test", "staging", and "production". Instead, received: ' + JSON.stringify(env) + '.'
   );
 }
 var plugins = module.exports.plugins;
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ if (env === 'development' || env === 'test') {
     require.resolve('babel-plugin-transform-react-jsx-self')
   ]);
 }
-if (env === 'production') {
+if (env === 'production' || env === 'staging') {
   // Optimization: hoist JSX that never changes out of render()
   // Disabled because of issues:
   // * https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/issues/525
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/bin/react-scripts.js b/packages/react-scripts/bin/react-scripts.js
index 58381833957..91d3d57e943 100755
--- a/packages/react-scripts/bin/react-scripts.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/bin/react-scripts.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ var args = process.argv.slice(3);
 
 switch (script) {
 case 'build':
+case 'stage':
 case 'eject':
 case 'start':
 case 'test':
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
index 1d50c38b9f8..17ef50ba689 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ var nodePaths = (process.env.NODE_PATH || '')
 // config after eject: we're in ./config/
 module.exports = {
   appBuild: resolveApp('build'),
+  appStaging: resolveApp('staging'),
   appPublic: resolveApp('public'),
   appHtml: resolveApp('public/index.html'),
   appIndexJs: resolveApp('src/index.js'),
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ function resolveOwn(relativePath) {
 // config before eject: we're in ./node_modules/react-scripts/config/
 module.exports = {
   appBuild: resolveApp('build'),
+  appStaging: resolveApp('staging'),
   appPublic: resolveApp('public'),
   appHtml: resolveApp('public/index.html'),
   appIndexJs: resolveApp('src/index.js'),
@@ -73,6 +75,7 @@ module.exports = {
 // @remove-on-publish-begin
 module.exports = {
   appBuild: resolveOwn('../../../build'),
+  appStaging: resolveOwn('../../../staging'),
   appPublic: resolveOwn('../template/public'),
   appHtml: resolveOwn('../template/public/index.html'),
   appIndexJs: resolveOwn('../template/src/index.js'),
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
index 2fb3035719e..5d0e57df2db 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
@@ -47,11 +47,6 @@ var publicUrl = ensureSlash(homepagePathname, false);
 // Get environment variables to inject into our app.
 var env = getClientEnvironment(publicUrl);
 
-// Assert this just to be safe.
-// Development builds of React are slow and not intended for production.
-if (env['process.env'].NODE_ENV !== '"production"') {
-  throw new Error('Production builds must have NODE_ENV=production.');
-}
 
 // This is the production configuration.
 // It compiles slowly and is focused on producing a fast and minimal bundle.
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.staging.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.staging.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ebea66ff252
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.staging.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// @remove-on-eject-begin
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-present, Facebook, Inc.
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the BSD-style license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree. An additional grant
+ * of patent rights can be found in the PATENTS file in the same directory.
+ */
+// @remove-on-eject-end
+
+var webpack = require('webpack');
+var HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');
+var paths = require('./paths');
+var config = require('./webpack.config.prod');
+
+module.exports = Object.assign(config, {
+  output: Object.assign(config.output, {
+    path: paths.appStaging,
+  }),
+  plugins: [new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
+    inject: true,
+    template: paths.appHtml
+  })].concat(config.plugins.filter(plugin =>
+    !(plugin instanceof webpack.optimize.UglifyJsPlugin) &&
+    !(plugin instanceof HtmlWebpackPlugin)
+  ))
+});
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/scripts/stage.js b/packages/react-scripts/scripts/stage.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8c89135e35c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/scripts/stage.js
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+// @remove-on-eject-begin
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-present, Facebook, Inc.
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the BSD-style license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree. An additional grant
+ * of patent rights can be found in the PATENTS file in the same directory.
+ */
+// @remove-on-eject-end
+
+// Do this as the first thing so that any code reading it knows the right env.
+process.env.NODE_ENV = 'staging';
+
+// Load environment variables from .env file. Suppress warnings using silent
+// if this file is missing. dotenv will never modify any environment variables
+// that have already been set.
+// https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv
+require('dotenv').config({silent: true});
+
+var chalk = require('chalk');
+var fs = require('fs-extra');
+var rimrafSync = require('rimraf').sync;
+var webpack = require('webpack');
+var config = require('../config/webpack.config.staging');
+var paths = require('../config/paths');
+var checkRequiredFiles = require('react-dev-utils/checkRequiredFiles');
+var recursive = require('recursive-readdir');
+
+// Warn and crash if required files are missing
+if (!checkRequiredFiles([paths.appHtml, paths.appIndexJs])) {
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+recursive(paths.appStaging, (err, fileNames) => {
+  // Remove all content but keep the directory so that
+  // if you're in it, you don't end up in Trash
+  rimrafSync(paths.appStaging + '/*');
+
+  // Start the webpack build
+  build();
+
+  // Merge with the public folder
+  copyPublicFolder();
+});
+
+
+// Create the staging build and print the deployment instructions.
+function build() {
+  console.log('Creating a staging build...');
+  webpack(config).run((err, stats) => {
+    if (err) {
+      console.error('Failed to create a staging build. Reason:');
+      console.error(err.message || err);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+
+    console.log(chalk.green('Compiled successfully.'));
+    console.log();
+
+    var openCommand = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'start' : 'open';
+    var homepagePath = require(paths.appPackageJson).homepage;
+    var publicPath = config.output.publicPath;
+    if (publicPath !== '/') {
+      // "homepage": "http://mywebsite.com/project"
+      console.log('The project was built assuming it is hosted at ' + chalk.green(publicPath) + '.');
+      console.log('You can control this with the ' + chalk.green('homepage') + ' field in your '  + chalk.cyan('package.json') + '.');
+      console.log();
+      console.log('The ' + chalk.cyan('staging') + ' folder is ready to be deployed.');
+      console.log();
+    } else {
+      // no homepage or "homepage": "http://mywebsite.com"
+      console.log('The project was built assuming it is hosted at the server root.');
+      if (homepagePath) {
+        // "homepage": "http://mywebsite.com"
+        console.log('You can control this with the ' + chalk.green('homepage') + ' field in your '  + chalk.cyan('package.json') + '.');
+        console.log();
+      }
+      console.log('The ' + chalk.cyan('staging') + ' folder is ready to be deployed.');
+      console.log('You may also serve it locally with a static server:')
+      console.log();
+      console.log('  ' + chalk.cyan('npm') +  ' install -g pushstate-server');
+      console.log('  ' + chalk.cyan('pushstate-server') + ' staging');
+      console.log('  ' + chalk.cyan(openCommand) + ' http://localhost:9000');
+      console.log();
+    }
+  });
+}
+
+function copyPublicFolder() {
+  fs.copySync(paths.appPublic, paths.appStaging, {
+    dereference: true,
+    filter: file => file !== paths.appHtml
+  });
+}