diff --git a/scripts/cli/tasks/grafanaui.build.ts b/scripts/cli/tasks/grafanaui.build.ts
index 6fce809bef9..1a48bb1a724 100644
--- a/scripts/cli/tasks/grafanaui.build.ts
+++ b/scripts/cli/tasks/grafanaui.build.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { Task, TaskRunner } from './task';
 
 let distDir, cwd;
 
-const clean = useSpinner<void>('Cleaning', async () => await execa('npm', ['run', 'clean']));
+export const clean = useSpinner<void>('Cleaning', async () => await execa('npm', ['run', 'clean']));
 
 const compile = useSpinner<void>('Compiling sources', () => execa('tsc', ['-p', './tsconfig.build.json']));
 
diff --git a/scripts/cli/tasks/grafanaui.release.ts b/scripts/cli/tasks/grafanaui.release.ts
index f0e53a4e7ba..03bcdd0219e 100644
--- a/scripts/cli/tasks/grafanaui.release.ts
+++ b/scripts/cli/tasks/grafanaui.release.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import execa from 'execa';
 import { execTask } from '../utils/execTask';
-import { changeCwdToGrafanaUiDist, changeCwdToGrafanaUi } from '../utils/cwd';
+import { changeCwdToGrafanaUiDist, changeCwdToGrafanaUi, restoreCwd } from '../utils/cwd';
 import semver from 'semver';
 import inquirer from 'inquirer';
 import chalk from 'chalk';
 import { useSpinner } from '../utils/useSpinner';
-import { savePackage, buildTask } from './grafanaui.build';
+import { savePackage, buildTask, clean } from './grafanaui.build';
 import { TaskRunner, Task } from './task';
 
 type VersionBumpType = 'prerelease' | 'patch' | 'minor' | 'major';
@@ -81,12 +81,6 @@ const bumpVersion = (version: string) =>
 const publishPackage = (name: string, version: string) =>
   useSpinner<void>(`Publishing ${name} @ ${version} to npm registry...`, async () => {
     changeCwdToGrafanaUiDist();
-    console.log(chalk.yellowBright.bold(`\nReview dist package.json before proceeding!\n`));
-    const { confirmed } = await promptConfirm('Are you ready to publish to npm?');
-
-    if (!confirmed) {
-      process.exit();
-    }
     await execa('npm', ['publish', '--access', 'public']);
   })();
 
@@ -111,13 +105,18 @@ const releaseTaskRunner: TaskRunner<ReleaseTaskOptions> = async ({
   usePackageJsonVersion,
   createVersionCommit,
 }) => {
-  await runChecksAndTests();
+  changeCwdToGrafanaUi();
+  await clean(); // Clean previous build if exists
+  restoreCwd();
+
   if (publishToNpm) {
     // TODO: Ensure release branch
     // When need to update this when we star keeping @grafana/ui releases in sync with core
     await ensureMasterBranch();
   }
 
+  runChecksAndTests();
+
   await execTask(buildTask)();
 
   let releaseConfirmed = false;
@@ -169,6 +168,13 @@ const releaseTaskRunner: TaskRunner<ReleaseTaskOptions> = async ({
   }
 
   if (publishToNpm) {
+    console.log(chalk.yellowBright.bold(`\nReview dist package.json before proceeding!\n`));
+    const { confirmed } = await promptConfirm('Are you ready to publish to npm?');
+
+    if (!confirmed) {
+      process.exit();
+    }
+
     await publishPackage(pkg.name, nextVersion);
     console.log(chalk.green(`\nVersion ${nextVersion} of ${pkg.name} succesfully released!`));
     console.log(chalk.yellow(`\nUpdated @grafana/ui/package.json with version bump created.`));