diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 42f4d9013d..d4084fcafe 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -188,6 +188,10 @@ prepackaged-plugins: ## Populate the prepackaged-plugins directory
 	done
 
 prepackaged-binaries: ## Populate the prepackaged-binaries to the bin directory
+ifeq ($(MMCTL_REL_TO_DOWNLOAD),)
+	@echo "An error has occured trying to get the latest mmctl release. Aborting. Perhaps api.github.com is down?"
+	@exit 1
+endif
 # Externally built binaries
 ifeq ($(shell test -f bin/mmctl && printf "yes"),yes)
 	@echo mmctl installed
diff --git a/build/release.mk b/build/release.mk
index 7ee69f87cd..283e4e7aeb 100644
--- a/build/release.mk
+++ b/build/release.mk
@@ -66,7 +66,10 @@ build-client:
 
 package:
 	@ echo Packaging mattermost
-
+ifeq ($(MMCTL_REL_TO_DOWNLOAD),)
+	@echo "An error has occured trying to get the latest mmctl release. Aborting. Perhaps api.github.com is down?"
+	@exit 1
+endif
 	@# Remove any old files
 	rm -Rf $(DIST_ROOT)
 
diff --git a/scripts/get_latest_release.sh b/scripts/get_latest_release.sh
index aa3335b515..b77be0e5bd 100755
--- a/scripts/get_latest_release.sh
+++ b/scripts/get_latest_release.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,21 @@
 REPO_TO_USE=$1
 BRANCH_TO_USE=$2
 
-LATEST_REL=$(curl --silent "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO_TO_USE/releases/latest" | grep '"tag_name":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
+BASIC_AUTH=""
+
+# If we find a github username and token, we use that.
+# In CI, these variables are available and useful to avoid rate limits which is
+# much more strict for unauthenticated requests.
+if [[ $GITHUB_USERNAME != "" && $GITHUB_TOKEN != "" ]];
+then
+	BASIC_AUTH="--user $GITHUB_USERNAME:$GITHUB_TOKEN"
+fi
+
+LATEST_REL=$(curl \
+	--silent \
+	$BASIC_AUTH \
+	"https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO_TO_USE/releases/latest" \
+	| grep '"tag_name":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
 
 # Check if this is a release branch
 THIS_BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
@@ -15,9 +29,9 @@ THIS_BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 if [[ $(echo "$THIS_BRANCH" | grep -c ^"$BRANCH_TO_USE") == 1 ]];
 then
     VERSION_REL=${THIS_BRANCH//$BRANCH_TO_USE/v}
-    REL_TO_USE=$(curl --silent "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO_TO_USE/releases" | grep '"tag_name":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/' | sed -n "/$VERSION_REL/p" | sort -rV | head -n 1)
+    REL_TO_USE=$(curl --silent $BASIC_AUTH "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO_TO_USE/releases" | grep '"tag_name":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/' | sed -n "/$VERSION_REL/p" | sort -rV | head -n 1)
 else
-    REL_TO_USE=$(echo "$THIS_BRANCH" | sed "s/\(.*\)/$LATEST_REL/")
+    REL_TO_USE=$LATEST_REL
 fi
 
 echo "$REL_TO_USE"