diff --git a/priv/templates/simplenode.install_upgrade.escript b/priv/templates/simplenode.install_upgrade.escript
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 56cea19..0d4cbe3
--- a/priv/templates/simplenode.install_upgrade.escript
+++ b/priv/templates/simplenode.install_upgrade.escript
@@ -6,6 +6,14 @@
 -define(TIMEOUT, 60000).
 -define(INFO(Fmt,Args), io:format(Fmt,Args)).
 
+%% TODO: This script currently does NOT support slim releases.
+%% Necessary steps to upgrade a slim release are as follows:
+%% 1. unpack relup archive manually
+%% 2. copy releases directory and necessary libraries
+%% 3. using release_hander:set_unpacked/2 .
+%% For more details, see https://github.com/rebar/rebar/pull/52
+%% and https://github.com/rebar/rebar/issues/202
+
 main([NodeName, Cookie, ReleasePackage]) ->
     TargetNode = start_distribution(NodeName, Cookie),
     {ok, Vsn} = rpc:call(TargetNode, release_handler, unpack_release,
diff --git a/priv/templates/simplenode.reltool.config b/priv/templates/simplenode.reltool.config
index bac7270..eae8ab3 100644
--- a/priv/templates/simplenode.reltool.config
+++ b/priv/templates/simplenode.reltool.config
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 {overlay, [
            {mkdir, "log/sasl"},
            {copy, "files/erl", "\{\{erts_vsn\}\}/bin/erl"},
-           {copy, "files/nodetool", "\{\{erts_vsn\}\}/bin/nodetool"},
+           {copy, "files/nodetool", "releases/\{\{rel_vsn\}\}/nodetool"},
            {copy, "{{nodeid}}/bin/start_clean.boot",
                   "\{\{erts_vsn\}\}/bin/start_clean.boot"},
            {copy, "files/{{nodeid}}", "bin/{{nodeid}}"},
diff --git a/priv/templates/simplenode.runner b/priv/templates/simplenode.runner
index 032eb28..595a1ea 100755
--- a/priv/templates/simplenode.runner
+++ b/priv/templates/simplenode.runner
@@ -130,11 +130,43 @@ cd $USE_DIR
 # Make sure log directory exists
 mkdir -p $USE_DIR/log
 
-# Add ERTS bin dir to our path
-ERTS_PATH=$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/erts-$ERTS_VSN/bin
+RUNNER_SCRIPT_DATA=
+if [ -e "$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/runner_script.data" ]; then
+    RUNNER_SCRIPT_DATA=`cat $RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/runner_script.data`
+fi
 
-# Setup command to control the node
-NODETOOL="$ERTS_PATH/escript $ERTS_PATH/nodetool $NAME_ARG $COOKIE_ARG"
+if [ -z "$RUNNER_SCRIPT_DATA" ]; then
+    ROOTDIR=$RUNNER_BASE_DIR
+    ERTS_PATH=$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/erts-$ERTS_VSN/bin
+    if [ -e "$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/nodetool" ]; then
+        NODETOOL="$ERTS_PATH/escript $RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/nodetool $NAME_ARG $COOKIE_ARG"
+    else
+        NODETOOL="$ERTS_PATH/escript $ERTS_PATH/nodetool $NAME_ARG $COOKIE_ARG"
+    fi
+    SLIM_ARGS=
+elif [ "$RUNNER_SCRIPT_DATA" = "slim" ]; then
+    # Setup system paths
+    SYSTEM_ERL_PATH=`which erl`
+    if [ ! -x "$SYSTEM_ERL_PATH" ]; then
+        echo "Failed to find erl. Is Erlang/OTP available in PATH?"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    SYSTEM_HOME_BIN=${SYSTEM_ERL_PATH%/*}
+    ROOTDIR=$SYSTEM_HOME_BIN/../lib/erlang
+    ERTS_PATH=$ROOTDIR/erts-$ERTS_VSN/bin
+    unset SYSTEM_ERL_PATH
+    unset SYSTEM_HOME_BIN
+
+    LOCAL_ERTS_PATH=$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/erts-$ERTS_VSN/bin
+    NODETOOL="$ERTS_PATH/escript $RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/nodetool $NAME_ARG $COOKIE_ARG"
+    unset LOCAL_ERL_PATH
+
+    # Setup additional arguments for slim release
+    SLIM_ARGS="-boot_var RELTOOL_EXT_LIB $RUNNER_BASE_DIR/lib -sasl releases_dir \"$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases\""
+else
+    echo "Unknown runner_script.data"
+    exit 1
+fi
 
 # Setup remote shell command to control node
 REMSH="$ERTS_PATH/erl -hidden $REMSH_NAME_ARG $REMSH_REMSH_ARG $COOKIE_ARG"
@@ -310,11 +342,10 @@ case "$1" in
                 ;;
         esac
         # Setup beam-required vars
-        ROOTDIR=$RUNNER_BASE_DIR
         BINDIR=$ROOTDIR/erts-$ERTS_VSN/bin
         EMU=beam
         PROGNAME=`echo $0 | sed 's/.*\\///'`
-        CMD="$BINDIR/erlexec -boot $RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/$BOOTFILE -mode embedded -config $CONFIG_PATH -args_file $VMARGS_PATH"
+        CMD="$BINDIR/erlexec $SLIM_ARGS -boot $RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/$BOOTFILE -mode embedded -config $CONFIG_PATH -args_file $VMARGS_PATH"
         export EMU
         export ROOTDIR
         export BINDIR
@@ -339,11 +370,10 @@ case "$1" in
         FOREGROUNDOPTIONS="-noinput +Bd"
 
         # Setup beam-required vars
-        ROOTDIR=$RUNNER_BASE_DIR
         BINDIR=$ROOTDIR/erts-$ERTS_VSN/bin
         EMU=beam
         PROGNAME=`echo $0 | sed 's/.*\///'`
-        CMD="$BINDIR/erlexec $FOREGROUNDOPTIONS -boot $RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/$BOOTFILE -config $CONFIG_PATH -args_file $VMARGS_PATH"
+        CMD="$BINDIR/erlexec $SLIM_ARGS $FOREGROUNDOPTIONS -boot $RUNNER_BASE_DIR/releases/$APP_VSN/$BOOTFILE -config $CONFIG_PATH -args_file $VMARGS_PATH"
         export EMU
         export ROOTDIR
         export BINDIR
diff --git a/src/rebar_rel_utils.erl b/src/rebar_rel_utils.erl
index 085dbd9..5d99948 100644
--- a/src/rebar_rel_utils.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_rel_utils.erl
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
          get_rel_file_path/2,
          load_config/2,
          get_sys_tuple/1,
+         get_excl_lib_tuple/1,
          get_target_dir/2,
          get_root_dir/2,
          get_target_parent_dir/2]).
@@ -143,6 +144,13 @@ get_sys_tuple(ReltoolConfig) ->
             ?ABORT("Failed to find {sys, [...]} tuple in reltool.config.", [])
     end.
 
+%%
+%% Look for the {excl_lib, ...} tuple in sys tuple of the reltool.config file.
+%% Without this present, return false.
+%%
+get_excl_lib_tuple(ReltoolConfig) ->
+    lists:keyfind(excl_lib, 1, element(2, get_sys_tuple(ReltoolConfig))).
+
 %%
 %% Look for {target_dir, TargetDir} in the reltool config file; if none is
 %% found, use the name of the release as the default target directory.
diff --git a/src/rebar_reltool.erl b/src/rebar_reltool.erl
index 9f9488e..fdaa7e0 100644
--- a/src/rebar_reltool.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_reltool.erl
@@ -147,15 +147,12 @@ process_overlay(Config, ReltoolConfig) ->
                                                     OverlayVars1),
 
     %% Finally, overlay the files specified by the overlay section
-    case lists:keyfind(overlay, 1, ReltoolConfig) of
-        {overlay, Overlay} when is_list(Overlay) ->
+    case overlay_files(ReltoolConfig) of
+        [] ->
+            ok;
+        Overlay ->
             execute_overlay(Overlay, OverlayVars, rebar_utils:get_cwd(),
-                            TargetDir);
-        false ->
-            ?INFO("No {overlay, [...]} found in reltool.config.\n", []);
-        _ ->
-            ?ABORT("{overlay, [...]} entry in reltool.config "
-                   "must be a list.\n", [])
+                            TargetDir)
     end.
 
 %%
@@ -292,6 +289,26 @@ dump_spec(Config, Spec) ->
     end.
 
 
+overlay_files(ReltoolConfig) ->
+    Original = case lists:keyfind(overlay, 1, ReltoolConfig) of
+                   {overlay, Overlay} when is_list(Overlay) ->
+                       Overlay;
+                   false ->
+                       ?INFO("No {overlay, [...]} found in reltool.config.\n", []),
+                       [];
+                   _ ->
+                       ?ABORT("{overlay, [...]} entry in reltool.config "
+                              "must be a list.\n", [])
+               end,
+    SlimAddition = case rebar_rel_utils:get_excl_lib_tuple(ReltoolConfig) of
+                       {excl_lib, otp_root} ->
+                           [{create, "releases/{{rel_vsn}}/runner_script.data",
+                             "slim\n"}];
+                       false ->
+                           []
+                   end,
+    Original ++ SlimAddition.
+
 %% TODO: Merge functionality here with rebar_templater
 
 execute_overlay([], _Vars, _BaseDir, _TargetDir) ->