diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-release.yaml
index 4aea67f..4a695c5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-release.yaml
@@ -82,11 +82,11 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Build Python Wheels
       env:
-        build_number: ${{ inputs.rc }}
+        build_number: ${{ inputs.rc || '0' }}
         python_version: ${{ matrix.python }}
         MANYLINUX_GLIBC: ${{ inputs.glibc || '2_17' }}
       run: |
-        /bin/bash ./docker/build-wheels.sh ${build_number} ${python_version}
+        /bin/bash ./docker/build-wheels.sh "${build_number}" "${python_version}"
         ls ./dist
 
     - name: Test Install
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ jobs:
   upload:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [build]
-    if: (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch')
     steps:
     - name: Download Artifacts
       uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
@@ -125,13 +124,21 @@ jobs:
         echo "Files to distribute:"
         ls ./dist
 
+    - name: Check distributions
+      run: |
+        python3 -m pip install setuptools wheel twine
+        twine check --strict dist/*
+
+    - name: Test upload
+      if: (github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch')
+      env:
+        TWINE_USERNAME: __token__
+        TWINE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.TEST_PYPI_TOKEN }}
+      run: twine upload --verbose --repository testpypi --skip-existing dist/flux_python*
+      
     - name: Build and publish
+      if: (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch')
       env:
         TWINE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.PYPI_USER }}
         TWINE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.PYPI_PASS }}
-      run: |
-        ls dist/
-        python3 -m pip install setuptools wheel
-        python3 -m pip install twine==6.0.1
-        python3 -m pip install --upgrade pkginfo
-        twine upload --skip-existing dist/flux_python*
+      run: twine upload --verbose --skip-existing dist/flux_python*
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 17f1874..82e3120 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,12 +2,10 @@
 
 > 🐍️ You called me?
 
-Hello! You've found the flux Python bindings, an experiment to build and deploy
-Flux to Pypi without needing to store code alongside Flux. The goal of
-this experiment is to test them separately. This was originally developed
+Hello! You've found the flux Python bindings to build and deploy
+Flux to Pypi without needing to store code alongside Flux. This was originally developed
 at [vsoch/flux-python](https://github.com/vsoch/flux-python) and has 
-been ported here to automate more officially. The following guides might be useful
-to you:
+been ported here to automate more officially. The following guides might be useful to you:
 
  - ⭐️ [Flux Framework Documentation](https://flux-framework.readthedocs.io)
  - ⭐️ [Flux Projects](https://flux-framework.org)
@@ -17,7 +15,7 @@ to you:
 
 ## Helper Install
 
-If you don't want to figure out your flux version and install with pip directory (per instructions in [manual install](#manual-install))
+If you need to install on a system without Flux, please [target a wheel](https://pypi.org/project/flux-python/#files) (`.whl`) file directly that matches the version of Flux you intend to use it with. A vanilla `pip install` will try to compile from source, which requires Flux. If you don't want to figure out your flux version and install with pip directory (per instructions in [manual install](#manual-install))
 we provide a helper script [install-flux-python.sh](script/install-flux-python.sh) that will:
 
 1. Determine that Flux and Python are installed with pip
diff --git a/docker/build-wheels.sh b/docker/build-wheels.sh
index 4fa58e7..2cf7727 100755
--- a/docker/build-wheels.sh
+++ b/docker/build-wheels.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ glibc=${MANYLINUX_GLIBC:-2_17}
 
 # This is intended to run in the container
 echo "Building Python version ${version}"
+echo "Build number ${build_number}"
 
 export PATH=/opt/conda/envs/build/bin:$PATH
 export PYTHONPATH=/opt/conda/envs/build/lib/python${version}/site-packages