diff --git a/drupalorg_project/plugins/release_packager/DrupalorgProjectPackageRelease.class.php b/drupalorg_project/plugins/release_packager/DrupalorgProjectPackageRelease.class.php
index 42ecd5f..1f92d23 100644
--- a/drupalorg_project/plugins/release_packager/DrupalorgProjectPackageRelease.class.php
+++ b/drupalorg_project/plugins/release_packager/DrupalorgProjectPackageRelease.class.php
@@ -117,12 +117,15 @@ class DrupalorgProjectPackageRelease implements ProjectReleasePackagerInterface
     }
 
     // Install core dependencies with composer for Drupal 8 and above.
+    $core_dir = $this->export . '/core';
     if ($this->project_node->type == 'project_core'
       && $this->release_node->field_release_version_major[$this->release_node->language][0]['value'] >= 8
-      && !drush_shell_cd_and_exec($this->temp_directory, "%s install --working-dir=core --prefer-dist", $this->conf['composer'])) {
-      watchdog('package_error', 'Installing core dependencies with composer failed: <pre>@output</pre>', array('@output' => implode("\n", drush_shell_exec_output())), WATCHDOG_ERROR);
-      drush_shell_exec('rm -rf %s', $this->repository);
-      return 'error';
+      && file_exists($core_dir . '/composer.json')) {
+      if (!drush_shell_cd_and_exec($this->temp_directory, "%s install --ignore-platform-reqs --quiet --working-dir=%s --prefer-dist", $this->conf['composer'], $core_dir)) {
+        watchdog('package_error', 'Installing core dependencies with composer failed: <pre>@output</pre>', array('@output' => implode("\n", drush_shell_exec_output())), WATCHDOG_ERROR);
+        drush_shell_exec('rm -rf %s', $this->repository);
+        return 'error';
+      }
     }
 
     // If this is a -dev release, do some magic to determine a spiffy