diff --git a/doc/release.rst b/doc/release.rst
index 87a28759..39573453 100644
--- a/doc/release.rst
+++ b/doc/release.rst
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ How to make a psycopg2 release
 - When the workflows have finished download the packages using the
   ``download_packages.py`` and ``download_packages_appveyor.py`` scripts from
   the ``scripts/build`` directory. They will be saved in a
-  ``psycopg2-${VERSION}`` directory.
+  ``packages/psycopg2-${VERSION}`` directory.
 
 - Remove the ``.exe`` from the dir, because we don't want to upload them on
   PyPI::
diff --git a/scripts/build/download_packages.py b/scripts/build/download_packages.py
index 46ce149c..cd8003e5 100755
--- a/scripts/build/download_packages.py
+++ b/scripts/build/download_packages.py
@@ -6,15 +6,14 @@ import io
 import os
 import sys
 import logging
+import datetime as dt
 from pathlib import Path
 from zipfile import ZipFile
 
 import requests
 
 logger = logging.getLogger()
-logging.basicConfig(
-    level=logging.INFO, format="%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s"
-)
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s")
 
 REPOS = "psycopg/psycopg2"
 WORKFLOW_NAME = "Build packages"
@@ -43,7 +42,17 @@ def main():
     else:
         raise ScriptError(f"couldn't find {WORKFLOW_NAME!r} in recent runs")
 
-    logger.info(f"looking for run {run['id']} artifacts")
+    if run["status"] != "completed":
+        raise ScriptError(f"run #{run['run_number']} is in status {run['status']}")
+
+    updated_at = dt.datetime.fromisoformat(run["updated_at"].replace("Z", "+00:00"))
+    now = dt.datetime.now(dt.timezone.utc)
+    age = now - updated_at
+    logger.info(f"found run #{run['run_number']} updated {pretty_interval(age)} ago")
+    if age > dt.timedelta(hours=6):
+        logger.warning("maybe it's a bit old?")
+
+    logger.info(f"looking for run #{run['run_number']} artifacts")
     resp = s.get(f"{run['url']}/artifacts")
     resp.raise_for_status()
     artifacts = resp.json()["artifacts"]
@@ -64,6 +73,19 @@ def main():
     logger.info(f"now you can run: 'twine upload -s {dest}/*'")
 
 
+def pretty_interval(td):
+    secs = td.total_seconds()
+    mins, secs = divmod(secs, 60)
+    hours, mins = divmod(mins, 60)
+    days, hours = divmod(hours, 24)
+    if days:
+        return f"{int(days)} days, {int(hours)} hours, {int(mins)} minutes"
+    elif hours:
+        return f"{int(hours)} hours, {int(mins)} minutes"
+    else:
+        return f"{int(mins)} minutes"
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     try:
         sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/scripts/build/download_packages_appveyor.py b/scripts/build/download_packages_appveyor.py
index 7ac55b41..afdae379 100755
--- a/scripts/build/download_packages_appveyor.py
+++ b/scripts/build/download_packages_appveyor.py
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
 """
 
 import os
+import re
 import sys
 import logging
+import datetime as dt
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import requests
@@ -35,6 +37,18 @@ def main():
     resp = s.get(f"{API_URL}/projects/{REPOS}/")
     resp.raise_for_status()
     data = resp.json()
+
+    updated_at = dt.datetime.fromisoformat(
+        re.sub(r"\.\d+", "", data["build"]["finished"])
+    )
+    now = dt.datetime.now(dt.timezone.utc)
+    age = now - updated_at
+    logger.info(
+        f"found build {data['build']['version']} updated {pretty_interval(age)} ago"
+    )
+    if age > dt.timedelta(hours=6):
+        logger.warning("maybe it's a bit old?")
+
     jobs = data["build"]["jobs"]
     for job in jobs:
         if job["status"] != "success":
@@ -63,6 +77,19 @@ def main():
     logger.info("now you can run: 'twine upload -s packages/*'")
 
 
+def pretty_interval(td):
+    secs = td.total_seconds()
+    mins, secs = divmod(secs, 60)
+    hours, mins = divmod(mins, 60)
+    days, hours = divmod(hours, 24)
+    if days:
+        return f"{int(days)} days, {int(hours)} hours, {int(mins)} minutes"
+    elif hours:
+        return f"{int(hours)} hours, {int(mins)} minutes"
+    else:
+        return f"{int(mins)} minutes"
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     try:
         sys.exit(main())
@@ -74,4 +101,3 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
         logger.info("user interrupt")
         sys.exit(1)
-