diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index f2a8849c..014139a7 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ The following properties are used for both meta release and a release of an indi
 - `releaser.git.spring-project-branch` - Branch to check out for the documentation project. Defaults to `gh-pages`.
 - `releaser.git.test-samples-project-url` - URL to the test samples to be checked against the given release train. Defaults to `https://github.com/spring-cloud/spring-cloud-core-tests`.
 - `releaser.git.test-samples-project-branch` - Branch to check out for test samples. Defaults to `master`.
+- `releaser.git.run-updated-samples` - If `true` then will update samples and run the the build. Defaults to `true`.
 - `releaser.git.update-documentation-repo` - If `true` then will update documentation repository with the `current` URL. Defaults to `true`.
 - `releaser.git.update-spring-guides` - If `true` then will update Spring Guides with the current release train. Defaults to `true`.
 - `releaser.git.update-spring-project` - If `true` then will update Spring Project page with the current release train values. Defaults to `true`.
diff --git a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/Releaser.java b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/Releaser.java
index f0497668..a69ad66d 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/Releaser.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/Releaser.java
@@ -139,7 +139,11 @@ public class Releaser {
 			return;
 		}
 		File email = this.templateGenerator.email();
-		log.info("\nSuccessfully created email template at location [{}]", email);
+		if (email != null) {
+			log.info("\nSuccessfully created email template at location [{}]", email);
+		} else {
+			log.warn("\nFailed to create an email template");
+		}
 	}
 
 	public void createBlog(ProjectVersion releaseVersion, Projects projects) {
@@ -148,7 +152,11 @@ public class Releaser {
 			return;
 		}
 		File blog = this.templateGenerator.blog(projects);
-		log.info("\nSuccessfully created blog template at location [{}]", blog);
+		if (blog != null) {
+			log.info("\nSuccessfully created blog template at location [{}]", blog);
+		} else {
+			log.warn("\nFailed to create a blog template");
+		}
 
 	}
 
@@ -166,8 +174,12 @@ public class Releaser {
 			log.info("\nWon't create tweet template for a SNAPSHOT version");
 			return;
 		}
-		File blog = this.templateGenerator.tweet();
-		log.info("\nSuccessfully created tweet template at location [{}]", blog);
+		File tweet = this.templateGenerator.tweet();
+		if (tweet != null) {
+			log.info("\nSuccessfully created tweet template at location [{}]", tweet);
+		} else {
+			log.warn("\nFailed to create a tweet template");
+		}
 	}
 
 	public void createReleaseNotes(ProjectVersion releaseVersion, Projects projects) {
diff --git a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/BlogTemplateGenerator.java b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/BlogTemplateGenerator.java
index f8616381..ac202da4 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/BlogTemplateGenerator.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/BlogTemplateGenerator.java
@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@ class BlogTemplateGenerator {
 			return this.blogOutput;
 		}
 		catch (IOException e) {
-			throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+			log.warn("Exception occurred while trying to create a blog entry", e);
+			return null;
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/EmailTemplateGenerator.java b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/EmailTemplateGenerator.java
index 468fbca1..ef15b899 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/EmailTemplateGenerator.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/EmailTemplateGenerator.java
@@ -5,12 +5,16 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 
 import com.github.jknack.handlebars.Template;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 /**
  * @author Marcin Grzejszczak
  */
 class EmailTemplateGenerator {
 
+	private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(EmailTemplateGenerator.class);
+
 	private final Template template;
 	private final String releaseVersion;
 	private final File emailOutput;
@@ -28,7 +32,8 @@ class EmailTemplateGenerator {
 			return this.emailOutput;
 		}
 		catch (IOException e) {
-			throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+			log.warn("Exception occurred while trying to generate an email template", e);
+			return null;
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/ReleaseNotesTemplateGenerator.java b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/ReleaseNotesTemplateGenerator.java
index 6d54dfb1..2bd12360 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/ReleaseNotesTemplateGenerator.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/template/ReleaseNotesTemplateGenerator.java
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package org.springframework.cloud.release.internal.template;
 
 import com.github.jknack.handlebars.Template;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -22,6 +24,8 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  */
 class ReleaseNotesTemplateGenerator {
 
+	private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ReleaseNotesTemplateGenerator.class);
+
 	private final Template template;
 	private final String releaseVersion;
 	private final File blogOutput;
@@ -49,7 +53,8 @@ class ReleaseNotesTemplateGenerator {
 			return this.blogOutput;
 		}
 		catch (IOException e) {
-			throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+			log.warn("Exception occurred while trying to generate release notes", e);
+			return null;
 		}
 	}