diff --git a/build.js b/build.js
index 3d38dbad8..8bfd4b24d 100755
--- a/build.js
+++ b/build.js
@@ -258,12 +258,12 @@
    * each template file's basename.
    *
    * @private
-   * @param {String} pattern The file path pattern.
-   * @param {Object} options The options object.
+   * @param {String} [pattern='<cwd>/*.jst'] The file path pattern.
+   * @param {Object} [options=_.templateSettings] The options object.
    * @returns {String} Returns the compiled source.
    */
   function buildTemplate(pattern, options) {
-    pattern || (pattern = './*.jst');
+    pattern || (pattern = path.join(cwd, '*.jst'));
     options || (options = _.templateSettings);
 
     var directory = path.dirname(pattern);
@@ -289,9 +289,9 @@
     );
 
     fs.readdirSync(directory).forEach(function(filename) {
-      var filepath = path.join(directory, filename);
+      var filePath = path.join(directory, filename);
       if (pattern.test(filename)) {
-        var text = fs.readFileSync(filepath, 'utf8'),
+        var text = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8'),
             precompiled = getFunctionSource(_.template(text, null, options)),
             prop = filename.replace(/\..*$/, '');
 
@@ -809,9 +809,9 @@
 
   /**
    * Creates a debug and minified build, executing the `callback` for each.
-   * The `callback` is invoked with 2 arguments; (filepath, source)
+   * The `callback` is invoked with 2 arguments; (filePath, source)
    *
-   * @param {Array} options The build options array.
+   * @param {Array} [options=[]] The build options array.
    * @param {Function} callback The function called per build.
    */
   function build(options, callback) {
@@ -1429,7 +1429,8 @@
     if (!isDebug) {
       workingName += '.min';
       minify(source, {
-        'silent': isSilent,
+        'isSilent': isSilent,
+        'isTemplate': isTemplate,
         'workingName': workingName,
         'onComplete': function(source) {
           // correct overly aggressive Closure Compiler minification
@@ -1458,8 +1459,8 @@
   }
   else {
     // or invoked directly
-    build(process.argv, function(source, filepath) {
-      filepath && fs.writeFileSync(filepath, source, 'utf8');
+    build(process.argv, function(source, filePath) {
+      filePath && fs.writeFileSync(filePath, source, 'utf8');
     });
   }
 }());
diff --git a/build/minify.js b/build/minify.js
index b04571a96..bba7047e9 100755
--- a/build/minify.js
+++ b/build/minify.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
       spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
 
   /** The directory that is the base of the repository */
-  var basePath = path.join(__dirname, '../');
+  var basePath = fs.realpathSync(path.join(__dirname, '../'));
 
   /** The directory where the Closure Compiler is located */
   var closurePath = path.join(basePath, 'vendor', 'closure-compiler', 'compiler.jar');
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@
   var distPath = path.join(basePath, 'dist');
 
   /** Load other modules */
-  var preprocess = require(path.join(__dirname, 'pre-compile')),
-      postprocess = require(path.join(__dirname, 'post-compile')),
-      uglifyJS = require(path.join(basePath, 'vendor', 'uglifyjs', 'uglify-js'));
+  var preprocess = require('./pre-compile'),
+      postprocess = require('./post-compile'),
+      uglifyJS = require('../vendor/uglifyjs/uglify-js');
 
   /** Closure Compiler command-line options */
   var closureOptions = [
@@ -50,14 +50,22 @@
       options = source;
       var filePath = options[options.length - 1],
           dirPath = path.dirname(filePath),
-          workingName = path.basename(filePath, '.js') + '.min',
-          outputPath = path.join(dirPath, workingName + '.js'),
-          isSilent = options.indexOf('-s') > -1 || options.indexOf('--silent') > -1;
+          isSilent = options.indexOf('-s') > -1 || options.indexOf('--silent') > -1,
+          isTemplate = options.indexOf('-t') > -1 || options.indexOf('--template') > -1,
+          workingName = path.basename(filePath, '.js') + '.min';
 
+      workingName = options.reduce(function(result, value, index) {
+        return /-wn|--working-name/.test(value)
+          ? options[index + 1]
+          : result;
+      }, workingName);
+
+      var outputPath = path.join(dirPath, workingName + '.js');
       source = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
+
       options = {
-        'silent': isSilent,
-        'workingName': workingName,
+        'isSilent': isSilent,
+        'isTemplate': isTemplate,
         'onComplete': function(source) {
           fs.writeFileSync(outputPath, source, 'utf8');
         }
@@ -71,8 +79,8 @@
    *
    * @private
    * @constructor
-   * @param {String} source The source to minify.
-   * @param {Object} options The options object containing `onComplete`,
+   * @param {String} [source=''] The source to minify.
+   * @param {Object} [options={}] The options object containing `onComplete`,
    *  `silent`, and `workingName`.
    */
   function Minify(source, options) {
@@ -94,11 +102,12 @@
     this.compiled = {};
     this.hybrid = {};
     this.uglified = {};
-    this.isSilent = !!options.silent;
+    this.isSilent = !!options.isSilent;
+    this.isTemplate = !!options.isTemplate;
     this.onComplete = options.onComplete || function() {};
     this.workingName = options.workingName || 'temp';
 
-    source = preprocess(source);
+    source = preprocess(source, options);
     this.source = source;
 
     // begin the minification process
@@ -117,10 +126,19 @@
    * @param {Function} callback The function to call once the process completes.
    */
   function closureCompile(source, message, callback) {
+    var options = closureOptions.slice();
+
+    // use simple optimizations when minifying template files
+    if (this.isTemplate) {
+      options = options.map(function(value) {
+        return value.replace(/^(compilation_level)=.+$/, '$1=SIMPLE_OPTIMIZATIONS');
+      });
+    }
+
     // the standard error stream, standard output stream, and Closure Compiler process
     var error = '',
         output = '',
-        compiler = spawn('java', ['-jar', closurePath].concat(closureOptions));
+        compiler = spawn('java', ['-jar', closurePath].concat(options));
 
     // juggle arguments
     if (typeof message == 'function') {
diff --git a/build/post-compile.js b/build/post-compile.js
index 37358a6f9..dc40ac2db 100644
--- a/build/post-compile.js
+++ b/build/post-compile.js
@@ -56,13 +56,16 @@
   // expose `postprocess`
   if (module != require.main) {
     module.exports = postprocess;
-  } else {
+  }
+  else {
     // read the Lo-Dash source file from the first argument if the script
     // was invoked directly (e.g. `node post-compile.js source.js`) and write to
     // the same file
     (function() {
-      var source = fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2], 'utf8');
-      fs.writeFileSync(process.argv[2], postprocess(source), 'utf8');
+      var filePath = process.argv[2],
+          source = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
+
+      fs.writeFileSync(filePath, postprocess(source), 'utf8');
     }());
   }
 }());
diff --git a/build/pre-compile.js b/build/pre-compile.js
index dfe28763c..d990f0e3f 100644
--- a/build/pre-compile.js
+++ b/build/pre-compile.js
@@ -246,15 +246,22 @@
    * Pre-process a given Lo-Dash `source`, preparing it for minification.
    *
    * @param {String} source The source to process.
+   * @param {Object} [options={}] The options object.
    * @returns {String} Returns the processed source.
    */
-  function preprocess(source) {
-    // remove copyright to add later in post-compile.js
-    source = source.replace(/\/\*![\s\S]+?\*\//, '');
+  function preprocess(source, options) {
+    options || (options = {});
 
     // remove unrecognized JSDoc tags so Closure Compiler won't complain
     source = source.replace(/@(?:alias|category)\b.*/g, '');
 
+    if (options.isTemplate) {
+      return source;
+    }
+
+    // remove copyright to add later in post-compile.js
+    source = source.replace(/\/\*![\s\S]+?\*\//, '');
+
     // add brackets to whitelisted properties so Closure Compiler won't mung them
     // http://code.google.com/closure/compiler/docs/api-tutorial3.html#export
     source = source.replace(RegExp('\\.(' + propWhitelist.join('|') + ')\\b', 'g'), "['$1']");
@@ -439,8 +446,12 @@
     // was invoked directly (e.g. `node pre-compile.js source.js`) and write to
     // the same file
     (function() {
-      var source = fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2], 'utf8');
-      fs.writeFileSync(process.argv[2], preprocess(source), 'utf8');
+      var options = process.argv,
+          filePath = options[options.length - 1],
+          isTemplate = options.indexOf('-t') > -1 || options.indexOf('--template') > -1,
+          source = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
+
+      fs.writeFileSync(filePath, preprocess(source, { 'isTemplate': isTemplate }), 'utf8');
     }());
   }
 }());
diff --git a/test/template/a.jst b/test/template/a.jst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a2a8b6e00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/template/a.jst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<ul>
+<% _.forEach(people, function(name) { %><li><%= name %></li><% }); %>
+</ul>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/template/b.jst b/test/template/b.jst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cad081d19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/template/b.jst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<% print("Hello " + epithet); %>.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/template/c.tpl b/test/template/c.tpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c7a43bc1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/template/c.tpl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Hello {{ name }}!
\ No newline at end of file