diff --git a/PCbuild/pythoncore.vcxproj b/PCbuild/pythoncore.vcxproj
--- a/PCbuild/pythoncore.vcxproj
+++ b/PCbuild/pythoncore.vcxproj
@@ -406,14 +406,21 @@
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
   </ImportGroup>
   <Target Name="_GetBuildInfo" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
-    <Exec Command="hg id -b &gt; &quot;$(IntDir)hgbranch.txt&quot;" ContinueOnError="true" />
-    <Exec Command="hg id -i &gt; &quot;$(IntDir)hgversion.txt&quot;" ContinueOnError="true" />
-    <Exec Command="hg id -t &gt; &quot;$(IntDir)hgtag.txt&quot;" ContinueOnError="true" />
+    <PropertyGroup>
+      <HG Condition="$(HG) == ''">hg</HG>
+      <_HG>$(HG)</_HG>
+      <_HG Condition="$(HG.Contains(` `))">"$(HG)"</_HG>
+    </PropertyGroup>
+    <Message Text="Getting build info from $(_HG)" Importance="high" />
+    <Exec Command="$(_HG) id -b &gt; &quot;$(IntDir)hgbranch.txt&quot;" ContinueOnError="true" />
+    <Exec Command="$(_HG) id -i &gt; &quot;$(IntDir)hgversion.txt&quot;" ContinueOnError="true" />
+    <Exec Command="$(_HG) id -t &gt; &quot;$(IntDir)hgtag.txt&quot;" ContinueOnError="true" />
     <PropertyGroup>
       <HgBranch Condition="Exists('$(IntDir)hgbranch.txt')">$([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('$(IntDir)hgbranch.txt').Trim())</HgBranch>
       <HgVersion Condition="Exists('$(IntDir)hgversion.txt')">$([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('$(IntDir)hgversion.txt').Trim())</HgVersion>
       <HgTag Condition="Exists('$(IntDir)hgtag.txt')">$([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('$(IntDir)hgtag.txt').Trim())</HgTag>
     </PropertyGroup>
+    <Message Text="Building $(HgTag):$(HgVersion) $(HgBranch)" Importance="high" />
     <ItemGroup>
       <ClCompile Include="..\Modules\getbuildinfo.c">
         <PreprocessorDefinitions>HGVERSION="$(HgVersion)";HGTAG="$(HgTag)";HGBRANCH="$(HgBranch)";%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
diff --git a/Tools/msi/buildrelease.bat b/Tools/msi/buildrelease.bat
--- a/Tools/msi/buildrelease.bat
+++ b/Tools/msi/buildrelease.bat
@@ -78,7 +78,8 @@
 if errorlevel 1 goto :eof
 :skipdoc
 
-where hg /q || echo Cannot find Mercurial on PATH && exit /B 1
+where hg > "%TEMP%\hg.loc" 2> nul && set /P HG= < "%TEMP%\hg.loc" & del "%TEMP%\hg.loc"
+if not exist "%HG%" echo Cannot find Mercurial on PATH && exit /B 1
 
 where dlltool /q && goto skipdlltoolsearch
 set _DLLTOOL_PATH=
@@ -128,6 +129,12 @@
     if errorlevel 1 exit /B
 )
 
+if exist "%D%obj\Debug_%OBJDIR_PLAT%" (
+    echo Deleting "%D%obj\Debug_%OBJDIR_PLAT%"
+    rmdir /q/s "%D%obj\Debug_%OBJDIR_PLAT%"
+    if errorlevel 1 exit /B
+)
+
 if exist "%D%obj\Release_%OBJDIR_PLAT%" (
     echo Deleting "%D%obj\Release_%OBJDIR_PLAT%"
     rmdir /q/s "%D%obj\Release_%OBJDIR_PLAT%"
@@ -145,8 +152,14 @@
     set PGOOPTS=
 )
 if not "%SKIPBUILD%" EQU "1" (
-    @echo call "%PCBUILD%build.bat" -e -p %BUILD_PLAT% -t %TARGET% %CERTOPTS% %PGOOPTS%
-    @call "%PCBUILD%build.bat" -e -p %BUILD_PLAT% -t %TARGET% %CERTOPTS% %PGOOPTS%
+    @echo call "%PCBUILD%build.bat" -e -p %BUILD_PLAT% -t %TARGET% %PGOOPTS% %CERTOPTS%
+    @call "%PCBUILD%build.bat" -e -p %BUILD_PLAT% -t %TARGET% %PGOOPTS% %CERTOPTS%
+    @if errorlevel 1 exit /B
+    @rem build.bat turns echo back on, so we disable it again
+    @echo off
+
+    @echo call "%PCBUILD%build.bat" -d -e -p %BUILD_PLAT% -t %TARGET%
+    @call "%PCBUILD%build.bat" -d -e -p %BUILD_PLAT% -t %TARGET%
     @if errorlevel 1 exit /B
     @rem build.bat turns echo back on, so we disable it again
     @echo off