diff --git a/plugin/publish/npm/npm.go b/plugin/publish/npm/npm.go
index 069396dbd..c51982c10 100644
--- a/plugin/publish/npm/npm.go
+++ b/plugin/publish/npm/npm.go
@@ -18,8 +18,22 @@ email = %s
 EOF
 `
 
+// command to publish npm package if not published
+const CmdPublish = `
+_NPM_PACKAGE_NAME=$(cd %s && npm list | head -n 1 | cut -d ' ' -f1)
+_NPM_PACKAGE_TAG="%s"
+if [ -z "$(npm info ${_NPM_PACKAGE_NAME})" ]
+then
+	npm publish %s
+	[ -n ${_NPM_PACKAGE_TAG} ] && npm tag ${_NPM_PACKAGE_NAME} ${_NPM_PACKAGE_TAG}
+else
+	echo "skipping publish, package ${_NPM_PACKAGE_NAME} already published"
+fi
+unset _NPM_PACKAGE_NAME
+unset _NPM_PACKAGE_TAG
+`
+
 const (
-	CmdPublish     = "npm publish %s"
 	CmdAlwaysAuth  = "npm set always-auth true"
 	CmdSetRegistry = "npm config set registry %s"
 )
@@ -43,10 +57,6 @@ type NPM struct {
 	// and publish to a repository
 	Password string `yaml:"password,omitempty"`
 
-	// Fails if the package name and version combination already
-	// exists in the registry. Overwrites when the "--force" flag is set.
-	Force bool `yaml:"force"`
-
 	// The registry URL of custom npm repository
 	Registry string `yaml:"registry,omitempty"`
 
@@ -94,16 +104,11 @@ func (n *NPM) Write(f *buildfile.Buildfile) {
 		f.WriteCmd(CmdAlwaysAuth)
 	}
 
-	var cmd = fmt.Sprintf(CmdPublish, n.Folder)
-	if len(n.Tag) != 0 {
-		cmd += fmt.Sprintf(" --tag %s", n.Tag)
+	if len(n.Folder) == 0 {
+		n.Folder = "."
 	}
 
-	if n.Force {
-		cmd += " --force"
-	}
-
-	f.WriteCmd(cmd)
+	f.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(CmdPublish, n.Folder, n.Tag, n.Folder))
 }
 
 func (n *NPM) GetCondition() *condition.Condition {
diff --git a/plugin/publish/npm/npm_test.go b/plugin/publish/npm/npm_test.go
index 575f249b1..0ea8c4fec 100644
--- a/plugin/publish/npm/npm_test.go
+++ b/plugin/publish/npm/npm_test.go
@@ -31,23 +31,21 @@ func Test_NPM(t *testing.T) {
 
 			n.Write(b)
 			out := b.String()
-			g.Assert(strings.Contains(out, "\nnpm publish /path/to/repo\n")).Equal(true)
+			g.Assert(strings.Contains(out, "npm publish /path/to/repo\n")).Equal(true)
 			g.Assert(strings.Contains(out, "\nnpm set")).Equal(false)
 			g.Assert(strings.Contains(out, "\nnpm config set")).Equal(false)
 		})
 
-		g.It("Should set force", func() {
+		g.It("Should use current directory if folder is empty", func() {
 			b := new(buildfile.Buildfile)
 			n := NPM{
 				Email:    "foo@bar.com",
 				Username: "foo",
 				Password: "bar",
-				Folder:   "/path/to/repo",
-				Force:    true,
 			}
 
 			n.Write(b)
-			g.Assert(strings.Contains(b.String(), "\nnpm publish /path/to/repo --force\n")).Equal(true)
+			g.Assert(strings.Contains(b.String(), "npm publish .\n")).Equal(true)
 		})
 
 		g.It("Should set tag", func() {
@@ -61,7 +59,8 @@ func Test_NPM(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 
 			n.Write(b)
-			g.Assert(strings.Contains(b.String(), "\nnpm publish /path/to/repo --tag 1.0.0\n")).Equal(true)
+			g.Assert(strings.Contains(b.String(), "\n_NPM_PACKAGE_TAG=\"1.0.0\"\n")).Equal(true)
+			g.Assert(strings.Contains(b.String(), "npm tag ${_NPM_PACKAGE_NAME} ${_NPM_PACKAGE_TAG}\n")).Equal(true)
 		})
 
 		g.It("Should set registry", func() {