diff --git a/_build/deploy-phpdoc-branch.sh b/_build/deploy-phpdoc-branch.sh
index c86f756..40b82e9 100755
--- a/_build/deploy-phpdoc-branch.sh
+++ b/_build/deploy-phpdoc-branch.sh
@@ -22,15 +22,14 @@ DEPLOYMENT_DIR="$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/_build/deploy-$DEPLOYMENT_ID.git"
 [ -n "$DEPLOY_REPO_BRANCH" ] || export DEPLOY_REPO_BRANCH="gh-pages"
 
 # clone repo
-echo "Cloning repo..."
-git clone --branch="$DEPLOY_REPO_BRANCH" "https://github.com/$DEPLOY_REPO_SLUG.git" "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR"
+github-clone.sh "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR" "https://github.com/$DEPLOY_REPO_SLUG.git" "$DEPLOY_REPO_BRANCH"
 [ $? -eq 0 ] || exit 1
 
 cd "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR"
-echo
 
 # setup repo
 github-setup.sh
+[ $? -eq 0 ] || exit 1
 
 # generate phpDocs
 generate-phpdoc.sh \
@@ -44,6 +43,7 @@ generate-phpdoc.sh \
 update-phpdoc-list.sh \
     "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR/_data/phpDoc.yml" \
     "$TRAVIS_BRANCH" "branch" "<code>$TRAVIS_BRANCH</code> branch" "$(date +%s)"
+[ $? -eq 0 ] || exit 1
 
 # commit phpDocs
 echo "Committing changes..."
diff --git a/_build/deploy-phpdoc-release.sh b/_build/deploy-phpdoc-release.sh
index d4c7448..0d8c342 100755
--- a/_build/deploy-phpdoc-release.sh
+++ b/_build/deploy-phpdoc-release.sh
@@ -20,15 +20,14 @@ DEPLOYMENT_DIR="$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/_build/deploy-$DEPLOYMENT_ID.git"
 [ -n "$DEPLOY_REPO_BRANCH" ] || export DEPLOY_REPO_BRANCH="gh-pages"
 
 # clone repo
-echo "Cloning repo..."
-git clone --branch="$DEPLOY_REPO_BRANCH" "https://github.com/$DEPLOY_REPO_SLUG.git" "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR"
+github-clone.sh "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR" "https://github.com/$DEPLOY_REPO_SLUG.git" "$DEPLOY_REPO_BRANCH"
 [ $? -eq 0 ] || exit 1
 
 cd "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR"
-echo
 
 # setup repo
 github-setup.sh
+[ $? -eq 0 ] || exit 1
 
 # generate phpDocs
 if [ "$DEPLOY_PHPDOC_RELEASES" == "true" ]; then
@@ -43,6 +42,7 @@ if [ "$DEPLOY_PHPDOC_RELEASES" == "true" ]; then
         update-phpdoc-list.sh \
             "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR/_data/phpDoc.yml" \
             "$TRAVIS_TAG" "version" "Pico ${TRAVIS_TAG#v}" "$(date +%s)"
+        [ $? -eq 0 ] || exit 1
 
         # commit phpDocs
         echo "Committing phpDoc changes..."
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ if [ "$DEPLOY_VERSION_BADGE" == "true" ]; then
     generate-badge.sh \
         "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR/badges/pico-version.svg" \
         "release" "$TRAVIS_TAG" "blue"
+    [ $? -eq 0 ] || exit 1
 
     # commit version badge
     echo "Committing version badge..."
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ if [ "$DEPLOY_VERSION_FILE" == "true" ]; then
     update-version-file.sh \
         "$DEPLOYMENT_DIR/_data/version.yml" \
         "${TRAVIS_TAG#v}"
+    [ $? -eq 0 ] || exit 1
 
     # commit version file
     echo "Committing version file..."
diff --git a/_build/github-clone.sh b/_build/github-clone.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2937ecd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_build/github-clone.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+##
+# Clones a Git repo
+#
+# @author  Daniel Rudolf
+# @link    http://picocms.org
+# @license http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
+#
+
+set -e
+
+# parameters
+CLONE_TARGET_DIR="$1"   # target directory
+CLONE_REPO_URL="$2"     # URL of the git repo to clone
+CLONE_REPO_BRANCH="$3"  # optional branch to checkout
+
+# print parameters
+echo "Cloning repo..."
+printf 'CLONE_TARGET_DIR="%s"\n' "$CLONE_TARGET_DIR"
+printf 'CLONE_REPO_URL="%s"\n' "$CLONE_REPO_URL"
+printf 'CLONE_REPO_BRANCH="%s"\n' "$CLONE_REPO_BRANCH"
+echo
+
+# clone repo
+git clone "$CLONE_REPO_URL" "$CLONE_TARGET_DIR"
+
+# checkout branch
+if [ -n "$CLONE_REPO_BRANCH" ]; then
+    git checkout "$CLONE_REPO_BRANCH"
+fi
+
+echo