diff --git a/scripts/release/get-build-id-for-commit.js b/scripts/release/get-build-id-for-commit.js
index 88350e99d280d..fca6d0280d3a3 100644
--- a/scripts/release/get-build-id-for-commit.js
+++ b/scripts/release/get-build-id-for-commit.js
@@ -2,33 +2,48 @@
 
 const fetch = require('node-fetch');
 
+const POLLING_INTERVAL = 5 * 1000; // 5 seconds
+const RETRY_TIMEOUT = 10 * 60 * 1000; // 10 minutes
+
+function wait(ms) {
+  return new Promise(resolve => {
+    setTimeout(() => resolve(), ms);
+  });
+}
+
 async function getBuildIdForCommit(sha) {
-  let ciBuildId = null;
-  const statusesResponse = await fetch(
-    `https://api.github.com/repos/facebook/react/commits/${sha}/status`
-  );
+  const retryLimit = Date.now() + RETRY_TIMEOUT;
+  retry: while (true) {
+    const statusesResponse = await fetch(
+      `https://api.github.com/repos/facebook/react/commits/${sha}/status`
+    );
 
-  if (!statusesResponse.ok) {
-    throw Error('Could not find commit for: ' + sha);
-  }
+    if (!statusesResponse.ok) {
+      throw Error('Could not find commit for: ' + sha);
+    }
 
-  const {statuses, state} = await statusesResponse.json();
-  if (state === 'failure') {
-    throw new Error(`Base commit is broken: ${sha}`);
-  }
-  for (let i = 0; i < statuses.length; i++) {
-    const status = statuses[i];
-    if (status.context === `ci/circleci: process_artifacts_combined`) {
-      if (status.state === 'success') {
-        ciBuildId = /\/facebook\/react\/([0-9]+)/.exec(status.target_url)[1];
-        break;
-      }
-      if (status.state === 'pending') {
-        throw new Error(`Build job for base commit is still pending: ${sha}`);
+    const {statuses, state} = await statusesResponse.json();
+    if (state === 'failure') {
+      throw new Error(`Base commit is broken: ${sha}`);
+    }
+    for (let i = 0; i < statuses.length; i++) {
+      const status = statuses[i];
+      if (status.context === `ci/circleci: process_artifacts_combined`) {
+        if (status.state === 'success') {
+          return /\/facebook\/react\/([0-9]+)/.exec(status.target_url)[1];
+        }
+        if (status.state === 'failure') {
+          throw new Error(`Build job for commit failed: ${sha}`);
+        }
+        if (Date.now() < retryLimit) {
+          await wait(POLLING_INTERVAL);
+          continue retry;
+        }
+        throw new Error('Exceeded retry limit. Build job is still pending.');
       }
     }
+    throw new Error('Could not find build for commit: ' + sha);
   }
-  return ciBuildId;
 }
 
 module.exports = getBuildIdForCommit;