diff --git a/source/dub/commandline.d b/source/dub/commandline.d
index c453861..0d61462 100644
--- a/source/dub/commandline.d
+++ b/source/dub/commandline.d
@@ -146,8 +146,13 @@
 	string cmdname;
 	args = common_args.extractRemainingArgs();
 	if (args.length >= 1 && !args[0].startsWith("-")) {
-		cmdname = args[0];
-		args = args[1 .. $];
+		if (args[0].endsWith(".d")) {
+			cmdname = "run";
+			args = "--single" ~ args;
+		} else {
+			cmdname = args[0];
+			args = args[1 .. $];
+		}
 	} else {
 		if (options.help) {
 			showHelp(commands, common_args);
@@ -543,6 +548,7 @@
 		string m_defaultConfig;
 		bool m_nodeps;
 		bool m_forceRemove = false;
+		bool m_single;
 	}
 
 	override void prepare(scope CommandArgs args)
@@ -576,6 +582,9 @@
 			"Specifies the way the compiler and linker are invoked. Valid values:",
 			"  separate (default), allAtOnce, singleFile"
 		]);
+		args.getopt("single", &m_single, [
+			"Treats the package name as a filename. The file must contain a package recipe comment."
+		]);
 	}
 
 	protected void setupPackage(Dub dub, string package_name, string default_build_type = "debug")
@@ -607,10 +616,13 @@
 
 			// retrieve missing packages
 			logDiagnostic("Checking for missing dependencies.");
-			dub.upgrade(UpgradeOptions.select);
-			// check for updates
-			logDiagnostic("Checking for upgrades.");
-			dub.upgrade(UpgradeOptions.upgrade|UpgradeOptions.printUpgradesOnly|UpgradeOptions.useCachedResult);
+			if (m_single) dub.upgrade(UpgradeOptions.select | UpgradeOptions.noSaveSelections);
+			else {
+				dub.upgrade(UpgradeOptions.select);
+
+				logDiagnostic("Checking for upgrades.");
+				dub.upgrade(UpgradeOptions.upgrade|UpgradeOptions.printUpgradesOnly|UpgradeOptions.useCachedResult);
+			}
 		}
 
 		dub.project.validate();
@@ -618,6 +630,12 @@
 
 	private bool loadSpecificPackage(Dub dub, string package_name)
 	{
+		if (m_single) {
+			enforce(package_name.length, "Missing file name of single-file package.");
+			dub.loadSingleFilePackage(package_name);
+			return true;
+		}
+
 		// load package in root_path to enable searching for sub packages
 		if (loadCwdPackage(dub, package_name.length == 0)) {
 			if (package_name.startsWith(":"))
@@ -728,7 +746,7 @@
 		gensettings.runArgs = app_args;
 		gensettings.force = m_force;
 		gensettings.rdmd = m_rdmd;
-		gensettings.tempBuild = m_tempBuild;
+		gensettings.tempBuild = m_tempBuild || m_single;
 		gensettings.parallelBuild = m_parallel;
 
 		logDiagnostic("Generating using %s", m_generator);
@@ -866,6 +884,7 @@
 		settings.buildSettings = m_buildSettings;
 		settings.combined = m_combined;
 		settings.force = m_force;
+		settings.tempBuild = m_single;
 		settings.run = true;
 		settings.runArgs = app_args;
 
diff --git a/source/dub/dub.d b/source/dub/dub.d
index fe2b342..1ff825e 100644
--- a/source/dub/dub.d
+++ b/source/dub/dub.d
@@ -171,18 +171,18 @@
 
 	private void init()
 	{
+		import std.file : tempDir;
 		version(Windows){
 			m_systemDubPath = Path(environment.get("ProgramData")) ~ "dub/";
 			m_userDubPath = Path(environment.get("APPDATA")) ~ "dub/";
-			m_tempPath = Path(environment.get("TEMP"));
 		} else version(Posix){
 			m_systemDubPath = Path("/var/lib/dub/");
 			m_userDubPath = Path(environment.get("HOME")) ~ ".dub/";
 			if(!m_userDubPath.absolute)
 				m_userDubPath = Path(getcwd()) ~ m_userDubPath;
-			m_tempPath = Path("/tmp");
 		}
 
+		m_tempPath = Path(tempDir);
 		m_userConfig = jsonFromFile(m_userDubPath ~ "settings.json", true);
 		m_systemConfig = jsonFromFile(m_systemDubPath ~ "settings.json", true);
 
@@ -247,6 +247,72 @@
 		m_project = new Project(m_packageManager, pack);
 	}
 
+	/** Loads a single file package.
+
+		Single-file packages are D files that contain a package receipe comment
+		at their top. A recipe comment must be a nested `/+ ... +/` style
+		comment, containing the virtual recipe file name and a colon, followed by the 
+		recipe contents (what would normally be in dub.sdl/dub.json).
+
+		Example:
+		---
+		/+ dub.sdl:
+		   name "test"
+		   dependency "vibe-d" version="~>0.7.29"
+		+/
+		import vibe.http.server;
+
+		void main()
+		{
+			auto settings = new HTTPServerSettings;
+			settings.port = 8080;
+			listenHTTP(settings, &hello);
+		}
+
+		void hello(HTTPServerRequest req, HTTPServerResponse res)
+		{
+			res.writeBody("Hello, World!");
+		}
+		---
+
+		The script above can be invoked with "dub --single test.d".
+	*/
+	void loadSingleFilePackage(Path path)
+	{
+		import dub.recipe.io : parsePackageRecipe;
+		import std.file : mkdirRecurse, readText;
+
+		path = makeAbsolute(path);
+
+		string file_content = readText(path.toNativeString());
+		auto idx = file_content.indexOf("/+");
+		enforce(idx >= 0, "Missing /+ ... +/ recipe comment.");
+		file_content = file_content[idx+2 .. $];
+		
+		idx = file_content.indexOf("+/");
+		enforce(idx >= 0, "Missing closing \"+/\" for recipe comment.");
+		string recipe_content = file_content[0 .. idx];
+
+		idx = recipe_content.indexOf(':');
+		enforce(idx > 0, "Missing recipe file name (e.g. \"dub.sdl:\") in recipe comment");
+		auto recipe_filename = recipe_content[0 .. idx].strip();
+		recipe_content = recipe_content[idx+1 .. $];
+
+		auto recipe = parsePackageRecipe(recipe_content, recipe_filename);
+		recipe.buildSettings.sourceFiles[""] = [path.toNativeString()];
+		recipe.buildSettings.mainSourceFile = path.toNativeString();
+		if (recipe.buildSettings.targetType == TargetType.autodetect)
+			recipe.buildSettings.targetType = TargetType.executable;
+
+		auto pack = new Package(recipe, path.parentPath, null, "~master");
+		loadPackage(pack);
+	}
+	/// ditto
+	void loadSingleFilePackage(string path)
+	{
+		loadSingleFilePackage(Path(path));
+	}
+
 	/** Disables the default search paths and only searches a specific directory
 		for packages.
 	*/
@@ -375,7 +441,7 @@
 
 		m_project.reinit();
 
-		if (options & UpgradeOptions.select)
+		if ((options & UpgradeOptions.select) && !(options & UpgradeOptions.noSaveSelections))
 			m_project.saveSelections();
 	}
 
@@ -1015,6 +1081,7 @@
 	select = 1<<4, /// Update the dub.selections.json file with the upgraded versions
 	printUpgradesOnly = 1<<5, /// Instead of downloading new packages, just print a message to notify the user of their existence
 	useCachedResult = 1<<6, /// Use cached information stored with the package to determine upgrades
+	noSaveSelections = 1<<7, /// Don't store updated selections on disk
 }
 
 /// Determines which of the default package suppliers are queried for packages.
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/build.d b/source/dub/generators/build.d
index 57267d3..1873d91 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/build.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/build.d
@@ -146,7 +146,10 @@
 	private bool performCachedBuild(GeneratorSettings settings, BuildSettings buildsettings, in Package pack, string config, string build_id, in Package[] packages, in Path[] additional_dep_files)
 	{
 		auto cwd = Path(getcwd());
-		auto target_path = pack.path ~ format(".dub/build/%s/", build_id);
+
+		Path target_path;
+		if (settings.tempBuild) target_path = getTempDir() ~ format(".dub/build/%s-%s/%s/", pack.name, pack.version_, build_id);
+		else target_path = pack.path ~ format(".dub/build/%s/", build_id);
 
 		if (!settings.force && isUpToDate(target_path, buildsettings, settings.platform, pack, packages, additional_dep_files)) {
 			logInfo("%s %s: target for configuration \"%s\" is up to date.", pack.name, pack.version_, config);
@@ -155,7 +158,7 @@
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		if (settings.tempBuild || !isWritableDir(target_path, true)) {
+		if (!isWritableDir(target_path, true)) {
 			if (!settings.tempBuild)
 				logInfo("Build directory %s is not writable. Falling back to direct build in the system's temp folder.", target_path.relativeTo(cwd).toNativeString());
 			performDirectBuild(settings, buildsettings, pack, config);