diff --git a/lib/pipeline/pipeline.js b/lib/pipeline/pipeline.js
index 6807c4149..9b7d064d2 100644
--- a/lib/pipeline/pipeline.js
+++ b/lib/pipeline/pipeline.js
@@ -75,10 +75,11 @@ class Pipeline {
       },
       function writeContracts(next) {
         async.each(Object.keys(contractsJSON), (contractName, eachCb) => {
-          let contractCode = self.buildContractJS(contractName);
-          let filePath = fs.dappPath(".embark", contractName + '.js');
-          importsList["Embark/contracts/" + contractName] = filePath;
-          fs.writeFile(filePath, contractCode, eachCb);
+          self.buildContractJS(contractName, (err, contractCode) => {
+            let filePath = fs.dappPath(".embark", contractName + '.js');
+            importsList["Embark/contracts/" + contractName] = filePath;
+            fs.writeFile(filePath, contractCode, eachCb);
+          });
         }, next);
       },
       function assetFileWrite(next) {
@@ -310,22 +311,26 @@ class Pipeline {
     });
   }
 
-  buildContractJS(contractName) {
-    let contractJSON = fs.readFileSync(fs.dappPath(this.buildDir, 'contracts', contractName + '.json')).toString();
+  buildContractJS(contractName, callback) {
+    fs.readFile(fs.dappPath(this.buildDir, 'contracts', contractName + '.json'), (err, contractJSON) => {
+      if (err) {
+        return callback(err);
+      }
+      contractJSON = contractJSON.toString();
 
-    let contractCode = "";
-    contractCode += "import web3 from 'Embark/web3';\n";
-    contractCode += "import EmbarkJS from 'Embark/EmbarkJS';\n";
-    contractCode += "let " + contractName + "JSONConfig = " + contractJSON + ";\n";
-    contractCode += "let " + contractName + " = new EmbarkJS.Contract(" + contractName + "JSONConfig);\n";
+      let contractCode = "";
+      contractCode += "import web3 from 'Embark/web3';\n";
+      contractCode += "import EmbarkJS from 'Embark/EmbarkJS';\n";
+      contractCode += "let " + contractName + "JSONConfig = " + contractJSON + ";\n";
+      contractCode += "let " + contractName + " = new EmbarkJS.Contract(" + contractName + "JSONConfig);\n";
 
-    contractCode += "\n__embarkContext.execWhenReady(function() {\n";
-    contractCode += "\n" + contractName + ".setProvider(web3.currentProvider);\n";
-    contractCode += "\n});\n";
+      contractCode += "\n__embarkContext.execWhenReady(function() {\n";
+      contractCode += "\n" + contractName + ".setProvider(web3.currentProvider);\n";
+      contractCode += "\n});\n";
 
-    contractCode += "export default " + contractName + ";\n";
-
-    return contractCode;
+      contractCode += "export default " + contractName + ";\n";
+      callback(null, contractCode);
+    });
   }
 
   buildWeb3JS(cb) {