diff --git a/gulpfile.js b/gulpfile.js
index 1fa3a8b9dd63a..60a33c45abd92 100644
--- a/gulpfile.js
+++ b/gulpfile.js
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ var shouldLog = require('./tools/build/logging');
 var tslint = require('gulp-tslint');
 var dartSdk = require('./tools/build/dart');
 var sauceConf = require('./sauce.conf');
+var os = require('os');
 
 require('./tools/check-environment')({
   requiredNpmVersion: '>=2.9.0',
@@ -250,6 +251,7 @@ gulp.task('build/analyze.ddc.dart', dartanalyzer(gulp, gulpPlugins, {
 
 gulp.task('build/check.apidocs.dart', dartapidocs(gulp, gulpPlugins, {
   dest: CONFIG.dest.dart,
+  output: os.tmpdir(),
   command: DART_SDK.DARTDOCGEN
 }));
 
diff --git a/tools/build/dartapidocs.js b/tools/build/dartapidocs.js
index a0ff0956de81e..29961c8fda462 100644
--- a/tools/build/dartapidocs.js
+++ b/tools/build/dartapidocs.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ var spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
 var util = require('./util');
 
 module.exports = function(gulp, plugins, config) {
+  config.output = config.output || 'doc/api';
   return function() {
     return util.forEachSubDirSequential(config.dest, function(dir) {
       var defer = Q.defer();
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ module.exports = function(gulp, plugins, config) {
       } else {
         console.log('INFO: running dartdoc for ', dir);
 
-        var stream = spawn(config.command, ['--input=.'], {
+        var stream = spawn(config.command, ['--input=.', '--output=' + config.output], {
           stdio: [process.stdin, process.stdout, process.stderr],
           cwd: dir
         });