diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cdbd28eca7c..683795447cb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -55,3 +55,4 @@ gradleBuild
 **/target
 .tf_configure.bazelrc
 .clwb/
+/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/config.log
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 88e17c1ca3d..09563247a16 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -24,11 +24,9 @@ complete build could be required to reflect the changes, otherwise `-Pdev` shoul
 ### Native Builds
 
 In some cases, like when adding GPU support or re-generating op classes, you will need to re-build the native library. 99% of this is building
-TensorFlow, which by default is configured for the [CI](.github/workflows/ci.yml). The build configuration can be customized using the same methods as
-TensorFlow, so if you're building locally, you may need to clone the [tensorflow](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow) project, run its
-configuration script (`./configure`), and copy the resulting
-`.tf_configure.bazelrc` to `tensorflow-core-api`. This overrides the default options, and you can add to it manually (i.e. adding `build --copt="-g"`
-to build with debugging info).
+TensorFlow, which by default is configured for the [CI](.github/workflows/ci.yml). The build configuration can be customized using the `configure`
+scripts in `tensorflow-core-api`, which call the scripts downloaded with the tensorflow dependency. This overrides the default options, and you can
+add to it manually (i.e. adding `build --copt="-g"` to build with debugging info).
 
 ### GPU Support
 
@@ -90,7 +88,8 @@ in [IntelliJ](https://github.com/google/styleguide/blob/gh-pages/intellij-java-g
 
 ### Dependencies
 
-For dependencies, we can use anything compliant with [this list](https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#notice), but we want to keep the core libraries as dependency free as possible.
+For dependencies, we can use anything compliant with [this list](https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#notice), but we want to keep the
+core libraries as dependency free as possible.
 
 ### Code generation
 
diff --git a/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/.bazelversion b/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/.bazelversion
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a0cd9f0ccb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/.bazelversion
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3.1.0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/build.sh b/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/build.sh
index 6f283bb66dc..947d10f4988 100755
--- a/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/build.sh
+++ b/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/build.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 # Script to build native TensorFlow libraries
 set -eu
 
+if [ ! -f .tf_configure.bazelrc ]; then
+    echo "No .tf_configure.bazelrc, using CI settings.  For local builds, run the ./configure script."
+fi
+
 # Allows us to use ccache with Bazel on Mac
 export BAZEL_USE_CPP_ONLY_TOOLCHAIN=1
 
diff --git a/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/configure b/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/configure
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f52079bc55b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/configure
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+#
+# Copyright 2021 The TensorFlow Authors. All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+# ==============================================================================
+#
+set -e
+
+bazel fetch @org_tensorflow//- || true
+
+BASE=$(bazel info output_base)
+"$BASE"/external/org_tensorflow/configure
+mv "$BASE"/external/org_tensorflow/.tf_configure.bazelrc .
diff --git a/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/configure.cmd b/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/configure.cmd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..15c5cc12b8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tensorflow-core/tensorflow-core-api/configure.cmd
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+@echo off
+
+::
+:: Copyright 2021 The TensorFlow Authors. All Rights Reserved.
+::
+:: Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+:: you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+:: You may obtain a copy of the License at
+::
+::     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+::
+:: Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+:: distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+:: WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+:: See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+:: limitations under the License.
+:: ==============================================================================
+::
+
+bazel fetch @org_tensorflow//-
+
+for /f %%i in ('bazel info output_base') do set VAR=%%i
+
+CALL %VAR%\\external\\org_tensorflow\\configure.cmd
+
+MOVE %VAR%\\external\\org_tensorflow\\.tf_configure.bazelrc .
\ No newline at end of file