diff --git a/icu4c/source/config/dist-data.sh b/icu4c/source/config/dist-data.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4422671
--- /dev/null
+++ b/icu4c/source/config/dist-data.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Copyright (C) 2020 and later: Unicode, Inc. and others.
+
+# set VERSION to the ICU version. set top_srcdir to the parent of icurc
+# Note: You need to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH/etc before calling this script.
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH-/lib:/usr/lib:/usr/local/lib}
+export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=./lib:${DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH-/lib:/usr/lib:/usr/local/lib}
+
+if [ ! -d "${top_srcdir}" ]
+then
+    echo >&2 "$0: please set 'top_srcdir' to the icu/icu4c/source dir"
+    exit 1
+fi
+LICENSE=${LICENSE-${top_srcdir}/../LICENSE}
+
+if [ ! -f "${LICENSE}" ]
+then
+    echo >&2 "$0: could not load license file ${LICENSE}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+DATFILE=${DATFILE-$(ls data/out/tmp/icudt*.dat| head -1)}
+
+if [ ! -f "${DATFILE}" ]
+then
+    echo >&2 "$0: could not find DATFILE ${DATFILE}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+VERS=$(echo ${DATFILE} | tr -d a-z/.)
+VERSION=${VERSION-unknown}
+
+if [[ "${VERSION}" = "unknown" ]];
+then
+    VERSION=${VERS}.0
+    echo "$0: VERSION not set, using ${VERSION}"
+else
+    if [[ "${VERS}" != $(echo ${VERSION} | cut -d. -f1) ]]
+    then
+        echo >&2 "$0: Warning: Expected version ${VERSION} to start with ${VERS}..."
+    fi
+fi
+
+# yeah, override ENDIANS if you want a different flavor.
+#ENDIANS="b l e"
+ENDIANS=${ENDIANS-"b l"}
+DISTY_DIR=${DISTY_DIR-./dist/}
+
+if [ ! -x ./bin/icupkg ]
+then
+    echo >&2 "$0: could not find executable ./bin/icupkg"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "# Packing ${DATFILE} into data zips in dist/ for version ${VERSION}"
+mkdir -p ${DISTY_DIR}/tmp
+
+for endian in $ENDIANS;
+do
+    base=icu4c-${VERSION}-data-bin-${endian}.zip
+    filename=icudt${VERS}${endian}.dat
+    if [ -f ${DISTY_DIR}/${base} ];
+    then
+        echo ${DISTY_DIR}/${base} exists, skipping
+        continue
+    fi
+    rm -f ${DISTY_DIR}/tmp/${filename}
+    echo ./bin/icupkg -t${endian} ${DATFILE} ${DISTY_DIR}/tmp/${filename}
+    ./bin/icupkg -t${endian} ${DATFILE} ${DISTY_DIR}/tmp/${filename}
+    README=icu4c-${VERSION}-data-bin-${endian}-README.md
+    cat >> ${DISTY_DIR}/tmp/${README} <<EOF
+# ICU Data Zip for ${VERSION}
+
+For information on Unicode ICU, see [http://icu-project.org](http://icu-project.org)
+
+## Contents
+
+This .zip file contains:
+
+- this README
+- [LICENSE](./LICENSE)
+- ${filename}
+
+## How to use this file
+
+This file contains prebuilt data in form **${endian}**.
+("l" for Little Endian, "b" for Big Endian, "e" for EBCDIC.)
+It may be used to simplify build and installation of ICU.
+See [http://icu-project.org](http://icu-project.org) for further information.
+
+## License
+
+See [LICENSE](./LICENSE).
+
+> Copyright © 2016 and later Unicode, Inc. and others. All Rights Reserved.
+Unicode and the Unicode Logo are registered trademarks
+of Unicode, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.
+[Terms of Use and License](http://www.unicode.org/copyright.html)
+
+EOF
+    zip -v -j ${DISTY_DIR}/${base} \
+        ${LICENSE} \
+        ${DISTY_DIR}/tmp/${README} \
+        ${DISTY_DIR}/tmp/${filename}
+    ls -lh ${DISTY_DIR}/${base}
+done
diff --git a/icu4c/source/config/dist.mk b/icu4c/source/config/dist.mk
index a990181..f45133e 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/config/dist.mk
+++ b/icu4c/source/config/dist.mk
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@
 	ln -f $(DISTY_DATA_ZIP) $(DISTY_FILE_DIR)/icu4c-$(DISTY_VER)-data.zip
 	ls -l $(DISTY_FILE_TGZ) $(DISTY_FILE_ZIP) $(DISTY_DATA_ZIP)
 
-
 dist-local: $(DISTY_FILES)
+	VERSION=$(VERSION) $(SHELL) $(top_srcdir)/config/dist-data.sh
 
 distcheck: distcheck-tgz