diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
index ca7b63672919501d4d5f65844502649a4aa584d2..525c59490cfe3f1110a7949644b0d0943bf9649b 100644
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -5,9 +5,10 @@ extern crate version_check;
 use ansi_term::Color::{Red, Yellow, Blue, White};
 use version_check::is_min_version;
 
-// Specifies the minimum stable version needed to compile Ion.
-// NOTE: 1.18 is required due to the usage of `Child::try_wait()`.
-const MIN_VERSION: &'static str = "1.18.0";
+// Specifies the minimum version needed to compile Ion.
+// NOTE: 1.19 is required due to the usage of `break` with values for
+// `loop` (RFC 1624, rust-lang/rust GitHub issue #37339).
+const MIN_VERSION: &'static str = "1.19.0";
 
 // Convenience macro for writing to stderr.
 macro_rules! printerr {
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ fn main() {
         Some((_, ref version_string)) => {
             printerr!("{} {}",
                       Red.bold().paint("Error:"),
-                      White.paint("Ion requires at least version 1.17.0 to build."));
+                      White.paint("Ion requires at least version 1.19.0 to build."));
             print_version_err(&*version_string);
             printerr!("{}{}{}",
                 Blue.paint("Use `"),
diff --git a/examples/run_examples.sh b/examples/run_examples.sh
index c6c62b3d9fcdaf928729b131ea4feef10390800e..bfea101f10ff8036fe337017f67ecc8082e4312c 100755
--- a/examples/run_examples.sh
+++ b/examples/run_examples.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ PROJECT_DIR=$(dirname $(cargo locate-project | awk -F\" '{print $4}'))
 
 EXIT_VAL=0
 
+# Some of the examples assume that the working directory is the project root
+# and it never hurts to force consistency regardless
+cd $PROJECT_DIR
+
 function check_return_value {
 
     # Check number of parameters passed into the check function