diff --git a/packages/grpc-tools/README.md b/packages/grpc-tools/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eae786929
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grpc-tools/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# grpc-tools
+
+This package distributes the Protocol Buffers compiler `protoc` along with the
+plugin for generating client and service objects for use with the Node gRPC
+libraries.
+
+## Usage
+
+This library exports the `grpc_tools_node_protoc` executable, which accepts all
+of the same arguments as `protoc` itself. For use with Node, you most likely
+want to use CommonJS-style imports. An example of generating code this way can
+be found in [this guide](https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/reference/javascript-generated#commonjs-imports).
+The `grpc_tools_node_protoc` automatically includes the Node gRPC plugin, so
+it also accepts the `--grpc_out=[option:]path` argument. The option can be
+one of the following:
+
+ - `grpc_js`: Generates code with `require('@grpc/grpc-js')` instead of
+   `require('grpc')`
+ - `generate_package_definition`: Generates code that does not `require` any
+   gRPC library, and instead generates `PackageDefinition` objects that can
+   be passed to the `loadPackageDefinition` function provided by both the
+   `grpc` and `@grpc/grpc-js` libraries.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/grpc-tools/build_binaries.ps1 b/packages/grpc-tools/build_binaries.ps1
index 8c249642e..04919cff3 100644
--- a/packages/grpc-tools/build_binaries.ps1
+++ b/packages/grpc-tools/build_binaries.ps1
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 
+<# https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16657778/install-nuget-via-powershell-script/26421187#comment107976901_48216538 #>
+
+[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.SecurityProtocolType]'Tls11,Tls12'
+
 Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -RequiredVersion 2.8.5.201 -Force
 Import-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -RequiredVersion 2.8.5.201
 Install-Module -Force -Name 7Zip4Powershell
diff --git a/packages/grpc-tools/package.json b/packages/grpc-tools/package.json
index 298d64d1b..c7bb27945 100644
--- a/packages/grpc-tools/package.json
+++ b/packages/grpc-tools/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "grpc-tools",
-  "version": "1.8.1",
+  "version": "1.9.0",
   "author": "Google Inc.",
   "description": "Tools for developing with gRPC on Node.js",
   "homepage": "https://grpc.io/",