diff --git a/webpack.renderer.additions.js b/webpack.renderer.additions.js
index 85a076071..a04ecab0f 100644
--- a/webpack.renderer.additions.js
+++ b/webpack.renderer.additions.js
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@ const FilewatcherPlugin = require('filewatcher-webpack-plugin');
 
 const ELECTRON_RENDERER_PROCESS_ROOT = path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/renderer/');
 
+let PROCESS_ARGV = process.env.npm_config_argv;
+if (PROCESS_ARGV) {
+  PROCESS_ARGV = JSON.parse(PROCESS_ARGV);
+}
+
+const isDev = PROCESS_ARGV && PROCESS_ARGV.original &&
+  (PROCESS_ARGV.original.indexOf('dev') !== -1);
+
 module.exports = {
   // This rule is temporarily necessary until https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-webpack/issues/60 is fixed.
   module: {
@@ -21,9 +29,9 @@ module.exports = {
     modules: [ELECTRON_RENDERER_PROCESS_ROOT, 'node_modules', __dirname],
     extensions: ['.js', '.jsx', '.scss'],
   },
-  plugins: [
+  plugins: isDev ? [
     new FilewatcherPlugin({
       watchFileRegex: [require.resolve('lbry-redux')],
     }),
-  ],
+  ] : [],
 };