diff --git a/src/FilterLists.Web/FilterLists.Web.csproj b/src/FilterLists.Web/FilterLists.Web.csproj
index f4924dbcf..da1553787 100644
--- a/src/FilterLists.Web/FilterLists.Web.csproj
+++ b/src/FilterLists.Web/FilterLists.Web.csproj
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <!-- Files not to publish (note that the 'dist' subfolders are re-added below) -->
     <Content Remove="ClientApp\**" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
@@ -40,27 +39,21 @@
     </Content>
   </ItemGroup>
 
-  <Target Name="DebugRunWebpack" BeforeTargets="Build" Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == 'Debug' And !Exists('wwwroot\dist') ">
-    <!-- Ensure Node.js is installed -->
+  <Target Name="DebugRunWebpack" BeforeTargets="Build" Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == 'Debug' ">
     <Exec Command="node --version" ContinueOnError="true">
       <Output TaskParameter="ExitCode" PropertyName="ErrorCode" />
     </Exec>
     <Error Condition="'$(ErrorCode)' != '0'" Text="Node.js is required to build and run this project. To continue, please install Node.js from https://nodejs.org/, and then restart your command prompt or IDE." />
-
-    <!-- In development, the dist files won't exist on the first run or when cloning to
-         a different machine, so rebuild them if not already present. -->
-    <Message Importance="high" Text="Performing first-run Webpack build..." />
+    <Message Importance="high" Text="Performing Webpack build..." />
+    <Exec Command="npm install" />
     <Exec Command="node node_modules/webpack/bin/webpack.js --config webpack.config.vendor.js" />
     <Exec Command="node node_modules/webpack/bin/webpack.js" />
   </Target>
 
   <Target Name="PublishRunWebpack" AfterTargets="ComputeFilesToPublish">
-    <!-- As part of publishing, ensure the JS resources are freshly built in production mode -->
     <Exec Command="npm install" />
     <Exec Command="node node_modules/webpack/bin/webpack.js --config webpack.config.vendor.js --env.prod" />
     <Exec Command="node node_modules/webpack/bin/webpack.js --env.prod" />
-
-    <!-- Include the newly-built files in the publish output -->
     <ItemGroup>
       <DistFiles Include="wwwroot\dist\**; ClientApp\dist\**" />
       <ResolvedFileToPublish Include="@(DistFiles->'%(FullPath)')" Exclude="@(ResolvedFileToPublish)">
@@ -70,8 +63,4 @@
     </ItemGroup>
   </Target>
 
-  <Target Name="PreBuild" BeforeTargets="PreBuildEvent">
-    <!--<Exec Command="if $(ConfigurationName) == Debug call &quot;$(SolutionDir)scripts\npm_webpack_win.bat&quot;" />-->
-  </Target>
-
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file