diff --git a/.npmignore b/.npmignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..be4100c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.npmignore
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Ignored by default but not sure it applies to sub-directories.
+# TODO: test
+# node_modules
+
+# Doesn't need to be included as it will be downloaded during postinstall.
+/lib/coder-cloud-agent
+
+# Node and the code-server entry script are not used for the npm version since
+# the user already has Node.
+/bin
+/lib/node
+/code-server
+/node
diff --git a/ci/build/build-release.sh b/ci/build/build-release.sh
index a806dc98..b222774d 100755
--- a/ci/build/build-release.sh
+++ b/ci/build/build-release.sh
@@ -6,10 +6,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # MINIFY controls whether minified vscode is bundled.
 MINIFY="${MINIFY-true}"
 
-# KEEP_MODULES controls whether the script cleans all node_modules requiring a yarn install
-# to run first.
-KEEP_MODULES="${KEEP_MODULES-0}"
-
 main() {
   cd "$(dirname "${0}")/../.."
   source ./ci/lib.sh
@@ -61,11 +57,9 @@ EOF
   rsync yarn.lock "$RELEASE_PATH"
   rsync ci/build/npm-postinstall.sh "$RELEASE_PATH/postinstall.sh"
 
-  if [ "$KEEP_MODULES" = 1 ]; then
-    rsync node_modules/ "$RELEASE_PATH/node_modules"
-    mkdir -p "$RELEASE_PATH/lib"
-    rsync ./lib/coder-cloud-agent "$RELEASE_PATH/lib"
-  fi
+  rsync node_modules/ "$RELEASE_PATH/node_modules"
+  mkdir -p "$RELEASE_PATH/lib"
+  rsync ./lib/coder-cloud-agent "$RELEASE_PATH/lib"
 }
 
 bundle_vscode() {
@@ -74,11 +68,7 @@ bundle_vscode() {
   rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/out-vscode${MINIFY:+-min}/" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/out"
 
   rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/.build/extensions/" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions"
-  if [ "$KEEP_MODULES" = 0 ]; then
-    rm -Rf "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions/node_modules"
-  else
-    rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/node_modules/" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/node_modules"
-  fi
+  rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/node_modules/" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/node_modules"
   rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/extensions/package.json" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions"
   rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/extensions/yarn.lock" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions"
   rsync "$VSCODE_SRC_PATH/extensions/postinstall.js" "$VSCODE_OUT_PATH/extensions"
diff --git a/ci/dev/image/run.sh b/ci/dev/image/run.sh
index 3d5e15dd..d89e35d5 100755
--- a/ci/dev/image/run.sh
+++ b/ci/dev/image/run.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ main() {
     -e HOME="/src/.home" \
     -e USER="coder" \
     -e GITHUB_TOKEN \
-    -e KEEP_MODULES \
     -e MINIFY \
     -w /src \
     -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
diff --git a/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md b/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
index edaaf767..4c987ed8 100644
--- a/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -109,13 +109,6 @@ yarn test:standalone-release
 yarn package
 ```
 
-For a faster release build, you can run instead:
-
-```shell
-KEEP_MODULES=1 ./ci/steps/release.sh
-node ./release
-```
-
 ## Structure
 
 The `code-server` script serves an HTTP API for login and starting a remote VS Code process.