diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b8930fb9..e8f8e4fa 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -6,11 +6,17 @@ node_js:
 
 matrix:
   fast_finish: true
+  include:
+    - node_js: 7 # Version used to deploy to npm registry
+      env: BUILD_ENV=production
 
 cache:
   directories:
     - ~/.npm
 
+before_script:
+  - NODE_ENV=$BUILD_ENV npm run build
+
 notifications:
   email:
     on_success: never
@@ -23,6 +29,7 @@ deploy:
   api_key:
     secure: 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
   on:
-    node: '4'
+    node: 7
+    condition: "$BUILD_ENV = production"
     tags: true
     repo: thelounge/lounge
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e0439fbc..a40daffe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,14 +50,12 @@ The following commands install the development version of The Lounge:
 git clone https://github.com/thelounge/lounge.git
 cd lounge
 npm install
+NODE_ENV=production npm run build
 npm start
 ```
 
-A word of caution:
-
-- While it is the most recent codebase, this is not production-ready!
-- It is not recommended to run this as root. However, if you decide to do so,
-  you will have to run `npm run build`.
+⚠️ While it is the most recent codebase, this is not production-ready! Run at
+your own risk. It is also not recommended to run this as root.
 
 ## Development setup
 
diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index bc44f000..e36f70f2 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ environment:
 install:
   - ps: Install-Product node $env:nodejs_version
   - appveyor-retry npm install
+  - npm run build
   - npm install mocha-appveyor-reporter
   - echo --reporter mocha-appveyor-reporter >> test/mocha.opts
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ab28e83b..3e8662f0 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@
     "build": "npm-run-all build:*",
     "build:font-awesome": "node scripts/build-fontawesome.js",
     "build:webpack": "webpack",
-    "watch": "webpack -w",
+    "watch": "webpack --watch",
     "test": "npm-run-all -c test:* lint",
     "test:mocha": "mocha",
     "lint": "npm-run-all -c lint:*",
     "lint:js": "eslint .",
     "lint:css": "stylelint \"**/*.css\"",
-    "prepublish": "npm run build"
+    "prepublishOnly": "NODE_ENV=production npm run build"
   },
   "keywords": [
     "lounge",
diff --git a/src/server.js b/src/server.js
index 261f345f..34217944 100644
--- a/src/server.js
+++ b/src/server.js
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ var authFunction = localAuth;
 module.exports = function() {
 	manager = new ClientManager();
 
+	if (!fs.existsSync("client/js/bundle.js")) {
+		log.error(`The client application was not built. Run ${colors.bold("NODE_ENV=production npm run build")} to resolve this.`);
+		process.exit();
+	}
+
 	var app = express()
 		.use(allRequests)
 		.use(index)
diff --git a/webpack.config.js b/webpack.config.js
index a09897ce..e2f4b094 100644
--- a/webpack.config.js
+++ b/webpack.config.js
@@ -3,10 +3,14 @@
 const webpack = require("webpack");
 const path = require("path");
 
-module.exports = {
+// ********************
+// Common configuration
+// ********************
+
+let config = {
 	entry: {
-		app: path.resolve(__dirname, "client/js/lounge.js"),
-		vendor: [
+		"js/bundle.js": path.resolve(__dirname, "client/js/lounge.js"),
+		"js/bundle.vendor.js": [
 			"handlebars/runtime",
 			"jquery",
 			"jquery-ui/ui/widgets/sortable",
@@ -17,8 +21,8 @@ module.exports = {
 	},
 	devtool: "source-map",
 	output: {
-		path: path.resolve(__dirname, "client/js"),
-		filename: "bundle.js",
+		path: path.resolve(__dirname, "client"),
+		filename: "[name]",
 		publicPath: "/"
 	},
 	module: {
@@ -53,14 +57,22 @@ module.exports = {
 		]
 	},
 	plugins: [
-		new webpack.optimize.CommonsChunkPlugin(
-			"vendor", // chunkName
-			"bundle.vendor.js" // filename
-		),
-		new webpack.optimize.UglifyJsPlugin({
-			compress: {
-				warnings: false
-			}
-		}),
+		new webpack.optimize.CommonsChunkPlugin("js/bundle.vendor.js")
 	]
 };
+
+// *********************************
+// Production-specific configuration
+// *********************************
+
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "production") {
+	config.plugins.push(new webpack.optimize.DedupePlugin());
+	config.plugins.push(new webpack.optimize.UglifyJsPlugin({
+		comments: false,
+		compress: {
+			warnings: false
+		}
+	}));
+}
+
+module.exports = config;