diff --git a/packages/desktop/electron/tsconfig.json b/packages/desktop/electron/tsconfig.json
index 97b6f146a..f6139b8f0 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/electron/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/desktop/electron/tsconfig.json
@@ -2,11 +2,8 @@
   "compilerOptions": {
     "target": "ESNext",
     "module": "commonjs",
-    "sourceMap": false,
-    "outDir": "../build",
-    "rootDir": "../",
+    "noEmit": true,
+    "esModuleInterop": true,
     "skipLibCheck": true
-  },
-  "include": ["."],
-  "exclude": ["./**/*.test.*", "./**/__tests__"]
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/desktop/package.json b/packages/desktop/package.json
index a1ab5606a..b61412a37 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/package.json
+++ b/packages/desktop/package.json
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
     "build:web": "craco build && rimraf 'build/**/*.whl' && rimraf 'build/pypi'",
     "test": "craco test",
     "eject": "craco eject",
-    "start:electron": "concurrently \"tsc -p electron -w\" \"cross-env NODE_ENV=\"development\" electron .\"",
-    "build:electron": "tsc -p electron",
+    "start:electron": "tsc -p electron && cross-env NODE_ENV=development concurrently \"./scripts/build_electron.js --watch\" \"electron .\"",
+    "build:electron": "tsc -p electron && cross-env NODE_ENV=production ./scripts/build_electron.js",
     "build:pyodide": "curl -L https://github.com/pyodide/pyodide/releases/download/0.25.0/pyodide-core-0.25.0.tar.bz2 | tar xj -C ./build --files-from=./pyodide-files.txt",
     "build:bin": "tsc -p bin-src && ./scripts/build_bin.js",
     "build:wheels": "./scripts/copy_wheels.js",
diff --git a/packages/desktop/scripts/build_electron.js b/packages/desktop/scripts/build_electron.js
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7b49ca3e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/scripts/build_electron.js
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+const { build, context } = require("esbuild");
+const path = require("path");
+
+// Build script using esbuild like https://esbuild.github.io/getting-started/#build-scripts
+
+const watch = process.argv.includes("--watch");
+const production = process.env.NODE_ENV === "production";
+
+(watch ? context : build)({
+  entryPoints: [
+    path.resolve(__dirname, "../electron/main.ts"),
+    path.resolve(__dirname, "../electron/preload.ts"),
+  ],
+  bundle: true,
+  minify: production,
+  platform: "node",
+  outdir: path.resolve(__dirname, "../build/electron"),
+  external: ["electron", "electron-reload"],
+  define: {
+    ...(process.env.NODE_ENV != null
+      ? {
+          "process.env.NODE_ENV": JSON.stringify(process.env.NODE_ENV),
+        }
+      : null),
+  },
+  logLevel: "info",
+})
+  .then((buildResultOrContext) => watch && buildResultOrContext.watch())
+  .catch(() => process.exit(1));