diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 57b3e57461..96f81bce74 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
-awx/ui/node_modules
 Dockerfile
 .git
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 40c82375e9..ac6c50dd4b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -381,7 +381,8 @@ clean-ui:
 awx/ui/node_modules:
 	NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=6144 $(NPM_BIN) --prefix awx/ui --loglevel warn ci
 
-$(UI_BUILD_FLAG_FILE): awx/ui/node_modules
+$(UI_BUILD_FLAG_FILE):
+	$(MAKE) awx/ui/node_modules
 	$(PYTHON) tools/scripts/compilemessages.py
 	$(NPM_BIN) --prefix awx/ui --loglevel warn run compile-strings
 	$(NPM_BIN) --prefix awx/ui --loglevel warn run build