diff --git a/client/configuration/webpack/webpack.config.dev.js b/client/configuration/webpack/webpack.config.dev.js
index 37dfac21..00fe1154 100644
--- a/client/configuration/webpack/webpack.config.dev.js
+++ b/client/configuration/webpack/webpack.config.dev.js
@@ -22,10 +22,6 @@ module.exports = {
     filename: "static/js/bundle.js",
     publicPath: "/"
   },
-  resolve: {
-    extensions: [".js", ".json"],
-    modules: ["node_modules"]
-  },
   module: {
     rules: [
       {
@@ -80,18 +76,6 @@ module.exports = {
       template: path.resolve("index.html"),
       favicon: path.resolve("favicon.png")
     }),
-    new webpack.LoaderOptionsPlugin({
-      options: {
-        eslint: {
-          configFile: path.resolve("./configuration/eslint/eslint.js"),
-          useEslintrc: false
-        },
-        postcss() {
-          return [autoprefixer];
-        }
-      }
-    }),
-    new webpack.DefinePlugin({ "process.env.NODE_ENV": '"development"' }),
     // Note: only CSS is currently hot reloaded
     new webpack.HotModuleReplacementPlugin(),
     new webpack.NoEmitOnErrorsPlugin()
diff --git a/client/configuration/webpack/webpack.config.prod.js b/client/configuration/webpack/webpack.config.prod.js
index c9714461..7012c139 100644
--- a/client/configuration/webpack/webpack.config.prod.js
+++ b/client/configuration/webpack/webpack.config.prod.js
@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@ const webpack = require("webpack");
 const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require("html-webpack-plugin");
 const MiniCssExtractPlugin = require("mini-css-extract-plugin");
 const SWPrecacheWebpackPlugin = require("sw-precache-webpack-plugin");
-const CopyWebpackPlugin = require("copy-webpack-plugin");
 const HtmlWebpackInlineSourcePlugin = require("html-webpack-inline-source-plugin");
-const MinifyPlugin = require("babel-minify-webpack-plugin");
 
 const src = path.resolve("src");
 const nodeModules = path.resolve("node_modules");
@@ -17,23 +15,22 @@ const publicPath = "/";
 module.exports = {
   mode: "production",
   bail: true,
-  // TODO: causes a js error, need to update to whatever webpack4 wants
-  // devtool: "cheap-source-map",
+  cache: false,
+  devtool: "cheap-source-map",
+  // XXX todo: why are we using our own polyfill and not babel-polyfill?
   entry: [require.resolve("../polyfills/polyfills"), path.join(src, "index")],
   output: {
     path: path.resolve("build"),
     filename: "static/js/[name].[chunkhash:8].js",
-    chunkFilename: "static/js/[name].[chunkhash:8].chunk.js",
+    // chunkFilename: "static/js/[name].[chunkhash:8].chunk.js",
     publicPath
   },
-  resolve: { extensions: [".js", ".json"] },
   module: {
     rules: [
       {
         test: /\.js$/,
         include: src,
         loader: "babel-loader",
-        // query: require("../babel/babel.prod")
         options: require("../babel/babel.prod")
       },
       {
@@ -102,20 +99,6 @@ module.exports = {
       }
     }),
     new HtmlWebpackInlineSourcePlugin(),
-    new webpack.LoaderOptionsPlugin({
-      options: {
-        eslint: {
-          configFile: path.resolve("./configuration/eslint/eslint.js"),
-          useEslintrc: false
-        },
-        postcss() {
-          return [autoprefixer];
-        }
-      }
-    }),
-    new webpack.DefinePlugin({ "process.env.NODE_ENV": '"production"' }),
-    new webpack.optimize.OccurrenceOrderPlugin(),
-    new MinifyPlugin(),
     new MiniCssExtractPlugin({
       filename: "static/css/[name].[contenthash:8].css"
     }),
diff --git a/client/package.json b/client/package.json
index bfb06dd7..e5e1687e 100644
--- a/client/package.json
+++ b/client/package.json
@@ -2,11 +2,14 @@
   "name": "cellxgene",
   "version": "0.0.1",
   "license": "MIT",
-  "description": "cellxgene is a web application for the interactive exploration of single cell sequence data.",
+  "description":
+    "cellxgene is a web application for the interactive exploration of single cell sequence data.",
   "repository": "https://github.com/chanzuckerberg/cellxgene",
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "npm run clean && webpack --config configuration/webpack/webpack.config.prod.js",
-    "dev": "npm run clean && webpack --config configuration/webpack/webpack.config.dev.js",
+    "build":
+      "npm run clean && webpack --config configuration/webpack/webpack.config.prod.js",
+    "dev":
+      "npm run clean && webpack --config configuration/webpack/webpack.config.dev.js",
     "clean": "rimraf build",
     "start": "node server/development.js",
     "lint": "eslint src",
@@ -57,7 +60,6 @@
     "babel-core": "^6.13.2",
     "babel-eslint": "^8.2.6",
     "babel-loader": "^7.1.2",
-    "babel-minify-webpack-plugin": "^0.3.1",
     "babel-plugin-istanbul": "^3.1.2",
     "babel-plugin-transform-decorators-legacy": "^1.3.4",
     "babel-plugin-transform-react-constant-elements": "^6.9.1",
@@ -83,7 +85,7 @@
     "file-loader": "^1.1.11",
     "html-webpack-inline-source-plugin": "0.0.10",
     "html-webpack-plugin": "^3.2.0",
-    "jest": "^23.4.1",
+    "jest": "^23.5.0",
     "json-loader": "^0.5.4",
     "mini-css-extract-plugin": "^0.4.1",
     "nyc": "^13.0.1",
@@ -101,9 +103,7 @@
     "webpack-hot-middleware": "^2.22.3"
   },
   "jest": {
-    "testMatch": [
-      "**/__tests__/**/?(*.)(spec|test).js?(x)"
-    ],
+    "testMatch": ["**/__tests__/**/?(*.)(spec|test).js?(x)"],
     "testURL": "http://localhost/"
   }
 }
diff --git a/configuration/webpack/postcss.config.js b/configuration/webpack/postcss.config.js
deleted file mode 100644
index f053ebf7..00000000
--- a/configuration/webpack/postcss.config.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-module.exports = {};