diff --git a/packages/webpack/bin/watch.sh b/packages/webpack/bin/watch.sh
index 8eedaf4b405..6417183b9f2 100755
--- a/packages/webpack/bin/watch.sh
+++ b/packages/webpack/bin/watch.sh
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ THEME="${MODULE_HOME}"/client
 
 rm -rf "$KUI_BUILDDIR"/dist/webpack/*
 
+# make sure we prime the prescan, even if we cannot fully generate it,
+# yet
+npx kui-prescan
+
 if [ -n "$OPEN" ]; then
     OPEN="--open"
 else