diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 9656b8609c..9784838523 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@
 /frontend_tests export-ignore
 /node_modules export-ignore
 /humbug export-ignore
+/locale export-ignore
diff --git a/README.dev.md b/README.dev.md
index 5965fdc533..3a372b0253 100644
--- a/README.dev.md
+++ b/README.dev.md
@@ -341,6 +341,7 @@ if [ $(uname) = "OpenBSD" ]; then sudo cp ./puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/zulip_
 ./tools/do-destroy-rebuild-database
 ./tools/postgres-init-test-db
 ./tools/do-destroy-rebuild-test-database
+./manage.py compilemessages
 npm install
 ```
 
diff --git a/provision.py b/provision.py
index 118a17d810..4666735000 100644
--- a/provision.py
+++ b/provision.py
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ def main():
     run(["tools/do-destroy-rebuild-database"])
     run(["tools/postgres-init-test-db"])
     run(["tools/do-destroy-rebuild-test-database"])
+    run(["python", "./manage.py", "compilemessages"])
     # Install the latest npm.
     run(["sudo", "npm", "install", "-g", "npm"])
     # Run npm install last because it can be flaky, and that way one
diff --git a/tools/build-release-tarball b/tools/build-release-tarball
index c1877afd2f..695c5f1f56 100755
--- a/tools/build-release-tarball
+++ b/tools/build-release-tarball
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ find prod-static/serve/third/gemoji/images/emoji/ -regex '.*\.[0-9a-f]+\.png' -d
 
 cd "$TMPDIR"
 
-tar --append -f "$TARBALL" "$prefix/prod-static" "$prefix/build_id" "$prefix/version"
+tar --append -f "$TARBALL" "$prefix/prod-static" "$prefix/build_id" "$prefix/version" "$prefix/locale"
 
 rm -rf "$prefix"
 
diff --git a/tools/update-prod-static b/tools/update-prod-static
index 0e990db901..3e71a94c00 100755
--- a/tools/update-prod-static
+++ b/tools/update-prod-static
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ subprocess.check_call(['bash', '-ex', 'tools/download-zxcvbn'],
 subprocess.check_call(['python', './manage.py', 'collectstatic', '--noinput'],
                       stdout=fp, stderr=fp)
 
+# Compile translation strings to generate `.mo` files.
+subprocess.check_call(['python', './manage.py', 'compilemessages'],
+                      stdout=fp, stderr=fp)
+
 # Move the source maps out of the serve/ directory and into their
 # proper place.
 subprocess.check_call(['rm', '-rf', 'prod-static/source-map'],