diff --git a/packages/collabra/package.json b/packages/collabra/package.json
index b5430471d2f4532355039d3160bf2643bb71bf6a..f98effb7466020c326965d56ef4d257f5fa64a4a 100644
--- a/packages/collabra/package.json
+++ b/packages/collabra/package.json
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
     "string-replace-loader": "^1.3.0",
     "style-loader": "^0.18.2",
     "webpack": "^3.5.5",
-    "webpack-dev-middleware": "^1.11.0",
+    "webpack-dev-middleware": "^1.12.0",
     "webpack-hot-middleware": "^2.18.1"
   },
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/packages/collabra/webpack/webpack.dev.config.js b/packages/collabra/webpack/webpack.dev.config.js
index ad742e2f2b0596bf94a5168bbfbb593f3f0e3fec..355182ad459f1401d65fb17804e5f07e95975f49 100644
--- a/packages/collabra/webpack/webpack.dev.config.js
+++ b/packages/collabra/webpack/webpack.dev.config.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ module.exports = [
       rules
     },
     resolve: {
-      // symlinks: false,
+      symlinks: false, // needed so that babel doesn't look for plugins in components
       modules: [
         path.resolve(__dirname, '..'), // needed for resolving app/routes
         path.resolve(__dirname, '../node_modules'),
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ module.exports = [
       extensions: ['.js', '.jsx'],
     },
     plugins: [
-      new webpack.HotModuleReplacementPlugin(),
+      // new webpack.HotModuleReplacementPlugin(),
       new webpack.NoEmitOnErrorsPlugin(),
       new webpack.DefinePlugin({
         'process.env.NODE_ENV': JSON.stringify('dev'),