diff --git a/compose/production/django/start b/compose/production/django/start
index f0ba5e171..35e86b0dd 100644
--- a/compose/production/django/start
+++ b/compose/production/django/start
@@ -7,5 +7,4 @@ set -o nounset
 npm run build
 python /app/manage.py collectstatic --noinput
 cd /app
-DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE= django-admin compilemessages
 /usr/local/bin/gunicorn config.wsgi --bind 0.0.0.0:5000 --chdir=/app --access-logfile - -w 5
diff --git a/fabfile.py b/fabfile.py
index 265c0fa82..3d5a1ec23 100644
--- a/fabfile.py
+++ b/fabfile.py
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@ def run(c):
     npm_install(c)
     background_exec("npm run watch", "assets")
     django_exec("pip install -r requirements/local.txt -U")
-    django_exec("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE= django-admin compilemessages")
     django_exec("python manage.py migrate")
     collectstatic(c)
     # Piping Marklogic logs to marklogic.log