diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e9dfa0b1..ffca5cd6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -573,6 +573,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "url 1.7.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "uuid 0.5.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "ws 0.7.9 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "yansi 0.5.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -3557,6 +3558,11 @@ name = "yansi"
 version = "0.3.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "yansi"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+
 [[patch.unused]]
 name = "js-sys"
 version = "0.3.5"
@@ -3953,3 +3959,4 @@ source = "git+http://github.com/tcr/wasm-bindgen?rev=90193ea#90193eab51aee29a558
 "checksum ws 0.7.9 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "329d3e6dd450a9c5c73024e1047f0be7e24121a68484eb0b5368977bee3cf8c3"
 "checksum ws2_32-sys 0.2.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "d59cefebd0c892fa2dd6de581e937301d8552cb44489cdff035c6187cb63fa5e"
 "checksum yansi 0.3.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "a503e4eea629f145a693c8ed1eddba88b3b9de5171c6ebd0e2820cf82d38f934"
+"checksum yansi 0.5.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "9fc79f4a1e39857fc00c3f662cbf2651c771f00e9c15fe2abc341806bd46bd71"
diff --git a/build-tools/src/main.rs b/build-tools/src/main.rs
index 0adef00a..0806efa3 100644
--- a/build-tools/src/main.rs
+++ b/build-tools/src/main.rs
@@ -547,22 +547,6 @@ fn run() -> Result<(), Error> {
                 println!("Database path: edit-server/edit.sqlite3");
             }
 
-            // Build dist folder if it doesn't exist.
-            if !Path::new("edit-frontend/dist/edit.js").exists() {
-                execute!(
-                    r"
-                        {self_path} wasm-build
-                    ",
-                    self_path = SELF_PATH,
-                )?;
-                execute!(
-                    r"
-                        {self_path} frontend-build
-                    ",
-                    self_path = SELF_PATH,
-                )?;
-            }
-
             eprintln!("Starting server...");
 
             let release_flag = if release { Some("--release") } else { None };
@@ -590,22 +574,6 @@ fn run() -> Result<(), Error> {
         Cli::ServerBuild { args } => {
             let release_flag = if release { Some("--release") } else { None };
 
-            // Build dist folder if it doesn't exist.
-            if !Path::new("edit-frontend/dist/edit.js").exists() {
-                execute!(
-                    r"
-                        {self_path} wasm-build
-                    ",
-                    self_path = SELF_PATH,
-                )?;
-                execute!(
-                    r"
-                        {self_path} frontend-build
-                    ",
-                    self_path = SELF_PATH,
-                )?;
-            }
-
             execute!(
                 r"
                     cd edit-server
diff --git a/edit-server/Cargo.toml b/edit-server/Cargo.toml
index 8b36cbc0..86b34e75 100644
--- a/edit-server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/edit-server/Cargo.toml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ take_mut = "0.2.0"
 taken = "0.1.1"
 url = "1.6.0"
 ws = "0.7.3"
+yansi = "0.5"
 
 [dependencies.diesel]
 features = ["sqlite"]
diff --git a/edit-server/src/bin/edit-server.rs b/edit-server/src/bin/edit-server.rs
index 5e15358d..5a9d72d3 100644
--- a/edit-server/src/bin/edit-server.rs
+++ b/edit-server/src/bin/edit-server.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use md5;
 use reqwest;
 use crypto::md5::Md5;
 use crypto::digest::Digest;
+use yansi::Paint;
 
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate serde_json;
@@ -184,6 +185,18 @@ fn run_http_server(port: u16, client_proxy: bool) {
     assert!(template_dir.exists(Path::new("presentation.hbs")));
     assert!(template_dir.exists(Path::new("favicon.png")));
 
+    // Build dist folder if it doesn't exist.
+    if dist_dir.get(Path::new("edit.js")).is_none() {
+        eprintln!("{}", Paint::yellow(r"
+=======================================================
+  WARNING!
+  The file edit-frontend/dist/edit.js does not exist.  
+  You should generate the frontend code by running   
+  `./tools frontend-build` from a terminal window.        
+=======================================================
+"));
+    }
+
     println!(
         "> Server listening for HTTP connections on http://0.0.0.0:{}/",
         port