diff --git a/packit.yaml b/packit.yaml
index b5cdb0f..33ec1ab 100644
--- a/packit.yaml
+++ b/packit.yaml
@@ -5,10 +5,15 @@
 specfile_path: cockpit-starter-kit.spec
 actions:
   post-upstream-clone: make cockpit-starter-kit.spec
-  # reduce memory consumption of webpack in sandcastle container
+  # build in development mode; production mode uses too much memory for limited
+  # sandcastle containers; also reduce memory consumption of webpack
   # https://github.com/packit/sandcastle/pull/92
   # https://medium.com/the-node-js-collection/node-js-memory-management-in-container-environments-7eb8409a74e8
-  create-archive: make NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=500 dist-gzip
+  create-archive:
+    - make NODE_ENV=development NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=500
+    # dummy LICENSE.txt, as terser did not run
+    - touch dist/index.js.LICENSE.txt
+    - make dist-gzip
   # starter-kit.git has no release tags; your project can drop this once you have a release
   get-current-version: make print-version
 jobs: