diff --git a/desktop/flipper-ui-browser/src/initializeRenderHost.tsx b/desktop/flipper-ui-browser/src/initializeRenderHost.tsx
index b6a50d014..c15f87505 100644
--- a/desktop/flipper-ui-browser/src/initializeRenderHost.tsx
+++ b/desktop/flipper-ui-browser/src/initializeRenderHost.tsx
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
  * @format
  */
 
-import {FlipperServer, FlipperServerConfig} from 'flipper-common';
-import {RenderHost} from 'flipper-ui-core';
+import {FlipperServer, FlipperServerConfig, isProduction} from 'flipper-common';
+import type {RenderHost} from 'flipper-ui-core';
 
 export function initializeRenderHost(
   flipperServer: FlipperServer,
@@ -79,6 +79,12 @@ export function initializeRenderHost(
       // the 'static' folder is mounted as static middleware in Express at the root
       return '/' + path;
     },
+    getLocalIconUrl(icon, url) {
+      if (isProduction()) {
+        return `icons/${icon.name}-${icon.variant}-${icon.size}@${icon.density}x.png`;
+      }
+      return url;
+    },
   } as RenderHost;
 }
 
diff --git a/desktop/scripts/build-flipper-server-release.ts b/desktop/scripts/build-flipper-server-release.ts
index 34c165523..7b86c8484 100644
--- a/desktop/scripts/build-flipper-server-release.ts
+++ b/desktop/scripts/build-flipper-server-release.ts
@@ -24,9 +24,7 @@ import {
 import isFB from './isFB';
 import yargs from 'yargs';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
-import copyPackageWithDependencies, {
-  copyPackageWithDependenciesRecursive,
-} from './copy-package-with-dependencies';
+import {downloadIcons} from './build-icons';
 
 const argv = yargs
   .usage('yarn build-flipper-server [args]')
@@ -115,6 +113,7 @@ if (argv['enabled-plugins'] !== undefined) {
   await compileServerMain(false);
   await buildBrowserBundle(false);
   await copyStaticResources();
+  await downloadIcons(serverStaticDir);
 
   if (argv.open) {
     await launchServer(false, true);
diff --git a/desktop/scripts/build-icons.ts b/desktop/scripts/build-icons.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a2e1573f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/scripts/build-icons.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ */
+
+import path from 'path';
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import fetch from '@adobe/node-fetch-retry';
+// eslint-disable-next-line node/no-extraneous-import
+import type {Icon} from 'flipper-ui-core';
+
+export type Icons = {
+  [key: string]: Icon['size'][];
+};
+
+// Takes a string like 'star', or 'star-outline', and converts it to
+// {trimmedName: 'star', variant: 'filled'} or {trimmedName: 'star', variant: 'outline'}
+function getIconPartsFromName(icon: string): {
+  trimmedName: string;
+  variant: 'outline' | 'filled';
+} {
+  const isOutlineVersion = icon.endsWith('-outline');
+  const trimmedName = isOutlineVersion ? icon.replace('-outline', '') : icon;
+  const variant = isOutlineVersion ? 'outline' : 'filled';
+  return {trimmedName: trimmedName, variant: variant};
+}
+
+export async function downloadIcons(buildFolder: string) {
+  const icons: Icons = JSON.parse(
+    await fs.promises.readFile(path.join(buildFolder, 'icons.json'), {
+      encoding: 'utf8',
+    }),
+  );
+  const iconURLs = Object.entries(icons).reduce<Icon[]>(
+    (acc, [entryName, sizes]) => {
+      const {trimmedName: name, variant} = getIconPartsFromName(entryName);
+      acc.push(
+        // get icons in @1x and @2x
+        ...sizes.map((size) => ({name, variant, size, density: 1})),
+        ...sizes.map((size) => ({name, variant, size, density: 2})),
+      );
+      return acc;
+    },
+    [],
+  );
+
+  return Promise.all(
+    iconURLs.map((icon) => {
+      const url = getPublicIconUrl(icon);
+      return fetch(url, {
+        retryOptions: {
+          // Be default, only 5xx are retried but we're getting the odd 404
+          // which goes away on a retry for some reason.
+          retryOnHttpResponse: (res) => res.status >= 400,
+        },
+      })
+        .then((res) => {
+          if (res.status !== 200) {
+            throw new Error(
+              // eslint-disable-next-line prettier/prettier
+              `Could not download the icon ${icon} from ${url}: got status ${res.status}`,
+            );
+          }
+          return res;
+        })
+        .then(
+          (res) =>
+            new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+              const fileStream = fs.createWriteStream(
+                path.join(buildFolder, buildLocalIconPath(icon)),
+              );
+              res.body.pipe(fileStream);
+              res.body.on('error', reject);
+              fileStream.on('finish', resolve);
+            }),
+        );
+    }),
+  );
+}
+
+// should match flipper-ui-core/src/utils/icons.tsx
+export function getPublicIconUrl({name, variant, size, density}: Icon) {
+  return `https://facebook.com/assets/?name=${name}&variant=${variant}&size=${size}&set=facebook_icons&density=${density}x`;
+}
+
+// should match app/src/utils/icons.tsx
+function buildLocalIconPath(icon: Icon) {
+  return path.join(
+    'icons',
+    `${icon.name}-${icon.variant}-${icon.size}@${icon.density}x.png`,
+  );
+}
diff --git a/desktop/scripts/build-release.ts b/desktop/scripts/build-release.ts
index 5a163cc22..c532bae71 100755
--- a/desktop/scripts/build-release.ts
+++ b/desktop/scripts/build-release.ts
@@ -28,14 +28,12 @@ import {
   prepareDefaultPlugins,
   moveSourceMaps,
 } from './build-utils';
-import fetch from '@adobe/node-fetch-retry';
 import isFB from './isFB';
 import copyPackageWithDependencies from './copy-package-with-dependencies';
-import {staticDir, distDir, defaultPluginsDir} from './paths';
+import {staticDir, distDir} from './paths';
 import yargs from 'yargs';
 import {WinPackager} from 'app-builder-lib/out/winPackager';
-// eslint-disable-next-line node/no-extraneous-import
-import type {Icon} from 'flipper-ui-core';
+import {downloadIcons} from './build-icons';
 
 // Used in some places to avoid release-to-release changes. Needs
 // to be this high for some MacOS-specific things that I can't
@@ -307,71 +305,6 @@ async function copyStaticFolder(buildFolder: string) {
   console.log('✅  Copied static package with dependencies.');
 }
 
-// Takes a string like 'star', or 'star-outline', and converts it to
-// {trimmedName: 'star', variant: 'filled'} or {trimmedName: 'star', variant: 'outline'}
-function getIconPartsFromName(icon: string): {
-  trimmedName: string;
-  variant: 'outline' | 'filled';
-} {
-  const isOutlineVersion = icon.endsWith('-outline');
-  const trimmedName = isOutlineVersion ? icon.replace('-outline', '') : icon;
-  const variant = isOutlineVersion ? 'outline' : 'filled';
-  return {trimmedName: trimmedName, variant: variant};
-}
-
-async function downloadIcons(buildFolder: string) {
-  const icons: Icons = JSON.parse(
-    await fs.promises.readFile(path.join(buildFolder, 'icons.json'), {
-      encoding: 'utf8',
-    }),
-  );
-  const iconURLs = Object.entries(icons).reduce<Icon[]>(
-    (acc, [entryName, sizes]) => {
-      const {trimmedName: name, variant} = getIconPartsFromName(entryName);
-      acc.push(
-        // get icons in @1x and @2x
-        ...sizes.map((size) => ({name, variant, size, density: 1})),
-        ...sizes.map((size) => ({name, variant, size, density: 2})),
-      );
-      return acc;
-    },
-    [],
-  );
-
-  return Promise.all(
-    iconURLs.map((icon) => {
-      const url = getPublicIconUrl(icon);
-      return fetch(url, {
-        retryOptions: {
-          // Be default, only 5xx are retried but we're getting the odd 404
-          // which goes away on a retry for some reason.
-          retryOnHttpResponse: (res) => res.status >= 400,
-        },
-      })
-        .then((res) => {
-          if (res.status !== 200) {
-            throw new Error(
-              // eslint-disable-next-line prettier/prettier
-              `Could not download the icon ${icon} from ${url}: got status ${res.status}`,
-            );
-          }
-          return res;
-        })
-        .then(
-          (res) =>
-            new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-              const fileStream = fs.createWriteStream(
-                path.join(buildFolder, buildLocalIconPath(icon)),
-              );
-              res.body.pipe(fileStream);
-              res.body.on('error', reject);
-              fileStream.on('finish', resolve);
-            }),
-        );
-    }),
-  );
-}
-
 (async () => {
   const dir = await buildFolder();
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
@@ -393,20 +326,3 @@ async function downloadIcons(buildFolder: string) {
   console.log('✨  Done');
   process.exit();
 })();
-
-export type Icons = {
-  [key: string]: Icon['size'][];
-};
-
-// should match flipper-ui-core/src/utils/icons.tsx
-export function getPublicIconUrl({name, variant, size, density}: Icon) {
-  return `https://facebook.com/assets/?name=${name}&variant=${variant}&size=${size}&set=facebook_icons&density=${density}x`;
-}
-
-// should match app/src/utils/icons.tsx
-function buildLocalIconPath(icon: Icon) {
-  return path.join(
-    'icons',
-    `${icon.name}-${icon.variant}-${icon.size}@${icon.density}x.png`,
-  );
-}