diff --git a/ci/build-ui.sh b/ci/build-ui.sh
index 3f9afdd..e450ecd 100644
--- a/ci/build-ui.sh
+++ b/ci/build-ui.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/sh -ex
 
+# https://github.com/npm/cli/issues/3208#issuecomment-1002990902
+# Work around crazy performance issue in npm@7 / npm@8
+mkdir node_modules
+
 npm install --loglevel=silly
 npm run build