diff --git a/barretenberg/bootstrap_cache.sh b/barretenberg/bootstrap_cache.sh
index daa4abfc57a..71e081f77e8 100755
--- a/barretenberg/bootstrap_cache.sh
+++ b/barretenberg/bootstrap_cache.sh
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ extract_repo bb.js \
   /usr/src/barretenberg/cpp/build-wasm-threads/bin ./cpp/build-wasm-threads
 
 echo -e "\033[1mBuilding ESM bb.ts...\033[0m"
-(cd ts && ./bootstrap.sh esm)
+(cd ts && SKIP_CPP_BUILD=1 ./scripts/build_wasm.sh && ./bootstrap.sh esm)