diff --git a/selfdrive/assets/.gitignore b/selfdrive/assets/.gitignore
index 283034ca8b..1f90a2a932 100644
--- a/selfdrive/assets/.gitignore
+++ b/selfdrive/assets/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 *.cc
+translations_assets.qrc
diff --git a/selfdrive/assets/assets.qrc b/selfdrive/assets/assets.qrc
index 79a1a1e272..6d8d8df334 100644
--- a/selfdrive/assets/assets.qrc
+++ b/selfdrive/assets/assets.qrc
@@ -14,5 +14,7 @@
   <file>offroad/icon_wifi_strength_medium.svg</file>
   <file>offroad/icon_wifi_strength_high.svg</file>
   <file>offroad/icon_wifi_strength_full.svg</file>
+
+  <file alias="languages.json">../ui/translations/languages.json</file>
 </qresource>
 </RCC>
diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/SConscript b/selfdrive/ui/SConscript
index 3fba7115f3..796f85f1e7 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/SConscript
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/SConscript
@@ -37,11 +37,37 @@ widgets = qt_env.Library("qt_widgets", widgets_src, LIBS=base_libs)
 Export('widgets')
 qt_libs = [widgets, qt_util] + base_libs
 
+qt_src = ["main.cc", "qt/sidebar.cc", "qt/onroad.cc", "qt/body.cc",
+          "qt/window.cc", "qt/home.cc", "qt/offroad/settings.cc",
+          "qt/offroad/software_settings.cc", "qt/offroad/onboarding.cc",
+          "qt/offroad/driverview.cc", "qt/offroad/experimental_mode.cc"]
+
+# build translation files
+with open(File("translations/languages.json").abspath) as f:
+  languages = json.loads(f.read())
+translation_sources = [f"#selfdrive/ui/translations/{l}.ts" for l in languages.values()]
+translation_targets = [src.replace(".ts", ".qm") for src in translation_sources]
+lrelease_bin = 'third_party/qt5/larch64/bin/lrelease' if arch == 'larch64' else 'lrelease'
+
+lupdate = qt_env.Command(translation_sources, qt_src + widgets_src, "selfdrive/ui/update_translations.py")
+lrelease = qt_env.Command(translation_targets, translation_sources, f"{lrelease_bin} $SOURCES")
+qt_env.Depends(lrelease, lupdate)
+qt_env.NoClean(translation_sources)
+qt_env.Precious(translation_sources)
+qt_env.NoCache(lupdate)
+
+# create qrc file for compiled translations to include with assets
+translations_assets_src = "#selfdrive/assets/translations_assets.qrc"
+with open(File(translations_assets_src).abspath, 'w') as f:
+  f.write('<!DOCTYPE RCC><RCC version="1.0">\n<qresource>\n')
+  f.write('\n'.join([f'<file alias="{l}">../ui/translations/{l}.qm</file>' for l in languages.values()]))
+  f.write('\n</qresource>\n</RCC>')
+
 # build assets
 assets = "#selfdrive/assets/assets.cc"
 assets_src = "#selfdrive/assets/assets.qrc"
-qt_env.Command(assets, assets_src, f"rcc $SOURCES -o $TARGET")
-qt_env.Depends(assets, Glob('#selfdrive/assets/*', exclude=[assets, assets_src, "#selfdrive/assets/assets.o"]))
+qt_env.Command(assets, [assets_src, translations_assets_src], f"rcc $SOURCES -o $TARGET")
+qt_env.Depends(assets, Glob('#selfdrive/assets/*', exclude=[assets, assets_src, translations_assets_src, "#selfdrive/assets/assets.o"]) + [lrelease])
 asset_obj = qt_env.Object("assets", assets)
 
 # build soundd
@@ -57,10 +83,6 @@ qt_env.Program("qt/text", ["qt/text.cc"], LIBS=qt_libs)
 qt_env.Program("qt/spinner", ["qt/spinner.cc"], LIBS=qt_libs)
 
 # build main UI
-qt_src = ["main.cc", "qt/sidebar.cc", "qt/onroad.cc", "qt/body.cc",
-          "qt/window.cc", "qt/home.cc", "qt/offroad/settings.cc",
-          "qt/offroad/software_settings.cc", "qt/offroad/onboarding.cc",
-          "qt/offroad/driverview.cc", "qt/offroad/experimental_mode.cc"]
 qt_env.Program("_ui", qt_src + [asset_obj], LIBS=qt_libs)
 if GetOption('extras'):
   qt_src.remove("main.cc")  # replaced by test_runner
@@ -68,21 +90,6 @@ if GetOption('extras'):
   qt_env.Program('tests/ui_snapshot', [asset_obj, "tests/ui_snapshot.cc"] + qt_src, LIBS=qt_libs)
 
 
-# build translation files
-with open(File("translations/languages.json").abspath) as f:
-  languages = json.loads(f.read())
-translation_sources = [f"#selfdrive/ui/translations/{l}.ts" for l in languages.values()]
-translation_targets = [src.replace(".ts", ".qm") for src in translation_sources]
-lrelease_bin = 'third_party/qt5/larch64/bin/lrelease' if arch == 'larch64' else 'lrelease'
-
-lupdate = qt_env.Command(translation_sources, qt_src + widgets_src, "selfdrive/ui/update_translations.py")
-lrelease = qt_env.Command(translation_targets, translation_sources, f"{lrelease_bin} $SOURCES")
-qt_env.Depends(lrelease, lupdate)
-qt_env.NoClean(translation_sources)
-qt_env.Precious(translation_sources)
-qt_env.NoCache(lupdate)
-
-
 if GetOption('extras') and arch != "Darwin":
   # setup and factory resetter
   qt_env.Program("qt/setup/reset", ["qt/setup/reset.cc"], LIBS=qt_libs)
diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/main.cc b/selfdrive/ui/main.cc
index ed54d5aa19..4903a3db3d 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/main.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/main.cc
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
   QTranslator translator;
   QString translation_file = QString::fromStdString(Params().get("LanguageSetting"));
-  if (!translator.load(translation_file, "translations") && translation_file.length()) {
+  if (!translator.load(QString(":/%1").arg(translation_file)) && translation_file.length()) {
     qCritical() << "Failed to load translation file:" << translation_file;
   }
 
diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/qt/util.cc b/selfdrive/ui/qt/util.cc
index 7bd168121a..78da183503 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/qt/util.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/qt/util.cc
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ std::optional<QString> getDongleId() {
 }
 
 QMap<QString, QString> getSupportedLanguages() {
-  QFile f("translations/languages.json");
+  QFile f(":/languages.json");
   f.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly | QIODevice::Text);
   QString val = f.readAll();