diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 22815e34..06c33f1c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Chrome Platform Status
     1. pip, node, npm.
     1. Gulp `npm install -g gulp`
 1. Install npm dependencies `npm ci`
-1. Install other dependencies `npm run deps`
+1. Install other dependencies `npm run deps` and `npm run dev-deps`
 
 ##### Add env_vars.yaml
 
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ There are some developing information in developer-documentation.md.
 
 **Notes**
 
+- If you get an error saying `No module named protobuf`, try installing it locally with `python -m pip install protobuf`.
+
 - Locally, the `/feature` list pulls from prod (https://www.chromestatus.com/features.json). Opening one of the features will 404 because the entry is not actually in the local db. If you want to test local entries, go to `http://127.0.0.1:8080/` instead of `localhost` to use local data.
 
 - When installing the GAE SDK, make sure to get the version for python 2.7.  It is no longer the default version.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b1c351f6..77f2f091 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "deps": "pip install -t lib -r requirements.txt --upgrade",
     "travis-deps": "pip install -t lib -r requirements.travis.txt --upgrade",
-    "dev-deps": "pip install -r requirements.dev.txt --upgrade",
+    "dev-deps": "python -m pip install --no-deps -r requirements.dev.txt",
     "test": "python -m unittest discover -p '*_test.py'  -b",
     "coverage": "python -m pip install --no-deps -r requirements.dev.txt && python -m coverage erase && python -m coverage run -m unittest discover -p '*_test.py' -b && python -m coverage html",
     "lint": "gulp lint-fix && lit-analyzer \"static/elements/chromedash-!(featurelist)*.js\"",