diff --git a/src/blenderbim/Makefile b/src/blenderbim/Makefile
index 78a71de230..c69423b7fb 100644
--- a/src/blenderbim/Makefile
+++ b/src/blenderbim/Makefile
@@ -661,6 +661,13 @@ endif
 	# Required for Desktop icon and file association
 	cp -r blenderbim/libs/desktop dist/blenderbim/libs/
 
+	# generate translations module for BBIM build
+	# note that bpy is typically available only for current Blender python version
+	pip install bpy
+	git clone https://github.com/IfcOpenShell/blenderbim-translations.git dist/working
+	python blenderbim/scripts/bbim_translations.py -i "dist/working" -o "dist/blenderbim/translations.py"
+	rm -rf dist/working
+
 	# Remove dependencies also bundled with Blender
 	rm -rf dist/blenderbim/libs/site/packages/numpy
 	rm -rf dist/blenderbim/libs/site/packages/numpy.libs