diff --git a/build/gulpfile.extensions.js b/build/gulpfile.extensions.js
index 3ec638c2f22..acc7d90bfb7 100644
--- a/build/gulpfile.extensions.js
+++ b/build/gulpfile.extensions.js
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ const sourcemaps = require('gulp-sourcemaps');
 const nlsDev = require('vscode-nls-dev');
 const root = path.dirname(__dirname);
 const commit = util.getVersion(root);
-const i18n = require('./lib/i18n');
 const plumber = require('gulp-plumber');
 
 const extensionsPath = path.join(path.dirname(__dirname), 'extensions');
@@ -32,8 +31,6 @@ const compilations = glob.sync('**/tsconfig.json', {
 
 const getBaseUrl = out => `https://ticino.blob.core.windows.net/sourcemaps/${commit}/${out}`;
 
-const languages = i18n.defaultLanguages.concat(process.env.VSCODE_QUALITY !== 'stable' ? i18n.extraLanguages : []);
-
 const tasks = compilations.map(function (tsconfigFile) {
 	const absolutePath = path.join(extensionsPath, tsconfigFile);
 	const relativeDirname = path.dirname(tsconfigFile);
@@ -58,7 +55,6 @@ const tasks = compilations.map(function (tsconfigFile) {
 	const srcBase = path.join(root, 'src');
 	const src = path.join(srcBase, '**');
 	const out = path.join(root, 'out');
-	const i18nPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'i18n');
 	const baseUrl = getBaseUrl(out);
 
 	let headerId, headerOut;
@@ -102,9 +98,9 @@ const tasks = compilations.map(function (tsconfigFile) {
 					sourceRoot: '../src'
 				}))
 				.pipe(tsFilter.restore)
-				.pipe(build ? nlsDev.createAdditionalLanguageFiles(languages, i18nPath, out) : es.through())
 				.pipe(build ? nlsDev.bundleMetaDataFiles(headerId, headerOut) : es.through())
-				.pipe(build ? nlsDev.bundleLanguageFiles() : es.through())
+				// Filter out *.nls.json file. We needed them only to bundle meta data file.
+				.pipe(filter(['**', '!**/*.nls.json']))
 				.pipe(reporter.end(emitError));
 
 			return es.duplex(input, output);
diff --git a/build/gulpfile.vscode.js b/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
index 30a1563d7b9..47f243676b5 100644
--- a/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
+++ b/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
@@ -17,14 +17,12 @@ const vfs = require('vinyl-fs');
 const rename = require('gulp-rename');
 const replace = require('gulp-replace');
 const filter = require('gulp-filter');
-const buffer = require('gulp-buffer');
 const json = require('gulp-json-editor');
 const _ = require('underscore');
 const util = require('./lib/util');
 const ext = require('./lib/extensions');
 const buildfile = require('../src/buildfile');
 const common = require('./lib/optimize');
-const nlsDev = require('vscode-nls-dev');
 const root = path.dirname(__dirname);
 const commit = util.getVersion(root);
 // @ts-ignore Microsoft/TypeScript#21262 complains about a require of a JSON file
@@ -98,8 +96,6 @@ const BUNDLED_FILE_HEADER = [
 	' *--------------------------------------------------------*/'
 ].join('\n');
 
-const languages = i18n.defaultLanguages.concat([]);  // i18n.defaultLanguages.concat(process.env.VSCODE_QUALITY !== 'stable' ? i18n.extraLanguages : []);
-
 gulp.task('clean-optimized-vscode', util.rimraf('out-vscode'));
 gulp.task('optimize-vscode', ['clean-optimized-vscode', 'compile-build', 'compile-extensions-build'], common.optimizeTask({
 	entryPoints: vscodeEntryPoints,
@@ -108,7 +104,6 @@ gulp.task('optimize-vscode', ['clean-optimized-vscode', 'compile-build', 'compil
 	loaderConfig: common.loaderConfig(nodeModules),
 	header: BUNDLED_FILE_HEADER,
 	out: 'out-vscode',
-	languages: languages,
 	bundleInfo: undefined
 }));
 
@@ -244,15 +239,8 @@ function packageTask(platform, arch, opts) {
 			.filter(({ name }) => builtInExtensions.every(b => b.name !== name));
 
 		const localExtensions = es.merge(...localExtensionDescriptions.map(extension => {
-			const nlsFilter = filter('**/*.nls.json', { restore: true });
-
 			return ext.fromLocal(extension.path)
-				.pipe(rename(p => p.dirname = `extensions/${extension.name}/${p.dirname}`))
-				// 	// TODO@Dirk: this filter / buffer is here to make sure the nls.json files are buffered
-				.pipe(nlsFilter)
-				.pipe(buffer())
-				.pipe(nlsDev.createAdditionalLanguageFiles(languages, path.join(__dirname, '..', 'i18n')))
-				.pipe(nlsFilter.restore);
+				.pipe(rename(p => p.dirname = `extensions/${extension.name}/${p.dirname}`));
 		}));
 
 		const localExtensionDependencies = gulp.src('extensions/node_modules/**', { base: '.' });
diff --git a/build/lib/optimize.js b/build/lib/optimize.js
index 2693d9f519a..3599086a4b4 100644
--- a/build/lib/optimize.js
+++ b/build/lib/optimize.js
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ var concat = require("gulp-concat");
 var VinylFile = require("vinyl");
 var bundle = require("./bundle");
 var util = require("./util");
-var i18n = require("./i18n");
 var gulpUtil = require("gulp-util");
 var flatmap = require("gulp-flatmap");
 var pump = require("pump");
@@ -163,10 +162,6 @@ function optimizeTask(opts) {
             sourceRoot: null,
             addComment: true,
             includeContent: true
-        }))
-            .pipe(i18n.processNlsFiles({
-            fileHeader: bundledFileHeader,
-            languages: opts.languages
         }))
             .pipe(gulp.dest(out));
     };
diff --git a/build/lib/optimize.ts b/build/lib/optimize.ts
index b5636ffb8ef..7c5f15309c3 100644
--- a/build/lib/optimize.ts
+++ b/build/lib/optimize.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import * as concat from 'gulp-concat';
 import * as VinylFile from 'vinyl';
 import * as bundle from './bundle';
 import * as util from './util';
-import * as i18n from './i18n';
 import * as gulpUtil from 'gulp-util';
 import * as flatmap from 'gulp-flatmap';
 import * as pump from 'pump';
@@ -160,11 +159,8 @@ export interface IOptimizeTaskOpts {
 	 * (out folder name)
 	 */
 	out: string;
-	/**
-	 * (languages to process)
-	 */
-	languages: i18n.Language[];
 }
+
 export function optimizeTask(opts: IOptimizeTaskOpts): () => NodeJS.ReadWriteStream {
 	const entryPoints = opts.entryPoints;
 	const otherSources = opts.otherSources;
@@ -233,10 +229,6 @@ export function optimizeTask(opts: IOptimizeTaskOpts): () => NodeJS.ReadWriteStr
 				addComment: true,
 				includeContent: true
 			}))
-			.pipe(i18n.processNlsFiles({
-				fileHeader: bundledFileHeader,
-				languages: opts.languages
-			}))
 			.pipe(gulp.dest(out));
 	};
 }