diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-coverage.yml b/.github/workflows/check-coverage.yml
index 89324d9a..32e0ab58 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-coverage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-coverage.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip install --upgrade build
         pip install .[versioning]
         doit version
+        pip install .[localize]
+        doit localize
         pip install .
         python -m build
         pip install .[test]
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-mo-freshness.yml b/.github/workflows/check-mo-freshness.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 53d46ebb..00000000
--- a/.github/workflows/check-mo-freshness.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-name: Check .mo bundles are up to date
-
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-  pull_request:
-    branches:
-      - development
-      - main
-    paths:
-      - 'tabcmd/locales/**/*.properties'
-      - 'tabcmd/locales/**/*.mo'
-      - 'bin/i18n/**'
-      - 'dodo.py'
-      - '.github/workflows/check-mo-freshness.yml'
-
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-
-jobs:
-  check-mo-freshness:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-
-    steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v7
-
-    - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v7
-      with:
-        python-version: '3.12'
-
-    - name: Install localization deps
-      run: |
-        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-        pip install .[localize]
-
-    - name: Regenerate .po and .mo bundles
-      run: python -m doit localize
-
-    - name: Verify regenerated files match what is committed
-      id: verify
-      run: |
-        # .po files are globally gitignored, so only check .mo drift.
-        if ! git diff --exit-code -- 'tabcmd/locales/**/*.mo'; then
-          echo ""
-          echo "The committed .mo files are out of date with the .properties sources."
-          echo "Run 'python -m doit localize' locally and commit the regenerated files."
-          echo "The freshly-generated files are attached as a workflow artifact."
-          exit 1
-        fi
-
-    # If the verify step failed the regenerated files are still on disk. Uploading
-    # them makes it easy to download from the failed CI run and commit them.
-    - name: Upload regenerated .mo files on failure
-      if: failure()
-      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-      with:
-        name: regenerated-mo-files
-        path: tabcmd/locales/**/*.mo
diff --git a/.github/workflows/generate-metadata.yml b/.github/workflows/generate-metadata.yml
index 9372e807..4f255d8e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/generate-metadata.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/generate-metadata.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip install --upgrade build
         pip install .[versioning]
         doit version
+        pip install .[localize]
+        doit localize
         pip install .
         python -m build
         pip install .[test]
diff --git a/.github/workflows/package.yml b/.github/workflows/package.yml
index 9413ed6a..03347932 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/package.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/package.yml
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip install --upgrade build
         pip install .[versioning]
         doit version
+        pip install .[localize]
+        doit localize
         pip install .
         python -m build
         pip install .[package]
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yml
index ced79a7e..d99d7d24 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ jobs:
           python -m pip install --upgrade build
           pip install .[versioning]
           doit version
+          pip install .[localize]
+          doit localize
           pip install .
           python -m build
           
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-e2-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run-e2-tests.yml
index 3c2acffb..77b70eb4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-e2-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-e2-tests.yml
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip install --upgrade build
         pip install .[versioning]
         doit version
+        pip install .[localize]
+        doit localize
         pip install .
         python -m build
         pip install .[test]
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
index dbebaffe..f0a3e61e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip install --upgrade build
         pip install .[versioning]
         doit version
+        pip install .[localize]
+        doit localize
         pip install .
         python -m build
         pip install .[test]
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3e094da4..5f50f77f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ test-output/
 # localization intermediate files
 *.po
 tabcmd/locales/**/combined.tmp
+tabcmd/locales/**/*.mo
 tabcmd/locales/codestrings.tmp
 
 # venv
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..22c8979a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# .mo bundles are generated by 'doit localize', not committed; the sdist must still carry them
+recursive-include tabcmd/locales *.mo
diff --git a/bin/i18n/README.md b/bin/i18n/README.md
index 21e25eac..223692cf 100644
--- a/bin/i18n/README.md
+++ b/bin/i18n/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ Missing string keys are validated on every PR by `.github/workflows/check-string
 
 ## Regenerating .mo bundles
 
+The .mo files are generated and are not committed. CI and packaging run `doit localize` before building. Run it locally after changing a .properties file or before running tabcmd from a checkout.
+
 Run these when properties files change. Each step is idempotent and will overwrite the existing output. More details about implementation are in the script code at `dodo.py`.
 
 Or run the full pipeline in one command:
diff --git a/contributing.md b/contributing.md
index c67179c4..0e865e67 100644
--- a/contributing.md
+++ b/contributing.md
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ We have three levels of testing.
 Strings should be added/edited in /tabcmd/locales/en/{name}.properties by id and referred to in code as 
 > string = _("string.id")
 
-- regenerate updated strings for packaging as exe
+- regenerate the (uncommitted) .mo bundles to see new strings locally; CI and packaging do this themselves
 > python -m doit properties po mo
 
 
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/de/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/de/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 1e8df067..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/de/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/en/LC_MESSAGES/.gitkeep b/tabcmd/locales/en/LC_MESSAGES/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/en/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/en/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index bbfac751..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/en/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/es/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/es/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index f0ec3524..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/es/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/fr/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/fr/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index ebd31ac0..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/fr/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/ga/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/ga/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index d6eb5def..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/ga/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/it/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/it/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 1443fa34..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/it/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/ja/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/ja/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e000352..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/ja/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/ko/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/ko/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 2a7894f0..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/ko/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/pt/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/pt/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 80804419..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/pt/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/sv/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/sv/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index a8f6cf78..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/sv/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tabcmd/locales/zh/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo b/tabcmd/locales/zh/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index ff3767c3..00000000
Binary files a/tabcmd/locales/zh/LC_MESSAGES/tabcmd.mo and /dev/null differ