diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1e48c997b8..0e8fb5c60f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -157,10 +157,10 @@ use_dev_supervisor.txt
 *.unison.tmp
 *.#
 /awx/ui/.ui-built
+/awx/ui_next/.ui-built
 /Dockerfile
 /_build/
 /_build_kube_dev/
 /Dockerfile.kube-dev
 
 awx/ui_next/src
-awx/ui_next/build
diff --git a/awx/ui_next/Makefile b/awx/ui_next/Makefile
index 368f8a795e..490dbeaa61 100644
--- a/awx/ui_next/Makefile
+++ b/awx/ui_next/Makefile
@@ -1,12 +1,21 @@
+## UI_NEXT_MKFILE_PATH: Path to this Makefile
 UI_NEXT_MKFILE_PATH := $(abspath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))
-UI_NEXT_MKFILE_DIR := $(dir $(UI_NEXT_MKFILE_PATH))
-UI_NEXT_DIR := $(subst $(CURDIR)/,, $(UI_NEXT_MKFILE_DIR))
 
-# NOTE: UI_NEXT_DIR swallowed the / because we want to be able to run `make src` from the ui_next dir
-UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR := $(UI_NEXT_DIR)src
-UI_NEXT_BUILD_DIR := $(UI_NEXT_DIR)build
+## UI_NEXT_DIR_ABS: Absolute path to the directory containing this Makefile
+UI_NEXT_DIR_ABS := $(dir $(UI_NEXT_MKFILE_PATH))
 
-# Path to your local clone of the UI_NEXT repo
+## UI_NEXT_REL_DIR: Relative path to the directory containing this Makefile
+#  NOTE: UI_NEXT_REL_DIR swallowed the / because we want to be able to run `make src` from the ui_next dir
+UI_NEXT_REL_DIR := $(subst $(CURDIR)/,, $(UI_NEXT_DIR_ABS))
+
+## UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR: Path to the ui_next src directory
+UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR := $(UI_NEXT_REL_DIR)src
+
+## UI_NEXT_BUILD_DIR: Path to the ui_next build directory
+UI_NEXT_BUILD_DIR := $(UI_NEXT_REL_DIR)build
+
+## Path to your local clone of the UI_NEXT repo
+#  NOTE: This does not work with docker-compose development environment
 UI_NEXT_LOCAL ?=
 
 # Git repo and branch to the UI_NEXT repo
@@ -18,14 +27,14 @@ UI_NEXT_GIT_BRANCH ?= main
 # therefore we have to commit the build directory to source control
 # so that make docker-compose will be able to start up uwsgi
 # UI_NEXT_BUILT_FILE is here so that we can use it as the non-phony build target
-UI_NEXT_BUILT_FILE = $(UI_NEXT_DIR).ui-built
+UI_NEXT_BUILT_FILE = $(UI_NEXT_REL_DIR).ui-built
 
 .PHONY: ui_next/clone-https
 ## Shallow clone the ui_next repo via https skip if UI_NEXT_GIT_REPO_HTTPS is undefined
 ui_next/clone-https:
 	@if [ -z "$(UI_NEXT_GIT_REPO_HTTPS)" ]; then \
 		echo "SKIP: ui_next/clone-https. UI_NEXT_GIT_REPO_HTTPS is not set."; \
-	elif [ -d "$(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)" ]; then \
+	elif [ -d $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) ]; then \
 		echo "SKIP: ui_next/clone-https. $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) already exists."; \
 	else \
 		git clone --depth 1 --branch $(UI_NEXT_GIT_BRANCH) $(UI_NEXT_GIT_REPO_HTTPS) $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) || true; \
@@ -36,18 +45,18 @@ ui_next/clone-https:
 ui_next/clone-ssh:
 	@if [ -z "$(UI_NEXT_GIT_REPO_SSH)" ]; then \
 		echo "SKIP: ui_next/clone-ssh. UI_NEXT_GIT_REPO_SSH is not set."; \
-	elif [ -d "$(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)" ]; then \
+	elif [ -d $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) ]; then \
 		echo "SKIP: ui_next/clone-ssh. $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) already exists."; \
 	else \
 		git clone --depth 1 --branch $(UI_NEXT_GIT_BRANCH) $(UI_NEXT_GIT_REPO_SSH) $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) || true; \
 	fi
 
 .PHONY: ui_next/link-local
-## Link to a existing local clone of ui_next repo.
+## Link to a existing local clone of ui_next repo. If method will not be able to build inside docker-compose environment
 ui_next/link-local:
 	@if [ -z "$(UI_NEXT_LOCAL)" ]; then \
 		echo "SKIP: ui_next/link-local. UI_NEXT_LOCAL is not set."; \
-	elif [ -d "$(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)" ]; then \
+	elif [ -d $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) ]; then \
 		echo "SKIP: ui_next/link-local. $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) already exists."; \
 	else \
 		ln -s $(UI_NEXT_LOCAL) $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR); \
@@ -56,30 +65,44 @@ ui_next/link-local:
 .PHONY: ui_next/src
 ## Try to link to a local clone of ui_next repo if it exist otherwise clone via ssh than https.
 ui_next/src:
-	@if [ -d "$(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)" ]; then \
+	@if [ -d $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) ]; then \
 		echo "SKIP: ui_next. $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) already exists."; \
 	else \
 		$(MAKE) ui_next/link-local ui_next/clone-ssh ui_next/clone-https; \
 	fi
 
-## Alias for ui_next, will not run if ui_next already exist
+## Alias for ui_next, will not run if ui_next/src already exist
 $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR):
 	$(MAKE) ui_next/src
 
+$(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)/build:
+	$(MAKE) ui_next/src/build
+
 .PHONY: ui_next/build
 ## Build ui_next from source
-ui_next/src/build: ui_next/src
-	cd $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) && \
-	npm install webpack && \
-	npm run build:awx
+ui_next/src/build: $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)/node_modules/webpack
+	@cd $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) && npm run build:awx
+
+
+## Install webpack if does not exist.
+ui_next/src/node_modules/webpack: $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)
+	@if [ -d $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)/node_modules/webpack ]; then \
+		echo "SKIP: ui_next/src/node_modules/webpack. $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)/node_modules/webpack already exists."; \
+	else \
+		cd $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR) && npm install webpack; \
+	fi
+
+## Alias for ui_next/src/node_modules/webpack. will not run if webpack already exist
+$(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)/node_modules/webpack:
+	$(MAKE) ui_next/src/node_modules/webpack
 
 .PHONY: ui_next/build
 ## Copy ui_next/src/build to ui_next/build
-ui_next/build: ui_next/src/build
-	cp -r $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)/build $(UI_NEXT_BUILD_DIR)
+ui_next/build: $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)/build
+	@cp -r $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)/build $(UI_NEXT_DIR_ABS) &&\
 	touch $(UI_NEXT_BUILT_FILE)
 
-## non PHONY target for ui_next/build. Will not run if build already exist
+## Alias for ui_next/build. Will not run if .ui-built file already exist
 $(UI_NEXT_BUILT_FILE):
 	$(MAKE) ui_next/build
 
@@ -88,8 +111,9 @@ $(UI_NEXT_BUILT_FILE):
 $(UI_NEXT_BUILD_DIR):
 	$(MAKE) ui_next/build
 
-## Alias for ui_next/clean
-$(UI_NEXT_DIR)clean:
+.PHONY: $(UI_NEXT_REL_DIR)clean
+## Alias for ui_next/clean.
+$(UI_NEXT_REL_DIR)clean:
 	rm -rf $(UI_NEXT_SRC_DIR)
 	rm -rf $(UI_NEXT_BUILD_DIR)