diff --git a/lifecycleScripts/postinstall.js b/lifecycleScripts/postinstall.js
index a2af2089c..91e7c2a3c 100755
--- a/lifecycleScripts/postinstall.js
+++ b/lifecycleScripts/postinstall.js
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ module.exports = function install() {
     // cleaning up
     return Promise.resolve();
   }
+  if (buildFlags.isElectron || buildFlags.isNWjs) {
+    // If we're building for electron or NWjs, we're unable to require the
+    // built library so we have to just assume success, unfortunately.
+    return Promise.resolve();
+  }
 
   return exec("node " + path.join(rootPath, "dist/nodegit.js"))
     .catch(function(e) {
diff --git a/utils/buildFlags.js b/utils/buildFlags.js
index 7b41cae83..3c3d9d9b2 100644
--- a/utils/buildFlags.js
+++ b/utils/buildFlags.js
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ try {
 }
 
 module.exports = {
-  debugBuild: process.env.BUILD_DEBUG,
+  debugBuild: !!process.env.BUILD_DEBUG,
+  isElectron: process.env.npm_config_runtime === "electron",
   isGitRepo: isGitRepo,
-  mustBuild: isGitRepo || process.env.BUILD_DEBUG || process.env.BUILD_ONLY,
+  isNwjs: process.env.npm_config_runtime === "node-webkit",
+  mustBuild: !!(isGitRepo || process.env.BUILD_DEBUG || process.env.BUILD_ONLY)
 };