diff --git a/Gruntfile.js b/Gruntfile.js
index 5d6da39f6..a7f806ee8 100644
--- a/Gruntfile.js
+++ b/Gruntfile.js
@@ -340,6 +340,13 @@ module.exports = function(grunt) {
             }
         }
     });
+    
+    grunt.registerTask('setDevEnv',
+        'Sets NODE_ENV=development to non-minified assets are used',
+            function () {
+                process.env.NODE_ENV = 'development';
+            });
+
 
     grunt.registerTask('default',
         'Builds editor content then runs code style checks and unit tests on all components',
@@ -363,7 +370,7 @@ module.exports = function(grunt) {
 
     grunt.registerTask('dev',
         'Developer mode: run node-red, watch for source changes and build/restart',
-        ['build','concurrent:dev']);
+        ['build','setDevEnv','concurrent:dev']);
 
     grunt.registerTask('release',
         'Create distribution zip file',
diff --git a/editor/templates/index.mst b/editor/templates/index.mst
index 0f2d58249..f2e445a68 100644
--- a/editor/templates/index.mst
+++ b/editor/templates/index.mst
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@
 <script src="vendor/vendor.js"></script>
 <script src="vendor/ace/ace.js"></script>
 <script src="vendor/ace/ext-language_tools.js"></script>
-<script src="red/red.min.js"></script>
+<script src="{{ asset.red }}"></script>
 
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/red/api/theme.js b/red/api/theme.js
index f2cdee6ec..c89dcf2ef 100644
--- a/red/api/theme.js
+++ b/red/api/theme.js
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ var defaultContext = {
     header: {
         title: "Node-RED",
         image: "red/images/node-red.png"
+    },
+    asset: {
+        red: (process.env.NODE_ENV == "development")? "red/red.js":"red/red.min.js"
     }
 };