diff --git a/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/.babelrc b/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/.babelrc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7da72d177912
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/.babelrc
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "presets": ["@kbn/babel-preset/node_preset"]
+}
diff --git a/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/BUILD.bazel b/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/BUILD.bazel
index 9242701770a8..d7744aecac26 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/BUILD.bazel
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 
 load("@npm//@bazel/typescript:index.bzl", "ts_config", "ts_project")
 load("@build_bazel_rules_nodejs//:index.bzl", "js_library", "pkg_npm")
+load("//src/dev/bazel:index.bzl", "jsts_transpiler")
 
 PKG_BASE_NAME = "kbn-plugin-helpers"
 PKG_REQUIRE_NAME = "@kbn/plugin-helpers"
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ NPM_MODULE_EXTRA_FILES = [
   "README.md"
 ]
 
-SRC_DEPS = [
+RUNTIME_DEPS = [
   "//packages/kbn-dev-utils",
   "//packages/kbn-optimizer",
   "//packages/kbn-utils",
@@ -41,6 +42,13 @@ SRC_DEPS = [
 ]
 
 TYPES_DEPS = [
+  "//packages/kbn-dev-utils",
+  "//packages/kbn-optimizer",
+  "//packages/kbn-utils",
+  "@npm//del",
+  "@npm//execa",
+  "@npm//globby",
+  "@npm//load-json-file",
   "@npm//@types/extract-zip",
   "@npm//@types/gulp-zip",
   "@npm//@types/inquirer",
@@ -49,7 +57,11 @@ TYPES_DEPS = [
   "@npm//@types/vinyl-fs",
 ]
 
-DEPS = SRC_DEPS + TYPES_DEPS
+jsts_transpiler(
+  name = "target_node",
+  srcs = SRCS,
+  build_pkg_name = package_name(),
+)
 
 ts_config(
   name = "tsconfig",
@@ -61,13 +73,14 @@ ts_config(
 )
 
 ts_project(
-  name = "tsc",
+  name = "tsc_types",
   args = ['--pretty'],
   srcs = SRCS,
-  deps = DEPS,
+  deps = TYPES_DEPS,
   declaration = True,
   declaration_map = True,
-  out_dir = "target",
+  emit_declaration_only = True,
+  out_dir = "target_types",
   source_map = True,
   root_dir = "src",
   tsconfig = ":tsconfig",
@@ -76,7 +89,7 @@ ts_project(
 js_library(
   name = PKG_BASE_NAME,
   srcs = NPM_MODULE_EXTRA_FILES,
-  deps = DEPS + [":tsc"],
+  deps = RUNTIME_DEPS + [":target_node", ":tsc_types"],
   package_name = PKG_REQUIRE_NAME,
   visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
 )
diff --git a/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/package.json b/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/package.json
index 1f4df52a0330..21ed8f46f52f 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/package.json
+++ b/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/package.json
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
   "kibana": {
     "devOnly": true
   },
-  "main": "target/index.js",
-  "types": "target/index.d.ts",
+  "main": "target_node/index.js",
+  "types": "target_types/index.d.ts",
   "bin": {
     "plugin-helpers": "bin/plugin-helpers.js"
   }
diff --git a/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/tsconfig.json b/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/tsconfig.json
index 22adf020187b..34f3ec5e6750 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 {
   "extends": "../../tsconfig.bazel.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "outDir": "target",
-    "target": "ES2018",
     "declaration": true,
     "declarationMap": true,
+    "emitDeclarationOnly": true,
+    "outDir": "target_types",
     "sourceMap": true,
     "sourceRoot": "../../../../packages/kbn-plugin-helpers/src",
+    "target": "ES2018",
     "types": [
       "jest",
       "node"