diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/browser/index.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/browser/index.ts
index d26a149a19..1e8766c796 100644
--- a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/browser/index.ts
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/browser/index.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
   BuilderOutput,
   createBuilder,
 } from '@angular-devkit/architect';
-import { WebpackLoggingCallback, runWebpack } from '@angular-devkit/build-webpack';
+import { BuildResult, WebpackLoggingCallback, runWebpack } from '@angular-devkit/build-webpack';
 import {
   experimental,
   join,
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ import {
 import { NodeJsSyncHost } from '@angular-devkit/core/node';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
-import { from, of, zip } from 'rxjs';
-import { catchError, concatMap, map, switchMap } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import { concat, from, of, zip } from 'rxjs';
+import { bufferCount, catchError, concatMap, map, mergeScan, switchMap } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import * as webpack from 'webpack';
 import { NgBuildAnalyticsPlugin } from '../../plugins/webpack/analytics';
 import { WebpackConfigOptions } from '../angular-cli-files/models/build-options';
@@ -182,12 +182,18 @@ export function buildWebpackBrowser(
         normalize(workspace.getProject(projectName).root),
       );
 
-      // We use zip because when having multiple builds we want to wait
-      // for all builds to finish before processeding
-      return zip(
-        ...configs.map(config => runWebpack(config, context, { logging: loggingFn })),
-      )
-      .pipe(
+      return from(configs).pipe(
+        // the concurrency parameter (3rd parameter of mergeScan) is deliberately
+        // set to 1 to make sure the build steps are executed in sequence.
+        mergeScan((lastResult, config) => {
+          // Make sure to only run the 2nd build step, if 1st one succeeded
+          if (lastResult.success) {
+            return runWebpack(config, context, { logging: loggingFn });
+          } else {
+            return of();
+          }
+        }, { success: true } as BuildResult, 1),
+        bufferCount(configs.length),
         switchMap(buildEvents => {
           const success = buildEvents.every(r => r.success);
           if (success && buildEvents.length === 2 && options.index) {
diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/utils/webpack-browser-config.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/utils/webpack-browser-config.ts
index bcd8bd6858..652acc4d51 100644
--- a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/utils/webpack-browser-config.ts
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/utils/webpack-browser-config.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ export async function generateWebpackConfig(
   // However this config generation is used by multiple builders such as dev-server
   const scriptTarget = tsConfig.options.target;
   const differentialLoading = context.builder.builderName === 'browser'
-    && isDifferentialLoadingNeeded(projectRoot, scriptTarget);
+    && isDifferentialLoadingNeeded(projectRoot, scriptTarget) && !options.watch;
+
   const scriptTargets = [scriptTarget];
 
   if (differentialLoading) {
diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/test/browser/differential_loading_spec_large.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/test/browser/differential_loading_spec_large.ts
index c0eccfe819..386d825445 100644
--- a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/test/browser/differential_loading_spec_large.ts
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/test/browser/differential_loading_spec_large.ts
@@ -63,6 +63,36 @@ describe('Browser Builder with differential loading', () => {
       .toEqual(jasmine.arrayWithExactContents(expectedOutputs));
   });
 
+  it('deactivates differential loading for watch mode', async () => {
+    const { files } = await browserBuild(architect, host, target, { watch: true });
+
+    const expectedOutputs = [
+      'favicon.ico',
+      'index.html',
+
+      'main.js',
+      'main.js.map',
+
+      'polyfills-es5.js',
+      'polyfills-es5.js.map',
+      'polyfills.js',
+      'polyfills.js.map',
+
+      'runtime.js',
+      'runtime.js.map',
+
+      'styles.js',
+      'styles.js.map',
+
+      'vendor.js',
+      'vendor.js.map',
+    ] as PathFragment[];
+
+    expect(Object.keys(files))
+      .toEqual(jasmine.arrayWithExactContents(expectedOutputs));
+  });
+
+
   it('emits the right ES formats', async () => {
     const { files } = await browserBuild(architect, host, target, { optimization: true });
     expect(await files['main-es5.js']).not.toContain('class');