diff --git a/src/nginxconfig.ejs b/src/nginxconfig.ejs
index e2f874107..e25f3ee06 100644
--- a/src/nginxconfig.ejs
+++ b/src/nginxconfig.ejs
@@ -223,6 +223,12 @@ server {
         limit_req zone=admin_login burst=5;
     }
 
+    # for source builds, allow large sizes (controlled by upstream)
+    location ~ ^/api/v1/apps$ {
+        proxy_pass   http://127.0.0.1:3000;
+        client_max_body_size 0;
+    }
+
     # the read timeout is between successive reads and not the whole connection
     location ~ ^/api/v1/apps/.*/exec/.*/start$ {
         proxy_pass   http://127.0.0.1:3000;