diff --git a/reconcile-js/src/index.ts b/reconcile-js/src/index.ts
index a0d488f..6db3163 100644
--- a/reconcile-js/src/index.ts
+++ b/reconcile-js/src/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import wasmInit, {
+import {
   CursorPosition as wasmCursorPosition,
   reconcile as wasmReconcile,
   TextWithCursors as wasmTextWithCursors,
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import wasmInit, {
   initSync,
 } from 'reconcile';
 
-import wasm from 'reconcile/reconcile_bg.wasm';
+import wasmBytes from 'reconcile/reconcile_bg.wasm';
 
 export interface TextWithCursors {
   /** The document's entire content */
@@ -131,7 +131,10 @@ function init() {
     return;
   }
 
-  initSync({ module: (wasm as any).default });
+  const wasmBinary = Uint8Array.from(atob(wasmBytes as unknown as string), (c) =>
+    c.charCodeAt(0)
+  );
+  initSync({ module: wasmBinary });
 
   isInitialised = true;
 }
diff --git a/reconcile-js/webpack.config.js b/reconcile-js/webpack.config.js
index 28fed8c..bf126fa 100644
--- a/reconcile-js/webpack.config.js
+++ b/reconcile-js/webpack.config.js
@@ -3,18 +3,6 @@ const { merge } = require('webpack-merge');
 
 const common = {
   entry: './src/index.ts',
-  module: {
-    rules: [
-      {
-        test: /\.ts$/,
-        use: ['ts-loader'],
-      },
-      {
-        test: /\.wasm$/,
-        type: 'asset/inline',
-      },
-    ],
-  },
   optimization: {
     // the consuming project should take care of minification
     minimize: false,
@@ -27,7 +15,25 @@ const common = {
     },
   },
   performance: {
-    hints: false, // it's a library, no need to warn about its size
+    hints: false,
+  },
+  experiments: {
+    asyncWebAssembly: true,
+  },
+  module: {
+    rules: [
+      {
+        test: /\.ts$/,
+        use: ['ts-loader'],
+      },
+      {
+        test: /\.wasm$/,
+        type: 'asset/inline',
+        generator: {
+          dataUrl: (content) => content.toString('base64'),
+        },
+      },
+    ],
   },
 };