diff --git a/.changeset/late-tomatoes-sleep.md b/.changeset/late-tomatoes-sleep.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f369b626f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/late-tomatoes-sleep.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+'@backstage/create-app': patch
+---
+
+Add `"files": ["dist"]` to both app and backend packages. This ensures that packaged versions of these packages do not contain unnecessary files.
+
+To apply this change to an existing app, add the following to `packages/app/package.json` and `packages/backend/package.json`:
+
+```json
+  "files": [
+    "dist"
+  ]
+```
diff --git a/packages/app/package.json b/packages/app/package.json
index afe35ff382..e671e23b79 100644
--- a/packages/app/package.json
+++ b/packages/app/package.json
@@ -89,5 +89,8 @@
       "last 1 safari version"
     ]
   },
+  "files": [
+    "dist"
+  ],
   "license": "Apache-2.0"
 }
diff --git a/packages/backend/package.json b/packages/backend/package.json
index 5937d6a6f3..5fbde0a110 100644
--- a/packages/backend/package.json
+++ b/packages/backend/package.json
@@ -50,5 +50,8 @@
     "@types/express": "^4.17.6",
     "@types/express-serve-static-core": "^4.17.5",
     "@types/helmet": "^0.0.48"
-  }
+  },
+  "files": [
+    "dist"
+  ]
 }
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/package.json.hbs b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/package.json.hbs
index 3f04773e31..f284f2da0f 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/package.json.hbs
@@ -61,5 +61,8 @@
       "last 1 firefox version",
       "last 1 safari version"
     ]
-  }
+  },
+  "files": [
+    "dist"
+  ]
 }
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs
index 8dccb0b683..2c8f460a35 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs
@@ -47,5 +47,8 @@
     "@types/express": "^4.17.6",
     "@types/express-serve-static-core": "^4.17.5",
     "@types/helmet": "^0.0.47"
-  }
+  },
+  "files": [
+    "dist"
+  ]
 }