diff --git a/website/server/libs/gcpTraceAgent.js b/website/server/libs/gcpTraceAgent.js
index 0e017aa943..5fdf0aa16e 100644
--- a/website/server/libs/gcpTraceAgent.js
+++ b/website/server/libs/gcpTraceAgent.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-const nconf = require('nconf');
+import nconf from 'nconf';
 
 const IS_PROD = nconf.get('IS_PROD');
 const STACKDRIVER_TRACING_ENABLED = nconf.get('ENABLE_STACKDRIVER_TRACING') === 'true';
diff --git a/website/server/libs/setupNconf.js b/website/server/libs/setupNconf.js
index d0ff1b04ef..142ca3d9d9 100644
--- a/website/server/libs/setupNconf.js
+++ b/website/server/libs/setupNconf.js
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-// require allows import from webpack
+// NOTE es5 requires/exports to allow import from webpack
 const nconf = require('nconf');
 const { join, resolve } = require('path');
 
 const PATH_TO_CONFIG = join(resolve(__dirname, '../../../config.json'));
 
-export default function setupNconf (file) {
+module.exports = function setupNconf (file) {
   let configFile = file || PATH_TO_CONFIG;
 
   nconf
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@ export default function setupNconf (file) {
   nconf.set('IS_PROD', nconf.get('NODE_ENV') === 'production');
   nconf.set('IS_DEV', nconf.get('NODE_ENV') === 'development');
   nconf.set('IS_TEST', nconf.get('NODE_ENV') === 'test');
-}
+};
diff --git a/website/server/libs/user/index.js b/website/server/libs/user/index.js
index 1274e16d21..a96504ff57 100644
--- a/website/server/libs/user/index.js
+++ b/website/server/libs/user/index.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import {
   BadRequest,
   NotAuthorized,
 } from '../../libs/errors';
-import { model as User } from '../../models/user';
+import { model as User, schema as UserSchema } from '../../models/user';
 import {nameContainsSlur} from './validation';
 
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ const updatablePaths = [
 
 // This tells us for which paths users can call `PUT /user`.
 // The trick here is to only accept leaf paths, not root/intermediate paths (see http://goo.gl/OEzkAs)
-let acceptablePUTPaths = _.reduce(require('./../../models/user').schema.paths, (accumulator, val, leaf) => {
+let acceptablePUTPaths = _.reduce(UserSchema.paths, (accumulator, val, leaf) => {
   let found = _.find(updatablePaths, (rootPath) => {
     return leaf.indexOf(rootPath) === 0;
   });
diff --git a/website/server/models/user/index.js b/website/server/models/user/index.js
index 75870bf58b..2b7ddd3097 100644
--- a/website/server/models/user/index.js
+++ b/website/server/models/user/index.js
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ import mongoose from 'mongoose';
 
 import schema from './schema';
 
-require('./hooks');
-require('./methods');
+import './hooks';
+import './methods';
 
 // A list of publicly accessible fields (not everything from preferences because there are also a lot of settings tha should remain private)
 export let publicFields = `preferences.size preferences.hair preferences.skin preferences.shirt