diff --git a/bin/fedx-scripts.js b/bin/fedx-scripts.js
index d3257831d..ad8079811 100755
--- a/bin/fedx-scripts.js
+++ b/bin/fedx-scripts.js
@@ -69,11 +69,32 @@ switch (commandName) {
     require('webpack-dev-server/bin/webpack-dev-server');
     break;
   case 'formatjs': {
+    // The include option is used to specify which additional source folders to extract messages from.
+    // To extract more messages on other source folders use: --include=plugins --include=plugins2
+    // The intention use case is to allow extraction from the 'plugins' directory on 'frontend-app-authoring'.
+    // That plugins folder were kept outside the src folder to ensure they remain independent and
+    // can function without relying on the MFE environment's special features.
+    // This approach allows them to be packaged separately as NPM packages.
+    const additionalSrcFolders = [];
+    process.argv.forEach((val, index) => {
+      // if val starts with --include= then add the value to additionalSrcFolders
+      if (val.startsWith('--include=')) {
+        additionalSrcFolders.push(val.split('=')[1]);
+        // remove the value from process.argv
+        process.argv.splice(index, 1);
+      }
+    });
+    const srcFolders = ['src'].concat(additionalSrcFolders);
+    let srcFoldersString = srcFolders.join(',');
+    if (srcFolders.length > 1) {
+      srcFoldersString = `{${srcFoldersString}}`;
+    }
     const commonArgs = [
       '--format', 'node_modules/@openedx/frontend-build/lib/formatter.js',
-      '--ignore', 'src/**/*.json',
+      '--ignore', `${srcFoldersString}/**/*.json`,
+      '--ignore', `${srcFoldersString}/**/*.d.ts`,
       '--out-file', './temp/babel-plugin-formatjs/Default.messages.json',
-      '--', 'src/**/*.js*',
+      '--', `${srcFoldersString}/**/*.{j,t}s*`,
     ];
     process.argv = process.argv.concat(commonArgs);
     ensureConfigOption(presets.formatjs);
diff --git a/config/babel.config.js b/config/babel.config.js
index 2c0e1424d..8cd8743e6 100644
--- a/config/babel.config.js
+++ b/config/babel.config.js
@@ -12,8 +12,12 @@ module.exports = {
     '@babel/plugin-proposal-class-properties',
     '@babel/plugin-syntax-dynamic-import',
     [
+      // Prevent importing large libraries by rewriting imports
+      // Eventually, we should add 'preventFullImport": true' to each of these imports,
+      // to prevent developers from committing full imports.
       'transform-imports',
       {
+        // fortawesome
         '@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons': {
           transform: '@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons/${member}',
           skipDefaultConversion: true,
@@ -26,6 +30,11 @@ module.exports = {
           transform: '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons/${member}',
           skipDefaultConversion: true,
         },
+        // lodash
+        lodash: {
+          transform: 'lodash/${member}',
+          skipDefaultConversion: true,
+        },
       },
     ],
   ],