diff --git a/.changeset/modern-jars-return.md b/.changeset/modern-jars-return.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..26f63cc95049
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/modern-jars-return.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/adapter-node': patch
+'@sveltejs/kit': patch
+---
+
+set Vite's `publicDir` option
diff --git a/packages/adapter-node/index.js b/packages/adapter-node/index.js
index ec1d53eeccfe..4dbd7d1bd9ad 100644
--- a/packages/adapter-node/index.js
+++ b/packages/adapter-node/index.js
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ export default function (opts = {}) {
 			if (precompress) {
 				builder.log.minor('Compressing assets');
 				await compress(`${out}/client`);
-				await compress(`${out}/static`);
 				await compress(`${out}/prerendered`);
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.js b/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.js
index b2e52c86aebc..d0b5dad7ffdb 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.js
@@ -122,10 +122,7 @@ export function create_builder({ config, build_data, prerendered, log }) {
 		},
 
 		writeClient(dest) {
-			return [
-				...copy(`${config.kit.outDir}/output/client`, dest),
-				...copy(config.kit.files.assets, dest)
-			];
+			return [...copy(`${config.kit.outDir}/output/client`, dest)];
 		},
 
 		writePrerendered(dest, { fallback } = {}) {
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.spec.js b/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.spec.js
index 0af84ddec6c5..2f2c82f4a78f 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.spec.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.spec.js
@@ -43,13 +43,7 @@ test('copy files', () => {
 	builder.writeClient(dest);
 
 	assert.equal(
-		[
-			...glob('**', {
-				cwd: /** @type {import('types').ValidatedConfig} */ (mocked).kit.files.assets,
-				dot: true
-			}),
-			...glob('**', { cwd: `${outDir}/output/client`, dot: true })
-		],
+		glob('**', { cwd: `${outDir}/output/client`, dot: true }),
 		glob('**', { cwd: dest, dot: true })
 	);
 
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/vite/build/utils.js b/packages/kit/src/vite/build/utils.js
index 7d6e8f44018a..614a07b79a40 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/vite/build/utils.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/vite/build/utils.js
@@ -117,9 +117,7 @@ export const get_default_config = function ({ config, input, ssr, outDir }) {
 			__SVELTEKIT_APP_VERSION_POLL_INTERVAL__: JSON.stringify(config.kit.version.pollInterval),
 			__SVELTEKIT_DEV__: 'false'
 		},
-		// prevent Vite copying the contents of `config.kit.files.assets`,
-		// if it happens to be 'public' instead of 'static'
-		publicDir: false,
+		publicDir: ssr ? false : config.kit.files.assets,
 		resolve: {
 			alias: get_aliases(config.kit)
 		},
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/vite/dev/index.js b/packages/kit/src/vite/dev/index.js
index b118afc23070..64aa55a0e112 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/vite/dev/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/vite/dev/index.js
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ export async function dev(vite, vite_config, svelte_config) {
 				/** @type {function} */ (middleware.handle).name === 'viteServeStaticMiddleware'
 		);
 
-		remove_html_middlewares(vite.middlewares);
+		remove_static_middlewares(vite.middlewares);
 
 		vite.middlewares.use(async (req, res) => {
 			try {
@@ -392,11 +392,15 @@ function not_found(res, message = 'Not found') {
 /**
  * @param {import('connect').Server} server
  */
-function remove_html_middlewares(server) {
-	const html_middlewares = ['viteServeStaticMiddleware'];
+function remove_static_middlewares(server) {
+	// We don't use viteServePublicMiddleware because of the following issues:
+	// https://github.com/vitejs/vite/issues/9260
+	// https://github.com/vitejs/vite/issues/9236
+	// https://github.com/vitejs/vite/issues/9234
+	const static_middlewares = ['viteServePublicMiddleware', 'viteServeStaticMiddleware'];
 	for (let i = server.stack.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
-		// @ts-expect-error using internals until https://github.com/vitejs/vite/pull/4640 is merged
-		if (html_middlewares.includes(server.stack[i].handle.name)) {
+		// @ts-expect-error using internals
+		if (static_middlewares.includes(server.stack[i].handle.name)) {
 			server.stack.splice(i, 1);
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/vite/index.js b/packages/kit/src/vite/index.js
index c170cc9984f0..99023165f7f5 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/vite/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/vite/index.js
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ function kit() {
 					__SVELTEKIT_DEV__: 'true',
 					__SVELTEKIT_APP_VERSION_POLL_INTERVAL__: '0'
 				},
+				publicDir: svelte_config.kit.files.assets,
 				resolve: {
 					alias: get_aliases(svelte_config.kit)
 				},
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/vite/preview/index.js b/packages/kit/src/vite/preview/index.js
index 078e6146ed3a..262eb48c9c24 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/vite/preview/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/vite/preview/index.js
@@ -44,16 +44,13 @@ export async function preview(vite, config, protocol) {
 	const server = new Server(manifest);
 
 	return () => {
-		// files in `static`
-		vite.middlewares.use(scoped(assets, mutable(config.kit.files.assets)));
-
-		// immutable generated client assets
+		// generated client assets and the contents of `static`
 		vite.middlewares.use(
 			scoped(
 				assets,
 				sirv(join(config.kit.outDir, 'output/client'), {
 					setHeaders: (res, pathname) => {
-						// only apply to build directory, not e.g. version.json
+						// only apply to immutable directory, not e.g. version.json
 						if (pathname.startsWith(`/${config.kit.appDir}/immutable`)) {
 							res.setHeader('cache-control', 'public,max-age=31536000,immutable');
 						}