diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 2ce391e580a..c249bb0dfe4 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ This serves two purposes:
 - **Replaced Laravel Mix with Vite for frontend asset compilation** in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/2010
     - **Breaking:** You must now use `npm run build` to compile your assets, instead of `npm run prod`
     - Bundled assets are now compiled directly into the `_media` folder, and will not be copied to the `_site/media` folder by the NPM command in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/2011
-
+- The realtime compiler now only serves assets from the media source directory (`_media`), and no longer checks the site output directory (`_site/media`) in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/2012
 
 ### Deprecated
 
@@ -124,6 +124,12 @@ This serves two purposes:
 
 - in case of vulnerabilities.
 
+### Package updates
+
+#### Realtime Compiler
+
+- Simplified the asset file locator to only serve files from the media source directory in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/2012
+
 ### Upgrade Guide
 
 Please see the "Breaking changes & upgrade guide" section below for more information.
diff --git a/packages/realtime-compiler/src/Actions/AssetFileLocator.php b/packages/realtime-compiler/src/Actions/AssetFileLocator.php
index d7ad8c57165..5805306c26d 100644
--- a/packages/realtime-compiler/src/Actions/AssetFileLocator.php
+++ b/packages/realtime-compiler/src/Actions/AssetFileLocator.php
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 
 namespace Hyde\RealtimeCompiler\Actions;
 
-use Illuminate\Support\Str;
-
 /**
  * Locate a static file to proxy.
  */
@@ -15,19 +13,8 @@ public static function find(string $path): ?string
     {
         $path = trim($path, '/');
 
-        $strategies = [
-            BASE_PATH.'/_site/'.$path,
-            BASE_PATH.'/_media/'.$path,
-            BASE_PATH.'/_site/'.Str::after($path, 'media/'),
-            BASE_PATH.'/_media/'.Str::after($path, 'media/'),
-        ];
-
-        foreach ($strategies as $strategy) {
-            if (file_exists($strategy)) {
-                return $strategy;
-            }
-        }
+        $file = BASE_PATH.'/_media/'.str_replace('media/', '', $path);
 
-        return null;
+        return file_exists($file) ? $file : null;
     }
 }
diff --git a/packages/realtime-compiler/tests/RealtimeCompilerTest.php b/packages/realtime-compiler/tests/RealtimeCompilerTest.php
index 45e78abd550..c40358ce39f 100644
--- a/packages/realtime-compiler/tests/RealtimeCompilerTest.php
+++ b/packages/realtime-compiler/tests/RealtimeCompilerTest.php
@@ -85,7 +85,8 @@ public function testHandlesRoutesPagesWithHtmlExtension()
 
     public function testHandlesRoutesStaticAssets()
     {
-        $this->mockRoute('media/app.css');
+        $this->mockRoute('media/test.css');
+        Filesystem::put('_media/test.css', 'test');
 
         $kernel = new HttpKernel();
         $response = $kernel->handle(new Request());
@@ -93,7 +94,25 @@ public function testHandlesRoutesStaticAssets()
         $this->assertInstanceOf(Response::class, $response);
         $this->assertEquals(200, $response->statusCode);
         $this->assertEquals('OK', $response->statusMessage);
-        $this->assertEquals(file_get_contents(\Hyde\Hyde::path('_media/app.css')), $response->body);
+        $this->assertEquals('test', $response->body);
+
+        Filesystem::unlink('_media/test.css');
+    }
+
+    public function testNormalizesMediaPath()
+    {
+        $this->mockRoute('media/test.css');
+        Filesystem::put('_media/test.css', 'test');
+
+        $kernel = new HttpKernel();
+        $response = $kernel->handle(new Request());
+
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Response::class, $response);
+        $this->assertEquals(200, $response->statusCode);
+        $this->assertEquals('OK', $response->statusMessage);
+        $this->assertEquals('test', $response->body);
+
+        Filesystem::unlink('_media/test.css');
     }
 
     public function testThrowsRouteNotFoundExceptionForMissingRoute()