diff --git a/client/src/main.tsx b/client/src/main.tsx
index 075e0d6..438aa74 100644
--- a/client/src/main.tsx
+++ b/client/src/main.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { getLoginUrl } from "./const";
 import "./index.css";
 
 const queryClient = new QueryClient();
+const ASSET_REFRESH_KEY = "asset-recovery-reloaded";
 
 const redirectToLoginIfUnauthorized = (error: unknown) => {
   if (!(error instanceof TRPCClientError)) return;
@@ -21,6 +22,60 @@ const redirectToLoginIfUnauthorized = (error: unknown) => {
   window.location.href = getLoginUrl();
 };
 
+function reloadForStaleAsset(reason: string) {
+  if (typeof window === "undefined") return;
+
+  const alreadyReloaded = window.sessionStorage.getItem(ASSET_REFRESH_KEY) === "1";
+  if (alreadyReloaded) {
+    console.error("[Asset Recovery] stale asset still failing after reload", reason);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  window.sessionStorage.setItem(ASSET_REFRESH_KEY, "1");
+  console.warn("[Asset Recovery] reloading page due to stale asset failure:", reason);
+  window.location.reload();
+}
+
+function clearAssetRecoveryFlag() {
+  if (typeof window === "undefined") return;
+  window.sessionStorage.removeItem(ASSET_REFRESH_KEY);
+}
+
+if (typeof window !== "undefined") {
+  window.addEventListener("load", () => {
+    clearAssetRecoveryFlag();
+  }, { once: true });
+
+  window.addEventListener("vite:preloadError", (event) => {
+    const customEvent = event as Event & { payload?: unknown; preventDefault: () => void };
+    customEvent.preventDefault();
+    reloadForStaleAsset(String(customEvent.payload ?? "vite preload error"));
+  });
+
+  window.addEventListener("error", (event) => {
+    const target = event.target;
+    if (!(target instanceof HTMLLinkElement || target instanceof HTMLScriptElement)) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const assetUrl = target instanceof HTMLLinkElement ? target.href : target.src;
+    if (assetUrl.includes("/assets/")) {
+      reloadForStaleAsset(assetUrl);
+    }
+  }, true);
+
+  window.addEventListener("unhandledrejection", (event) => {
+    const reason = event.reason instanceof Error ? event.reason.message : String(event.reason ?? "");
+    if (
+      reason.includes("Failed to fetch dynamically imported module") ||
+      reason.includes("Importing a module script failed") ||
+      reason.includes("Unable to preload CSS")
+    ) {
+      reloadForStaleAsset(reason);
+    }
+  });
+}
+
 queryClient.getQueryCache().subscribe(event => {
   if (event.type === "updated" && event.action.type === "error") {
     const error = event.query.state.error;
diff --git a/server/_core/static.ts b/server/_core/static.ts
index 4295920..91f711f 100644
--- a/server/_core/static.ts
+++ b/server/_core/static.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,17 @@ export function serveStatic(app: Express) {
     );
   }
 
-  app.use(express.static(distPath));
+  app.use(express.static(distPath, { index: false }));
+
+  app.use("*", (req, res) => {
+    // Missing files under /assets or any path with an extension must return 404.
+    // Falling back to index.html causes browsers to report MIME errors on stale chunks.
+    const requestPath = req.originalUrl.split("?")[0];
+    if (path.extname(requestPath)) {
+      res.status(404).type("text/plain").send("Not found");
+      return;
+    }
 
-  app.use("*", (_req, res) => {
     res.sendFile(path.resolve(distPath, "index.html"));
   });
 }
diff --git a/server/worker.ts b/server/worker.ts
index 6438057..17d676b 100644
--- a/server/worker.ts
+++ b/server/worker.ts
@@ -35,9 +35,14 @@ async function workOnce() {
 async function main() {
   console.log(`[worker] ${workerId} started`);
   for (;;) {
-    const hasWorked = await workOnce();
-    if (!hasWorked) {
-      await sleep(ENV.backgroundTaskPollMs);
+    try {
+      const hasWorked = await workOnce();
+      if (!hasWorked) {
+        await sleep(ENV.backgroundTaskPollMs);
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error("[worker] loop error", error);
+      await sleep(Math.max(ENV.backgroundTaskPollMs, 3_000));
     }
   }
 }