diff --git a/src/core/AssetUrls.ts b/src/core/AssetUrls.ts
index f1141b322..d17063a38 100644
--- a/src/core/AssetUrls.ts
+++ b/src/core/AssetUrls.ts
@@ -63,14 +63,6 @@ export function buildAssetUrl(
     return directUrl;
   }
 
-  const directoryPrefix = `${normalizedPath}/`;
-  const hasNestedAssets = Object.keys(assetManifest).some((manifestPath) =>
-    manifestPath.startsWith(directoryPrefix),
-  );
-  if (hasNestedAssets) {
-    return `/_assets/${encodeAssetPath(normalizedPath)}`;
-  }
-
   return `/${encodeAssetPath(normalizedPath)}`;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/AssetUrls.test.ts b/tests/AssetUrls.test.ts
index a48876e1b..935cde2d5 100644
--- a/tests/AssetUrls.test.ts
+++ b/tests/AssetUrls.test.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,11 @@ describe("AssetUrls", () => {
     ).toBe("/_assets/images/Favicon.hash.svg");
   });
 
-  test("maps directory prefixes into the hashed asset namespace", () => {
+  test("falls back to the unversioned path when manifest has no match", () => {
+    expect(buildAssetUrl("images/unknown.svg", {})).toBe("/images/unknown.svg");
+  });
+
+  test("falls back to the unversioned path for directory-like paths", () => {
     const manifest = {
       "maps/britanniaclassic/manifest.json":
         "/_assets/maps/britanniaclassic/manifest.hash.json",
@@ -18,16 +22,12 @@ describe("AssetUrls", () => {
         "/_assets/maps/britanniaclassic/map.hash.bin",
     };
 
-    expect(buildAssetUrl("maps", manifest)).toBe("/_assets/maps");
+    expect(buildAssetUrl("maps", manifest)).toBe("/maps");
     expect(buildAssetUrl("maps/britanniaclassic", manifest)).toBe(
-      "/_assets/maps/britanniaclassic",
+      "/maps/britanniaclassic",
     );
   });
 
-  test("falls back to the unversioned path when manifest has no match", () => {
-    expect(buildAssetUrl("images/unknown.svg", {})).toBe("/images/unknown.svg");
-  });
-
   test("rejects dot segments in asset paths", () => {
     expect(() => buildAssetUrl("../api/instance", {})).toThrow(
       "Invalid asset path segment: ..",