diff --git a/packages/vike-node/src/runtime/handler-node-only.ts b/packages/vike-node/src/runtime/handler-node-only.ts
index 03c91f1..ffef152 100644
--- a/packages/vike-node/src/runtime/handler-node-only.ts
+++ b/packages/vike-node/src/runtime/handler-node-only.ts
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ function handleViteDevServer(req: IncomingMessage, res: ServerResponse): Promise
   })
 }
 
-function resolveStaticConfig(static_: VikeOptions['static']): false | { root: string; cache: boolean } {
+export function resolveStaticConfig(static_: VikeOptions['static']): false | { root: string; cache: boolean } {
   // Disable static file serving for Vercel
   // Vercel will serve static files on its own
   // See vercel.json > outputDirectory
diff --git a/packages/vike-node/src/runtime/vike-handler.ts b/packages/vike-node/src/runtime/vike-handler.ts
index 9af509c..bb40ed4 100644
--- a/packages/vike-node/src/runtime/vike-handler.ts
+++ b/packages/vike-node/src/runtime/vike-handler.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import { parseHeaders } from './utils/header-utils.js'
 import { renderPage as _renderPage } from 'vike/server'
-import type { VikeHttpResponse, VikeOptions } from './types.js'
+import type { ConnectMiddleware, VikeHttpResponse, VikeOptions } from './types.js'
 import type { Get, UniversalHandler } from '@universal-middleware/core'
 import { globalStore } from './globalStore.js'
 import { assert } from '../utils/assert.js'
 import type { IncomingMessage, ServerResponse } from 'http'
 import { connectToWebFallback } from './adapters/connectToWeb.js'
+import { isVercel } from '../utils/isVercel.js'
 
 export { renderPage, renderPageWeb }
 
@@ -55,8 +56,17 @@ async function renderPageWeb<PlatformRequest>({
 }
 
 export const renderPageUniversal = ((options?) => async (request, context, runtime: any) => {
-  if (runtime.req || runtime.env?.incoming) {
-    globalStore.setupHMRProxy(runtime.req ?? runtime.env?.incoming);
+  const nodeReq: IncomingMessage | undefined = runtime.req ?? runtime.env?.incoming
+  let staticConfig: false | { root: string; cache: boolean } = false
+  let shouldCache = false
+  const compressionType = options?.compress ?? !isVercel()
+  let staticMiddleware: ConnectMiddleware | undefined
+
+  if (nodeReq) {
+    globalStore.setupHMRProxy(nodeReq)
+    const { resolveStaticConfig } = await import("./handler-node-only.js")
+    staticConfig = resolveStaticConfig(options?.static)
+    shouldCache = staticConfig && staticConfig.cache
   }
 
   if (globalStore.isPluginLoaded) {
@@ -64,17 +74,32 @@ export const renderPageUniversal = ((options?) => async (request, context, runti
 
     // console.log({ url: request.url, handled: Boolean(handled) })
     if (handled) return handled
-  } else {
-    // const isAsset = req.url?.startsWith('/assets/')
-    // const shouldCompressResponse = compressionType === true || (compressionType === 'static' && isAsset)
+  } else if (nodeReq) {
+    const isAsset = nodeReq.url?.startsWith('/assets/')
+    const shouldCompressResponse = compressionType === true || (compressionType === 'static' && isAsset)
     // if (shouldCompressResponse) {
     //   await applyCompression(req, res, shouldCache)
     // }
-    //
-    // if (staticConfig) {
-    //   const handled = await serveStaticFiles(req, res, staticConfig)
-    //   if (handled) return true
-    // }
+
+    if (staticConfig) {
+      const handled = await connectToWebFallback(serveStaticFiles)(request);
+      if (handled) return handled
+    }
+  }
+
+  async function serveStaticFiles(
+    req: IncomingMessage,
+    res: ServerResponse
+  ): Promise<boolean> {
+    if (!staticMiddleware) {
+      const { default: sirv } = await import('sirv')
+      staticMiddleware = sirv((staticConfig as { root: string; cache: boolean }).root, { etag: true })
+    }
+
+    return new Promise<boolean>((resolve) => {
+      res.once('close', () => resolve(true))
+      staticMiddleware!(req, res, () => resolve(false))
+    })
   }
 
   const pageContextInit = { ...context, ...runtime, urlOriginal: request.url, headersOriginal: request.headers }
diff --git a/packages/vike-node/src/utils/assert.ts b/packages/vike-node/src/utils/assert.ts
index 0a7ed34..3d74a2d 100644
--- a/packages/vike-node/src/utils/assert.ts
+++ b/packages/vike-node/src/utils/assert.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import pc from '@brillout/picocolors'
-
 export { assert, assertUsage }
 
 function assert(condition: unknown): asserts condition {
@@ -9,5 +7,5 @@ function assert(condition: unknown): asserts condition {
 
 function assertUsage(condition: unknown, message: string): asserts condition {
   if (condition) return
-  throw new Error(`${pc.cyan('[vike-node]')} wrong usage: ${message}`)
+  throw new Error(`[vike-node] wrong usage: ${message}`)
 }
diff --git a/packages/vike-node/tsup.config.js b/packages/vike-node/tsup.config.js
index c73019a..cb1cd2d 100644
--- a/packages/vike-node/tsup.config.js
+++ b/packages/vike-node/tsup.config.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export default defineConfig([
     esbuildOptions(opts) {
       opts.outbase = "src";
     },
-    external: ["stream", "http", "node:stream", "node:http"],
+    external: ["stream", "http", "node:stream", "node:http", "path", "url"],
     dts: true,
     outDir: 'dist',
     bundle: true