diff --git a/src/server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler.test.ts b/src/server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler.test.ts
index 0c7197183b..70d466d062 100644
--- a/src/server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler.test.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ import "#veryfront/schemas/_test-setup.ts";
 import { assertEquals, assertExists, assertStringIncludes } from "#veryfront/testing/assert.ts";
 import { describe, it } from "#veryfront/testing/bdd.ts";
 import { ProdHydrationModuleHandler } from "./prod-hydration-module.handler.ts";
+import { StaticHandler } from "./static.handler.ts";
 import type { HandlerContext } from "../types.ts";
 import type { RuntimeAdapter } from "#veryfront/platform/adapters/base.ts";
+import { RouteRegistry } from "#veryfront/routing/registry/index.ts";
 import {
   getProdHydrationModulePath,
   PROD_HYDRATION_MODULE_PATH,
@@ -53,6 +55,33 @@ function makeCtx(overrides: Partial<HandlerContext> = {}): HandlerContext {
   };
 }
 
+function staleVersionedPath(): string {
+  const currentPath = getProdHydrationModulePath();
+  const currentHash = currentPath.match(/hydration-runtime\.([0-9a-f]{8})\.js$/)?.[1];
+  assertExists(currentHash);
+  const staleHash = currentHash === "00000000" ? "11111111" : "00000000";
+  return `/_veryfront/hydration-runtime.${staleHash}.js`;
+}
+
+function makeStaticHandler(content: string | null): StaticHandler {
+  const handler = new StaticHandler();
+  (handler as any).staticService = {
+    resolveFile: (pathname: string) =>
+      Promise.resolve(
+        content === null ? null : {
+          path: `/tmp/test-project/dist${pathname}`,
+          data: new TextEncoder().encode(content),
+          etag: '"release-runtime"',
+          contentType: "application/javascript; charset=utf-8",
+          cacheStrategy: "immutable",
+          source: "dist",
+        },
+      ),
+    isAssetRequest: () => true,
+  };
+  return handler;
+}
+
 describe("server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler", () => {
   it("serves the versioned production hydration runtime module with immutable caching", async () => {
     const handler = new ProdHydrationModuleHandler();
@@ -112,4 +141,84 @@ describe("server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler", () => {
     assertEquals(second.response?.headers.get("pragma"), null);
     assertEquals(second.response?.headers.get("expires"), null);
   });
+
+  it("lets a non-current versioned path fall through to release static assets", async () => {
+    const handler = new ProdHydrationModuleHandler();
+    const result = await handler.handle(
+      new Request(`http://localhost${staleVersionedPath()}`),
+      makeCtx(),
+    );
+
+    assertEquals(result.continue, true);
+    assertEquals(result.response, undefined);
+  });
+
+  it("serves a release-baked versioned runtime through the handler chain", async () => {
+    const releasePath = staleVersionedPath();
+    const registry = new RouteRegistry()
+      .register(new ProdHydrationModuleHandler())
+      .register(makeStaticHandler("export const releaseRuntime = true;"));
+    const response = await registry.execute(
+      new Request(`http://localhost${releasePath}`),
+      makeCtx(),
+    );
+
+    assertExists(response);
+    assertEquals(response.status, 200);
+    assertEquals(response.headers.get("cache-control"), IMMUTABLE_CACHE_CONTROL);
+    assertEquals(await response.text(), "export const releaseRuntime = true;");
+  });
+
+  it("returns a non-cacheable 404 after a versioned release asset misses", async () => {
+    const registry = new RouteRegistry()
+      .register(new ProdHydrationModuleHandler())
+      .register(makeStaticHandler(null));
+    const response = await registry.execute(
+      new Request(`http://localhost${staleVersionedPath()}`),
+      makeCtx(),
+    );
+
+    assertExists(response);
+    assertEquals(response.status, 404);
+    assertEquals(response.headers.get("cache-control"), NO_CACHE_CONTROL);
+    assertEquals(await response.text(), "Not Found");
+  });
+
+  it("does not answer 304 for a release runtime when the current ETag matches", async () => {
+    const currentHandler = new ProdHydrationModuleHandler();
+    const current = await currentHandler.handle(
+      new Request(`http://localhost${getProdHydrationModulePath()}`),
+      makeCtx(),
+    );
+    const etag = current.response?.headers.get("etag");
+    assertExists(etag);
+
+    const registry = new RouteRegistry()
+      .register(currentHandler)
+      .register(makeStaticHandler("export const releaseRuntime = true;"));
+    const response = await registry.execute(
+      new Request(`http://localhost${staleVersionedPath()}`, {
+        headers: { "if-none-match": etag },
+      }),
+      makeCtx(),
+    );
+
+    assertExists(response);
+    assertEquals(response.status, 200);
+    assertEquals(await response.text(), "export const releaseRuntime = true;");
+  });
+
+  it("serves a release-baked runtime on HEAD requests without a body", async () => {
+    const registry = new RouteRegistry()
+      .register(new ProdHydrationModuleHandler())
+      .register(makeStaticHandler("export const releaseRuntime = true;"));
+    const response = await registry.execute(
+      new Request(`http://localhost${staleVersionedPath()}`, { method: "HEAD" }),
+      makeCtx(),
+    );
+
+    assertExists(response);
+    assertEquals(response.status, 200);
+    assertEquals(await response.text(), "", "HEAD responses carry no body");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler.ts b/src/server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler.ts
index 6706054d15..4459b84ac4 100644
--- a/src/server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler.ts
+++ b/src/server/handlers/request/prod-hydration-module.handler.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { BaseHandler } from "../response/base.ts";
 import type { HandlerContext, HandlerMetadata, HandlerPriority, HandlerResult } from "../types.ts";
 import {
   generateProdHydrationModule,
+  getProdHydrationModulePath,
   isVersionedProdHydrationModulePath,
   PROD_HYDRATION_MODULE_PATH,
   PROD_HYDRATION_MODULE_VERSIONED_PATH_PATTERN,
@@ -39,9 +40,18 @@ export class ProdHydrationModuleHandler extends BaseHandler {
       return this.continue();
     }
 
-    const method = req.method.toUpperCase();
     const pathname = new URL(req.url).pathname;
-    const cacheStrategy = isVersionedProdHydrationModulePath(pathname) ? "immutable" : "no-cache";
+    const isVersioned = isVersionedProdHydrationModulePath(pathname);
+
+    // Serve only the current content address dynamically. Non-current hashes
+    // may name valid release-baked assets, so StaticHandler owns their lookup
+    // and returns the final non-cacheable 404 when no stored asset matches.
+    if (isVersioned && pathname !== getProdHydrationModulePath()) {
+      return this.continue();
+    }
+
+    const method = req.method.toUpperCase();
+    const cacheStrategy = isVersioned ? "immutable" : "no-cache";
     const { js, etag } = getProdHydrationModuleBundle();
     const builder = this.createResponseBuilder(ctx).withCORS(req, ctx.securityConfig?.cors);