diff --git a/e2e/cases/html/favicon/index.test.ts b/e2e/cases/html/favicon/index.test.ts
index 858950e70c..26e265dd24 100644
--- a/e2e/cases/html/favicon/index.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/cases/html/favicon/index.test.ts
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ for (const filename of ['favicon.ico', 'favicon.png', 'favicon.svg']) {
     const rsbuild = await build({
       config: {
         server: {
-          publicDir: [{ name: publicPath }],
+          publicDir: { name: publicPath },
         },
       },
     });
diff --git a/packages/core/src/defaultConfig.ts b/packages/core/src/defaultConfig.ts
index e147c68be2..a01a339157 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/defaultConfig.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/defaultConfig.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
-import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
+import { dirname, isAbsolute, join } from 'node:path';
 import {
   ASSETS_DIST_DIR,
   CSS_DIST_DIR,
@@ -301,11 +301,15 @@ export const withDefaultConfig = async (
  */
 export const normalizeConfigStructure = (
   config: RsbuildConfig,
+  rootPath: string,
 ): RsbuildConfig => {
   const { dev, output } = config;
 
   config.server ||= {};
-  config.server.publicDir = normalizePublicDirs(config.server.publicDir);
+  config.server.publicDir = normalizePublicDirs(
+    rootPath,
+    config.server.publicDir,
+  );
 
   if (typeof output?.distPath === 'string') {
     config = {
@@ -334,7 +338,10 @@ export const normalizeConfigStructure = (
  * Normalizes the user configuration by merging it with defaults and ensuring
  * consistent structure.
  */
-export const normalizeConfig = (config: RsbuildConfig): NormalizedConfig => {
+export const normalizeConfig = (
+  config: RsbuildConfig,
+  rootPath: string,
+): NormalizedConfig => {
   const getMode = (): RsbuildMode => {
     if (config.mode) {
       return config.mode;
@@ -350,13 +357,14 @@ export const normalizeConfig = (config: RsbuildConfig): NormalizedConfig => {
       ...createDefaultConfig(),
       mode: getMode(),
     },
-    normalizeConfigStructure(config),
+    normalizeConfigStructure(config, rootPath),
   ) as Required<RsbuildConfig>;
 
   return mergedConfig as unknown as NormalizedConfig;
 };
 
 const normalizePublicDirs = (
+  rootPath: string,
   publicDir?: PublicDir,
 ): Required<PublicDirOptions>[] => {
   if (publicDir === false) {
@@ -364,7 +372,7 @@ const normalizePublicDirs = (
   }
 
   const defaultConfig: Required<PublicDirOptions> = {
-    name: 'public',
+    name: join(rootPath, 'public'),
     copyOnBuild: 'auto',
     watch: false,
   };
@@ -374,17 +382,26 @@ const normalizePublicDirs = (
     return [defaultConfig];
   }
 
-  if (Array.isArray(publicDir)) {
-    return publicDir.map((options) => ({
+  const mergeWithDefault = (options: PublicDirOptions) => {
+    if (options.name === '') {
+      throw new Error(
+        '[rsbuild:config] `publicDir.name` cannot be empty string.',
+      );
+    }
+
+    const merged = {
       ...defaultConfig,
       ...options,
-    }));
+    };
+    if (!isAbsolute(merged.name)) {
+      merged.name = join(rootPath, merged.name);
+    }
+    return merged;
+  };
+
+  if (Array.isArray(publicDir)) {
+    return publicDir.map((options) => mergeWithDefault(options));
   }
 
-  return [
-    {
-      ...defaultConfig,
-      ...publicDir,
-    },
-  ];
+  return [mergeWithDefault(publicDir)];
 };
diff --git a/packages/core/src/plugins/html.ts b/packages/core/src/plugins/html.ts
index 9ba4ca88e7..5e1a9c918e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/plugins/html.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/plugins/html.ts
@@ -220,16 +220,9 @@ export const pluginHtml = (context: InternalContext): RsbuildPlugin => ({
         return defaultFavicon;
       }
 
-      const { rootPath } = api.context;
       const { publicDir } = api.getNormalizedConfig().server;
       const extensions = ['ico', 'png', 'svg'];
-      const publicDirs = Array.from(
-        new Set(
-          publicDir.map(({ name }) =>
-            isAbsolute(name) ? name : path.join(rootPath, name),
-          ),
-        ),
-      );
+      const publicDirs = Array.from(new Set(publicDir.map(({ name }) => name)));
 
       const faviconPaths: string[] = [];
       for (const publicDir of publicDirs) {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/plugins/server.ts b/packages/core/src/plugins/server.ts
index 97706a745e..f46a2fd14e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/plugins/server.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/plugins/server.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
-import { isAbsolute, join } from 'node:path';
 import { isDeno } from '../constants';
 import { color } from '../helpers';
 import { dedupeNestedPaths } from '../helpers/path';
@@ -31,16 +30,12 @@ export const pluginServer = (): RsbuildPlugin => ({
       }
       const config = api.getNormalizedConfig();
 
-      for (const { name, copyOnBuild } of config.server.publicDir) {
-        if (copyOnBuild === false || !name) {
+      for (const { name: publicDir, copyOnBuild } of config.server.publicDir) {
+        if (copyOnBuild === false) {
           continue;
         }
 
-        const normalizedPath = isAbsolute(name)
-          ? name
-          : join(api.context.rootPath, name);
-
-        if (!fs.existsSync(normalizedPath)) {
+        if (!fs.existsSync(publicDir)) {
           continue;
         }
 
@@ -67,7 +62,7 @@ export const pluginServer = (): RsbuildPlugin => ({
                 });
               }
 
-              return fs.promises.cp(normalizedPath, distPath, {
+              return fs.promises.cp(publicDir, distPath, {
                 recursive: true,
                 // dereference symlinks
                 dereference: true,
@@ -76,7 +71,7 @@ export const pluginServer = (): RsbuildPlugin => ({
           );
         } catch (err) {
           if (err instanceof Error) {
-            err.message = `Failed to copy public directory '${color.yellow(normalizedPath)}' to output directory. To disable public directory copying, set \`${color.cyan('server.publicDir: false')}\` in your config.\n${err.message}`;
+            err.message = `Failed to copy public directory '${color.yellow(publicDir)}' to output directory. To disable public directory copying, set \`${color.cyan('server.publicDir: false')}\` in your config.\n${err.message}`;
           }
 
           throw err;
diff --git a/packages/core/src/provider/initConfigs.ts b/packages/core/src/provider/initConfigs.ts
index 4ec6d5d7e8..c742a1f839 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/provider/initConfigs.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/provider/initConfigs.ts
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ const initEnvironmentConfigs = (
                 ...baseConfig,
                 dev: pick(dev, allowedEnvironmentDevKeys),
               },
-              normalizeConfigStructure(config),
+              normalizeConfigStructure(config, rootPath),
             ),
           } as unknown as MergedEnvironmentConfig;
 
@@ -247,7 +247,10 @@ export async function initRsbuildConfig({
 
   await modifyRsbuildConfig(context);
 
-  const normalizedBaseConfig = normalizeConfig(context.config);
+  const normalizedBaseConfig = normalizeConfig(
+    context.config,
+    context.rootPath,
+  );
   const environments: Record<string, NormalizedEnvironmentConfig> = {};
 
   const mergedEnvironments = initEnvironmentConfigs(
diff --git a/packages/core/src/server/devMiddlewares.ts b/packages/core/src/server/devMiddlewares.ts
index 479994ab34..af08f4c49f 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/server/devMiddlewares.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/server/devMiddlewares.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { isAbsolute, join } from 'node:path';
 import { castArray, pick } from '../helpers';
 import { isMultiCompiler } from '../helpers/compiler';
 import { requireCompiledPackage } from '../helpers/vendors';
@@ -34,7 +33,6 @@ export type RsbuildDevMiddlewareOptions = {
    * Callbacks returned by the `onBeforeStartDevServer` hook.
    */
   postCallbacks: (() => void)[];
-  pwd: string;
 };
 
 const applySetupMiddlewares = (
@@ -72,7 +70,6 @@ const applyDefaultMiddlewares = ({
   context,
   devServerAPI,
   middlewares,
-  pwd,
   postCallbacks,
 }: RsbuildDevMiddlewareOptions & {
   middlewares: Middlewares;
@@ -202,13 +199,10 @@ const applyDefaultMiddlewares = ({
 
   for (const { name } of server.publicDir) {
     const sirv = requireCompiledPackage('sirv');
-    const normalizedPath = isAbsolute(name) ? name : join(pwd, name);
-
-    const servePublicDirMiddleware = sirv(normalizedPath, {
+    const servePublicDirMiddleware = sirv(name, {
       etag: true,
       dev: true,
     });
-
     middlewares.push(servePublicDirMiddleware);
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/server/devServer.ts b/packages/core/src/server/devServer.ts
index b9f3ffa624..874385401a 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/server/devServer.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/server/devServer.ts
@@ -476,7 +476,6 @@ export async function createDevServer<
   });
 
   devMiddlewares = getDevMiddlewares({
-    pwd: root,
     buildManager,
     config,
     devServerAPI,
diff --git a/packages/core/tests/__snapshots__/environments.test.ts.snap b/packages/core/tests/__snapshots__/environments.test.ts.snap
index aefbf12aef..4ed67856a9 100644
--- a/packages/core/tests/__snapshots__/environments.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/core/tests/__snapshots__/environments.test.ts.snap
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should normalize environment config correctly 1`]
     "publicDir": [
       {
         "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-        "name": "public",
+        "name": "<ROOT>/public",
         "watch": false,
       },
     ],
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should normalize environment config correctly 2`]
     "publicDir": [
       {
         "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-        "name": "public",
+        "name": "<ROOT>/public",
         "watch": false,
       },
     ],
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should print environment config when inspect confi
       "publicDir": [
         {
           "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-          "name": "public",
+          "name": "<ROOT>/public",
           "watch": false,
         },
       ],
@@ -593,7 +593,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should print environment config when inspect confi
       "publicDir": [
         {
           "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-          "name": "public",
+          "name": "<ROOT>/public",
           "watch": false,
         },
       ],
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should support modify environment config by api.mo
       "publicDir": [
         {
           "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-          "name": "public",
+          "name": "<ROOT>/public",
           "watch": false,
         },
       ],
@@ -922,7 +922,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should support modify environment config by api.mo
       "publicDir": [
         {
           "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-          "name": "public",
+          "name": "<ROOT>/public",
           "watch": false,
         },
       ],
@@ -1077,7 +1077,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should support modify environment config by api.mo
       "publicDir": [
         {
           "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-          "name": "public",
+          "name": "<ROOT>/public",
           "watch": false,
         },
       ],
@@ -1234,7 +1234,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should support modify single environment config by
       "publicDir": [
         {
           "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-          "name": "public",
+          "name": "<ROOT>/public",
           "watch": false,
         },
       ],
@@ -1389,7 +1389,7 @@ exports[`environment config > should support modify single environment config by
       "publicDir": [
         {
           "copyOnBuild": "auto",
-          "name": "public",
+          "name": "<ROOT>/public",
           "watch": false,
         },
       ],