diff --git a/server/src/app.ts b/server/src/app.ts
index d663654f..b21ec39f 100644
--- a/server/src/app.ts
+++ b/server/src/app.ts
@@ -134,9 +134,10 @@ export async function createApp(
     ];
     const uiDist = candidates.find((p) => fs.existsSync(path.join(p, "index.html")));
     if (uiDist) {
+      const indexHtml = fs.readFileSync(path.join(uiDist, "index.html"), "utf-8");
       app.use(express.static(uiDist));
       app.get(/.*/, (_req, res) => {
-        res.sendFile("index.html", { root: uiDist });
+        res.status(200).set("Content-Type", "text/html").end(indexHtml);
       });
     } else {
       console.warn("[paperclip] UI dist not found; running in API-only mode");