diff --git a/.changeset/nervous-flowers-tell.md b/.changeset/nervous-flowers-tell.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d07cdf8adc55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/nervous-flowers-tell.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"astro": patch
+---
+
+Fix build failure caused by read-only files under /public (in the presence of client-side JS).
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/build/static-build.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/build/static-build.ts
index 3fc40035d653..0b5486d3b729 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/build/static-build.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/build/static-build.ts
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ async function clientBuild(
 			...viteConfig.build,
 			emptyOutDir: false,
 			outDir: fileURLToPath(out),
+			copyPublicDir: ssr,
 			rollupOptions: {
 				...viteConfig.build?.rollupOptions,
 				input: Array.from(input),
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/build-readonly-file.test.js b/packages/astro/test/build-readonly-file.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..bf6dd3fa4400
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/build-readonly-file.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import { after, before, describe, it } from 'node:test';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
+import testAdapter from './test-adapter.js';
+import { loadFixture } from './test-utils.js';
+
+describe('When a read-only file exists in /public (static)', () => {
+	let fixture;
+	let testFilePath;
+
+	before(async () => {
+		fixture = await loadFixture({
+			root: './fixtures/build-readonly-file/',
+		});
+
+		testFilePath = fileURLToPath(fixture.config.publicDir) + 'test.txt';
+		fs.chmodSync(testFilePath, 0o444);
+	});
+
+	it('Gets successfully build', async () => {
+		await fixture.build();
+	});
+
+	after(() => {
+		fs.chmodSync(testFilePath, 0o666);
+		fixture.clean();
+	});
+});
+
+describe('When a read-only file exists in /public (server)', () => {
+	let fixture;
+	let testFilePath;
+
+	before(async () => {
+		fixture = await loadFixture({
+			root: './fixtures/build-readonly-file/',
+			adapter: testAdapter(),
+		});
+
+		testFilePath = fileURLToPath(fixture.config.publicDir) + 'test.txt';
+		fs.chmodSync(testFilePath, 0o444);
+	});
+
+	it('Gets successfully build', async () => {
+		await fixture.build();
+	});
+
+	after(() => {
+		fs.chmodSync(testFilePath, 0o666);
+		fixture.clean();
+	});
+});
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/package.json b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6ec4bae2ca2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "name": "@test/build-readonly-file",
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "private": true,
+  "dependencies": {
+    "astro": "workspace:*"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/public/test.txt b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/public/test.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..30d74d258442
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/public/test.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+test
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/src/pages/index.astro b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/src/pages/index.astro
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..56c6ade3b45d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file/src/pages/index.astro
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+---
+<script>
+    console.log('test');
+</script>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 1cd930ed3b79..d36088bc2e69 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -2327,6 +2327,12 @@ importers:
         specifier: ^10.19.2
         version: 10.19.3
 
+  packages/astro/test/fixtures/build-readonly-file:
+    dependencies:
+      astro:
+        specifier: workspace:*
+        version: link:../../..
+
   packages/astro/test/fixtures/client-address:
     dependencies:
       astro: