diff --git a/src/app/api/upload/route.ts b/src/app/api/upload/route.ts
index f0c3bed..a2b8bc8 100644
--- a/src/app/api/upload/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/upload/route.ts
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ export async function POST(request: Request) {
 
     await writeFile(path.join(UPLOADS_DIR, fileName), buffer);
 
-    return NextResponse.json({ url: `/uploads/${fileName}` });
+    return NextResponse.json({ url: `/api/uploads/${fileName}` });
   } catch {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Upload failed' }, { status: 500 });
   }
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ export async function GET() {
       const uploads = await readdir(UPLOADS_DIR);
       for (const file of uploads) {
         if (/\.(png|jpe?g|gif|webp|svg)$/i.test(file)) {
-          images.push({ url: `/uploads/${file}`, name: file });
+          images.push({ url: `/api/uploads/${file}`, name: file });
         }
       }
     }
@@ -149,7 +149,11 @@ export async function DELETE(request: Request) {
     }
 
     // Only allow deletion from known image directories
-    if (!url.startsWith('/uploads/') && !url.startsWith('/images/')) {
+    if (
+      !url.startsWith('/uploads/') &&
+      !url.startsWith('/images/') &&
+      !url.startsWith('/api/uploads/')
+    ) {
       return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Invalid image path' }, { status: 400 });
     }
 
@@ -157,7 +161,7 @@ export async function DELETE(request: Request) {
     const fileName = path.basename(url);
 
     // Determine the target directory based on the URL prefix
-    const targetDir = url.startsWith('/uploads/') ? UPLOADS_DIR : IMAGES_DIR;
+    const targetDir = url.startsWith('/images/') ? IMAGES_DIR : UPLOADS_DIR;
     const filePath = path.join(targetDir, fileName);
 
     // Verify the resolved path is still within the expected directory
diff --git a/src/app/api/uploads/[filename]/route.ts b/src/app/api/uploads/[filename]/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dde8ac5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/api/uploads/[filename]/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/**
+ * Uploaded file serving route
+ *
+ * Serves files from the uploads directory. This is needed in Next.js standalone
+ * mode because dynamically-added files in public/uploads/ are not served as
+ * static files (only files present at build time are included in the output).
+ *
+ * GET /api/uploads/[filename] — streams the file with correct Content-Type
+ */
+
+import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';
+import { readFile } from 'fs/promises';
+import path from 'path';
+import { existsSync } from 'fs';
+
+const UPLOADS_DIR = path.join(process.cwd(), 'public', 'uploads');
+
+const MIME_TYPES: Record<string, string> = {
+  '.png': 'image/png',
+  '.jpg': 'image/jpeg',
+  '.jpeg': 'image/jpeg',
+  '.gif': 'image/gif',
+  '.webp': 'image/webp',
+  '.svg': 'image/svg+xml',
+};
+
+export async function GET(
+  _request: Request,
+  { params }: { params: { filename: string } }
+) {
+  const filename = params.filename;
+
+  // Prevent path traversal — only allow plain filenames
+  if (!filename || filename.includes('/') || filename.includes('..')) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Invalid filename' }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  const ext = path.extname(filename).toLowerCase();
+  const mimeType = MIME_TYPES[ext];
+
+  if (!mimeType) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Unsupported file type' }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  const filePath = path.join(UPLOADS_DIR, filename);
+
+  if (!existsSync(filePath)) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Not found' }, { status: 404 });
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const buffer = await readFile(filePath);
+    return new NextResponse(buffer, {
+      headers: {
+        'Content-Type': mimeType,
+        'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=31536000, immutable',
+      },
+    });
+  } catch {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to read file' }, { status: 500 });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/middleware.ts b/src/middleware.ts
index d69d808..b410613 100644
--- a/src/middleware.ts
+++ b/src/middleware.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export default withAuth(
           pathname.startsWith('/api/setup') ||
           pathname.startsWith('/api/squares') ||
           pathname.startsWith('/api/settings') ||
+          pathname.startsWith('/api/uploads') ||
           pathname.startsWith('/api/users') ||
           pathname.startsWith('/_next') ||
           pathname.startsWith('/images')