diff --git a/actix-files/src/files.rs b/actix-files/src/files.rs
index afc852a18..a5e22a6d0 100644
--- a/actix-files/src/files.rs
+++ b/actix-files/src/files.rs
@@ -96,6 +96,9 @@ impl Files {
     /// If the mount path is set as the root path `/`, services registered after this one will
     /// be inaccessible. Register more specific handlers and services first.
     ///
+    /// If `serve_from` cannot be canonicalized at startup, an error is logged and the original
+    /// path is preserved. Requests will return `404 Not Found` until the path exists.
+    ///
     /// `Files` utilizes the existing Tokio thread-pool for blocking filesystem operations.
     /// The number of running threads is adjusted over time as needed, up to a maximum of 512 times
     /// the number of server [workers](actix_web::HttpServer::workers), by default.
@@ -105,7 +108,8 @@ impl Files {
             Ok(canon_dir) => canon_dir,
             Err(_) => {
                 log::error!("Specified path is not a directory: {:?}", orig_dir);
-                PathBuf::new()
+                // Preserve original path so requests don't fall back to CWD.
+                orig_dir
             }
         };
 
diff --git a/actix-files/src/lib.rs b/actix-files/src/lib.rs
index b0bb76ace..43bda9585 100644
--- a/actix-files/src/lib.rs
+++ b/actix-files/src/lib.rs
@@ -780,6 +780,16 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::NOT_FOUND);
     }
 
+    #[actix_rt::test]
+    async fn test_static_files_bad_directory_does_not_serve_cwd_files() {
+        let service = Files::new("/", "./missing").new_service(()).await.unwrap();
+
+        let req = TestRequest::with_uri("/Cargo.toml").to_srv_request();
+        let resp = test::call_service(&service, req).await;
+
+        assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::NOT_FOUND);
+    }
+
     #[actix_rt::test]
     async fn test_default_handler_file_missing() {
         let st = Files::new("/", ".")