diff --git a/lib/build.js b/lib/build.js
index 9bb27c54de..3d76a5d218 100644
--- a/lib/build.js
+++ b/lib/build.js
@@ -83,6 +83,14 @@ export function options () {
   if (this.options.build && !Array.isArray(this.options.build.loaders)) extraDefaults.loaders = defaultsLoaders
   if (this.options.build && !Array.isArray(this.options.build.postcss)) extraDefaults.postcss = defaultsPostcss
   this.options.build = _.defaultsDeep(this.options.build, defaults, extraDefaults)
+  if (this.options.build.publicPath.indexOf('http') === 0) {
+    // activate only in production mode
+    if (this.dev) {
+      this.options.build.publicPath = defaults.publicPath
+    } else {
+      this.options.nuxtStatic = false
+    }
+  }
   // Production, create server-renderer
   if (!this.dev) {
     const serverConfig = getWebpackServerConfig.call(this)
diff --git a/lib/generate.js b/lib/generate.js
index 9f37dfc469..1bf2eb38b4 100644
--- a/lib/generate.js
+++ b/lib/generate.js
@@ -22,15 +22,6 @@ const defaults = {
 export default function () {
   const s = Date.now()
   /*
-  ** Update loaders config to add router.base path
-  */
-  // this.options.build.loaders.forEach((config) => {
-  //   if (['file', 'url', 'file-loader', 'url-loader'].includes(config.loader)) {
-  //     config.query = config.query || {}
-  //     config.query.publicPath = urlJoin(this.options.router.base, '/_nuxt/')
-  //   }
-  // })
-  /*
   ** Set variables
   */
   this.options.generate = _.defaultsDeep(this.options.generate, defaults)
@@ -38,7 +29,7 @@ export default function () {
   var srcStaticPath = resolve(this.srcDir, 'static')
   var srcBuiltPath = resolve(this.dir, '.nuxt', 'dist')
   var distPath = resolve(this.dir, this.options.generate.dir)
-  var distNuxtPath = resolve(distPath, '_nuxt')
+  var distNuxtPath = join(distPath, (this.options.build.publicPath.indexOf('http') === 0 ? '_nuxt' : this.options.build.publicPath))
   return co(function * () {
     /*
     ** Launch build process
diff --git a/lib/nuxt.js b/lib/nuxt.js
index 6982b29049..0e2bf46779 100644
--- a/lib/nuxt.js
+++ b/lib/nuxt.js
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ class Nuxt {
     this.renderer = null
     // For serving static/ files to /
     this.serveStatic = pify(serveStatic(resolve(this.srcDir, 'static')))
-    // For serving .nuxt/dist/ files
-    this._nuxtRegexp = /^\/_nuxt\//
+    // For serving .nuxt/dist/ files (only when build.publicPath is not an URL)
+    this.options.nuxtStatic = true
     this.serveStaticNuxt = pify(serveStatic(resolve(this.dir, '.nuxt', 'dist')))
     // Add this.Server Class
     this.Server = Server
diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index aac0823475..65ab11edee 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export function * waitFor (ms) {
 }
 
 export function urlJoin () {
-  return [].slice.call(arguments).join('/').replace(/\/+/g, '/')
+  return [].slice.call(arguments).join('/').replace(/\/+/g, '/').replace(':/', '://')
 }
 
 export function promisifyRouteParams (fn) {
diff --git a/lib/webpack/base.config.js b/lib/webpack/base.config.js
index 017f7e99ae..7e97ebe31d 100644
--- a/lib/webpack/base.config.js
+++ b/lib/webpack/base.config.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export default function ({ isClient, isServer }) {
       vendor: ['vue', 'vue-router', 'vue-meta']
     },
     output: {
-      publicPath: urlJoin(this.options.router.base, '/_nuxt/')
+      publicPath: (this.options.build.publicPath.indexOf('http') === 0 ? this.options.build.publicPath : urlJoin(this.options.router.base, this.options.build.publicPath))
     },
     performance: {
       hints: (this.dev ? false : 'warning')