diff --git a/lib/build.js b/lib/build.js
index b7c2c9cf3d..64b79d3675 100644
--- a/lib/build.js
+++ b/lib/build.js
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ 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)
+  /* istanbul ignore if */
   if (this.dev && isUrl(this.options.build.publicPath)) {
     this.options.build.publicPath = defaults.publicPath
   }
diff --git a/test/fixtures/with-config/nuxt.config.js b/test/fixtures/with-config/nuxt.config.js
index 67d083887a..73780c0666 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/with-config/nuxt.config.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/with-config/nuxt.config.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ module.exports = {
     string: 'Nuxt.js'
   },
   build: {
-    publicPath: 'https://cdn.nuxtjs.org',
+    publicPath: '/orion/',
     analyze: {
       analyzerMode: 'disabled',
       generateStatsFile: true
diff --git a/test/with-config.test.js b/test/with-config.test.js
index 7f00f135e0..13b50b7452 100644
--- a/test/with-config.test.js
+++ b/test/with-config.test.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ test('/ (custom app.html)', async t => {
 
 test('/ (custom build.publicPath)', async t => {
   const { html } = await nuxt.renderRoute('/')
-  t.true(html.includes('src="https://cdn.nuxtjs.org/vendor.bundle'))
+  t.true(html.includes('src="/test/orion/vendor.bundle'))
 })
 
 test('/test/ (router base)', async t => {