diff --git a/django_vite/core/asset_loader.py b/django_vite/core/asset_loader.py
index f868ea0..316a825 100644
--- a/django_vite/core/asset_loader.py
+++ b/django_vite/core/asset_loader.py
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+import requests
+from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
 import json
+import urllib3
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Dict, List, Callable, NamedTuple, Optional, Union
 from urllib.parse import urljoin
@@ -51,6 +54,32 @@ class DjangoViteConfig(NamedTuple):
     react_refresh_url: str = "@react-refresh"
 
 
+def evaluate_dev_mode(config: DjangoViteConfig) -> bool:
+    """
+    ====
+    When running in "dev mode", check that an actual vite webserver is running
+    If not: fallback to serving the actual bundled version read from the manifest.json
+    ====
+    When "dev mode" was false to begin with, this means that we're running in prod and should never
+    check for a running vite webserver instance to begin with
+    """
+    if config.dev_mode:
+        print("Evaluating dev mode..")
+        # Hacky way to check if the vite webserver is serving something
+        vite_webserver_url = f"http://{config.dev_server_host}:{config.dev_server_port}/"
+        try:
+            session = requests.Session()
+            session.mount(vite_webserver_url, HTTPAdapter(max_retries=0))
+            response = session.get(vite_webserver_url)
+            return response.status_code == 404
+        except urllib3.exceptions.MaxRetryError:
+            return False
+        except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
+            return False
+    else:
+        return False
+
+
 class ManifestEntry(NamedTuple):
     """
     Represent an entry for a file inside the "manifest.json".
@@ -80,7 +109,6 @@ def __init__(
         self._config = config
         self.app_name = app_name
 
-        self.dev_mode = config.dev_mode
         self.manifest_path = self._clean_manifest_path()
         self.legacy_polyfills_motif = config.legacy_polyfills_motif
 
@@ -90,7 +118,7 @@ def __init__(
         # Don't crash if there is an error while parsing manifest.json.
         # Running DjangoViteAssetLoader.instance().checks() on startup will log any
         # errors.
-        if not self.dev_mode:
+        if not evaluate_dev_mode(config):
             try:
                 self._entries, self.legacy_polyfills_entry = self._parse_manifest()
             except DjangoViteManifestError:
@@ -120,7 +148,7 @@ def _clean_manifest_path(self) -> Path:
     def check(self) -> List[Warning]:
         """Check that manifest files are valid when dev_mode=False."""
         try:
-            if not self.dev_mode:
+            if not evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
                 self._parse_manifest()
             return []
         except DjangoViteManifestError as exception:
@@ -156,7 +184,7 @@ def _parse_manifest(self) -> ParsedManifestOutput:
             DjangoViteManifestError: if cannot load the file or JSON in file is
                 malformed.
         """
-        if self.dev_mode:
+        if evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
             return self.ParsedManifestOutput()
 
         entries: Dict[str, ManifestEntry] = {}
@@ -218,7 +246,6 @@ def __init__(
         self._config = config
         self.app_name = app_name
 
-        self.dev_mode = config.dev_mode
         self.dev_server_protocol = config.dev_server_protocol
         self.dev_server_host = config.dev_server_host
         self.dev_server_port = config.dev_server_port
@@ -241,7 +268,9 @@ def _get_dev_server_url(
         Returns:
             str -- Full URL to the asset.
         """
-        static_url_base = urljoin(settings.STATIC_URL, self.static_url_prefix)
+        # Override from default library, we don't want the static_url_base to be used as in our case
+        # this is an actual url and not a relative path
+        static_url_base = urljoin('', self.static_url_prefix)
         if not static_url_base.endswith("/"):
             static_url_base += "/"
 
@@ -302,7 +331,7 @@ def generate_vite_asset(
                 this asset in your page.
         """
 
-        if self.dev_mode:
+        if evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
             url = self._get_dev_server_url(path)
             return TagGenerator.script(
                 url,
@@ -367,7 +396,7 @@ def preload_vite_asset(
             str -- all <link> tags to preload
                 this asset.
         """
-        if self.dev_mode:
+        if evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
             return ""
 
         tags: List[Tag] = []
@@ -480,7 +509,7 @@ def generate_vite_asset_url(self, path: str) -> str:
             str -- The URL of this asset.
         """
 
-        if self.dev_mode:
+        if evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
             return self._get_dev_server_url(path)
 
         manifest_entry = self.manifest.get(path)
@@ -509,7 +538,7 @@ def generate_vite_legacy_polyfills(
             str -- The script tag to the polyfills.
         """
 
-        if self.dev_mode:
+        if evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
             return ""
 
         polyfills_manifest_entry = self.manifest.legacy_polyfills_entry
@@ -554,7 +583,7 @@ def generate_vite_legacy_asset(
             str -- The script tag of this legacy asset .
         """
 
-        if self.dev_mode:
+        if evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
             return ""
 
         manifest_entry = self.manifest.get(path)
@@ -580,7 +609,7 @@ def generate_vite_ws_client(self, **kwargs: Dict[str, str]) -> str:
                 script tags.
         """
 
-        if not self.dev_mode:
+        if not evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
             return ""
 
         url = self._get_dev_server_url(self.ws_client_url)
@@ -605,7 +634,7 @@ def generate_vite_react_refresh_url(self, **kwargs: Dict[str, str]) -> str:
             config_key {str} -- Key of the configuration to use.
         """
 
-        if not self.dev_mode:
+        if not evaluate_dev_mode(self._config):
             return ""
 
         url = self._get_dev_server_url(self.react_refresh_url)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index dfebe06..2ef2745 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
     ],
     install_requires=[
         "Django>=3.2",
+        "requests>=2.31.0",
+        "urllib3>=1.26.18",
     ],
     classifiers=[
         "License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License",