diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/loader.ts b/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/loader.ts
index e6e41fde0090..f84c8ef1ee76 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/loader.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/loader.ts
@@ -28,10 +28,6 @@ import type {LoaderContext} from 'webpack';
 // See https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/issues/49721#issuecomment-1517839391
 type Pluggable = any; // TODO fix this asap
 
-const {
-  loaders: {inlineMarkdownAssetImageFileLoader},
-} = getFileLoaderUtils();
-
 export type MDXPlugin = Pluggable;
 
 export type Options = Partial<MDXOptions> & {
@@ -72,7 +68,13 @@ async function readMetadataPath(metadataPath: string) {
  *
  * `{image: "./myImage.png"}` => `{image: require("./myImage.png")}`
  */
-function createAssetsExportCode(assets: unknown) {
+function createAssetsExportCode({
+  assets,
+  inlineMarkdownAssetImageFileLoader,
+}: {
+  assets: unknown;
+  inlineMarkdownAssetImageFileLoader: string;
+}) {
   if (
     typeof assets !== 'object' ||
     !assets ||
@@ -245,13 +247,23 @@ ${JSON.stringify(frontMatter, null, 2)}`;
       ? options.createAssets({frontMatter, metadata})
       : undefined;
 
+  const fileLoaderUtils = getFileLoaderUtils(compilerName === 'server');
+
   // TODO use remark plugins to insert extra exports instead of string concat?
   // cf how the toc is exported
   const exportsCode = `
 export const frontMatter = ${stringifyObject(frontMatter)};
 export const contentTitle = ${stringifyObject(contentTitle)};
 ${metadataJsonString ? `export const metadata = ${metadataJsonString};` : ''}
-${assets ? `export const assets = ${createAssetsExportCode(assets)};` : ''}
+${
+  assets
+    ? `export const assets = ${createAssetsExportCode({
+        assets,
+        inlineMarkdownAssetImageFileLoader:
+          fileLoaderUtils.loaders.inlineMarkdownAssetImageFileLoader,
+      })};`
+    : ''
+}
 `;
 
   const code = `
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/remark/transformImage/index.ts b/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/remark/transformImage/index.ts
index 02672d104d28..6799da505466 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/remark/transformImage/index.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/remark/transformImage/index.ts
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ import {
   toMessageRelativeFilePath,
   posixPath,
   escapePath,
-  getFileLoaderUtils,
   findAsyncSequential,
+  getFileLoaderUtils,
 } from '@docusaurus/utils';
 import escapeHtml from 'escape-html';
 import sizeOf from 'image-size';
@@ -27,10 +27,6 @@ import type {MdxJsxTextElement} from 'mdast-util-mdx';
 import type {Image} from 'mdast';
 import type {Parent} from 'unist';
 
-const {
-  loaders: {inlineMarkdownImageFileLoader},
-} = getFileLoaderUtils();
-
 type PluginOptions = {
   staticDirs: string[];
   siteDir: string;
@@ -38,6 +34,7 @@ type PluginOptions = {
 
 type Context = PluginOptions & {
   filePath: string;
+  inlineMarkdownImageFileLoader: string;
 };
 
 type Target = [node: Image, index: number, parent: Parent];
@@ -45,21 +42,21 @@ type Target = [node: Image, index: number, parent: Parent];
 async function toImageRequireNode(
   [node]: Target,
   imagePath: string,
-  filePath: string,
+  context: Context,
 ) {
   // MdxJsxTextElement => see https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/pull/8288#discussion_r1125871405
   const jsxNode = node as unknown as MdxJsxTextElement;
   const attributes: MdxJsxTextElement['attributes'] = [];
 
   let relativeImagePath = posixPath(
-    path.relative(path.dirname(filePath), imagePath),
+    path.relative(path.dirname(context.filePath), imagePath),
   );
   relativeImagePath = `./${relativeImagePath}`;
 
   const parsedUrl = url.parse(node.url);
   const hash = parsedUrl.hash ?? '';
   const search = parsedUrl.search ?? '';
-  const requireString = `${inlineMarkdownImageFileLoader}${
+  const requireString = `${context.inlineMarkdownImageFileLoader}${
     escapePath(relativeImagePath) + search
   }`;
   if (node.alt) {
@@ -186,21 +183,26 @@ async function processImageNode(target: Target, context: Context) {
   // We try to convert image urls without protocol to images with require calls
   // going through webpack ensures that image assets exist at build time
   const imagePath = await getImageAbsolutePath(parsedUrl.pathname, context);
-  await toImageRequireNode(target, imagePath, context.filePath);
+  await toImageRequireNode(target, imagePath, context);
 }
 
 export default function plugin(options: PluginOptions): Transformer {
   return async (root, vfile) => {
     const {visit} = await import('unist-util-visit');
 
+    const fileLoaderUtils = getFileLoaderUtils(
+      vfile.data.compilerName === 'server',
+    );
+    const context: Context = {
+      ...options,
+      filePath: vfile.path!,
+      inlineMarkdownImageFileLoader:
+        fileLoaderUtils.loaders.inlineMarkdownImageFileLoader,
+    };
+
     const promises: Promise<void>[] = [];
     visit(root, 'image', (node: Image, index, parent) => {
-      promises.push(
-        processImageNode([node, index, parent!], {
-          ...options,
-          filePath: vfile.path!,
-        }),
-      );
+      promises.push(processImageNode([node, index, parent!], context));
     });
     await Promise.all(promises);
   };
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/remark/transformLinks/index.ts b/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/remark/transformLinks/index.ts
index 179bcadb770d..056c460956dd 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/remark/transformLinks/index.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-mdx-loader/src/remark/transformLinks/index.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ import {
   toMessageRelativeFilePath,
   posixPath,
   escapePath,
-  getFileLoaderUtils,
   findAsyncSequential,
+  getFileLoaderUtils,
 } from '@docusaurus/utils';
 import escapeHtml from 'escape-html';
 import {assetRequireAttributeValue, transformNode} from '../utils';
@@ -24,10 +24,6 @@ import type {MdxJsxTextElement} from 'mdast-util-mdx';
 import type {Parent} from 'unist';
 import type {Link, Literal} from 'mdast';
 
-const {
-  loaders: {inlineMarkdownLinkFileLoader},
-} = getFileLoaderUtils();
-
 type PluginOptions = {
   staticDirs: string[];
   siteDir: string;
@@ -35,6 +31,7 @@ type PluginOptions = {
 
 type Context = PluginOptions & {
   filePath: string;
+  inlineMarkdownLinkFileLoader: string;
 };
 
 type Target = [node: Link, index: number, parent: Parent];
@@ -45,7 +42,7 @@ type Target = [node: Link, index: number, parent: Parent];
 async function toAssetRequireNode(
   [node]: Target,
   assetPath: string,
-  filePath: string,
+  context: Context,
 ) {
   // MdxJsxTextElement => see https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/pull/8288#discussion_r1125871405
   const jsxNode = node as unknown as MdxJsxTextElement;
@@ -53,7 +50,7 @@ async function toAssetRequireNode(
 
   // require("assets/file.pdf") means requiring from a package called assets
   const relativeAssetPath = `./${posixPath(
-    path.relative(path.dirname(filePath), assetPath),
+    path.relative(path.dirname(context.filePath), assetPath),
   )}`;
 
   const parsedUrl = url.parse(node.url);
@@ -65,7 +62,9 @@ async function toAssetRequireNode(
     path.extname(relativeAssetPath) === '.json'
       ? `${relativeAssetPath.replace('.json', '.raw')}!=`
       : ''
-  }${inlineMarkdownLinkFileLoader}${escapePath(relativeAssetPath) + search}`;
+  }${context.inlineMarkdownLinkFileLoader}${
+    escapePath(relativeAssetPath) + search
+  }`;
 
   attributes.push({
     type: 'mdxJsxAttribute',
@@ -196,7 +195,7 @@ async function processLinkNode(target: Target, context: Context) {
     context,
   );
   if (assetPath) {
-    await toAssetRequireNode(target, assetPath, context.filePath);
+    await toAssetRequireNode(target, assetPath, context);
   }
 }
 
@@ -204,14 +203,19 @@ export default function plugin(options: PluginOptions): Transformer {
   return async (root, vfile) => {
     const {visit} = await import('unist-util-visit');
 
+    const fileLoaderUtils = getFileLoaderUtils(
+      vfile.data.compilerName === 'server',
+    );
+    const context: Context = {
+      ...options,
+      filePath: vfile.path!,
+      inlineMarkdownLinkFileLoader:
+        fileLoaderUtils.loaders.inlineMarkdownLinkFileLoader,
+    };
+
     const promises: Promise<void>[] = [];
     visit(root, 'link', (node: Link, index, parent) => {
-      promises.push(
-        processLinkNode([node, index, parent!], {
-          ...options,
-          filePath: vfile.path!,
-        }),
-      );
+      promises.push(processLinkNode([node, index, parent!], context));
     });
     await Promise.all(promises);
   };
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/webpackUtils.ts b/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/webpackUtils.ts
index 411b5a0fee22..208c48728f01 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/webpackUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/webpackUtils.ts
@@ -50,12 +50,13 @@ type FileLoaderUtils = {
   };
 };
 
-/**
- * Returns unified loader configurations to be used for various file types.
- *
- * Inspired by https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/blob/8e6e021014da310b9cc7d02e58c9b3efe938c665/packages/gatsby/src/utils/webpack-utils.ts#L447
- */
-export function getFileLoaderUtils(): FileLoaderUtils {
+// TODO this historical code is quite messy
+//  We should try to get rid of it and move to assets pipeline
+function createFileLoaderUtils({
+  isServer,
+}: {
+  isServer: boolean;
+}): FileLoaderUtils {
   // Files/images < urlLoaderLimit will be inlined as base64 strings directly in
   // the html
   const urlLoaderLimit = WEBPACK_URL_LOADER_LIMIT;
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ export function getFileLoaderUtils(): FileLoaderUtils {
       loader: require.resolve(`file-loader`),
       options: {
         name: fileLoaderFileName(options.folder),
+        emitFile: !isServer,
       },
     }),
     url: (options: {folder: AssetFolder}) => ({
@@ -80,6 +82,7 @@ export function getFileLoaderUtils(): FileLoaderUtils {
         limit: urlLoaderLimit,
         name: fileLoaderFileName(options.folder),
         fallback: require.resolve('file-loader'),
+        emitFile: !isServer,
       },
     }),
 
@@ -92,13 +95,19 @@ export function getFileLoaderUtils(): FileLoaderUtils {
       require.resolve('url-loader'),
     )}?limit=${urlLoaderLimit}&name=${fileLoaderFileName(
       'images',
-    )}&fallback=${escapePath(require.resolve('file-loader'))}!`,
+    )}&fallback=${escapePath(require.resolve('file-loader'))}${
+      isServer ? `&emitFile=false` : ''
+    }!`,
     inlineMarkdownAssetImageFileLoader: `!${escapePath(
       require.resolve('file-loader'),
-    )}?name=${fileLoaderFileName('images')}!`,
+    )}?name=${fileLoaderFileName('images')}${
+      isServer ? `&emitFile=false` : ''
+    }!`,
     inlineMarkdownLinkFileLoader: `!${escapePath(
       require.resolve('file-loader'),
-    )}?name=${fileLoaderFileName('files')}!`,
+    )}?name=${fileLoaderFileName('files')}${
+      isServer ? `&emitFile=false` : ''
+    }!`,
   };
 
   const rules: FileLoaderUtils['rules'] = {
@@ -173,3 +182,16 @@ export function getFileLoaderUtils(): FileLoaderUtils {
 
   return {loaders, rules};
 }
+
+const FileLoaderUtilsMap = {
+  server: createFileLoaderUtils({isServer: true}),
+  client: createFileLoaderUtils({isServer: false}),
+};
+
+/**
+ * Returns unified loader configurations to be used for various file types.
+ * Inspired by https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/blob/8e6e021014da310b9cc7d02e58c9b3efe938c665/packages/gatsby/src/utils/webpack-utils.ts#L447
+ */
+export function getFileLoaderUtils(isServer: boolean): FileLoaderUtils {
+  return isServer ? FileLoaderUtilsMap.server : FileLoaderUtilsMap.client;
+}
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/src/webpack/base.ts b/packages/docusaurus/src/webpack/base.ts
index 872ed041cdd2..abe93deb0095 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus/src/webpack/base.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/src/webpack/base.ts
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ export async function createBaseConfig({
   const isProd = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production';
   const minimizeEnabled = minify && isProd;
 
-  const fileLoaderUtils = getFileLoaderUtils();
+  const fileLoaderUtils = getFileLoaderUtils(isServer);
 
   const name = isServer ? 'server' : 'client';
   const mode = isProd ? 'production' : 'development';