diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a37d72f3..f93ed702 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -76,13 +76,6 @@ You can run:
 yarn install --ignore-engines
 ```
 
-Next, run the following commands:
-
-```
-yarn build
-mv build/ ../server/curfu/build
-```
-
 Then start the development server:
 
 ```commandline
diff --git a/server/src/curfu/main.py b/server/src/curfu/main.py
index 0f5df845..694cf2d4 100644
--- a/server/src/curfu/main.py
+++ b/server/src/curfu/main.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 """Provide FastAPI application and route declarations."""
 
+import logging
 from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@
     validate,
 )
 
+_logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 fastapi_app = FastAPI(
     title="Fusion Curation API",
     description="Provide data functions to support [VICC Fusion Curation interface](fusion-builder.cancervariants.org/).",
@@ -66,32 +69,46 @@
 
 
 def serve_react_app(app: FastAPI) -> FastAPI:
-    """Wrap application initialization in Starlette route param converter.
+    """Wrap application initialization in Starlette route param converter. This ensures
+    that the static web client files can be served from the backend.
+
+    Client source must be available at the location specified by `BUILD_DIR` in a
+    production environment. However, this may not be necessary during local development,
+    so the `RuntimeError` is simply caught and logged.
+
+    For the live service, `.ebextensions/01_build.config` includes code to build a
+    production version of the client and move it to the proper location.
 
     :param app: FastAPI application instance
     :return: application with React frontend mounted
     """
-    app.mount(
-        "/static/",
-        StaticFiles(directory=BUILD_DIR / "static"),
-        name="React application static files",
-    )
-    templates = Jinja2Templates(directory=BUILD_DIR.as_posix())
-
-    @app.get("/{full_path:path}", include_in_schema=False)
-    async def serve_react_app(request: Request, full_path: str) -> TemplateResponse:  # noqa: ARG001
-        """Add arbitrary path support to FastAPI service.
-
-        React-router provides something akin to client-side routing based out
-        of the Javascript embedded in index.html. However, FastAPI will intercede
-        and handle all client requests, and will 404 on any non-server-defined paths.
-        This function reroutes those otherwise failed requests against the React-Router
-        client, allowing it to redirect the client to the appropriate location.
-        :param request: client request object
-        :param full_path: request path
-        :return: Starlette template response object
-        """
-        return templates.TemplateResponse("index.html", {"request": request})
+    try:
+        static_files = StaticFiles(directory=BUILD_DIR / "static")
+    except RuntimeError:
+        _logger.error("Unable to access static build files -- does the folder exist?")
+    else:
+        app.mount(
+            "/static/",
+            static_files,
+            name="React application static files",
+        )
+        templates = Jinja2Templates(directory=BUILD_DIR.as_posix())
+
+        @app.get("/{full_path:path}", include_in_schema=False)
+        async def serve_react_app(request: Request, full_path: str) -> TemplateResponse:  # noqa: ARG001
+            """Add arbitrary path support to FastAPI service.
+
+            React-router provides something akin to client-side routing based out
+            of the Javascript embedded in index.html. However, FastAPI will intercede
+            and handle all client requests, and will 404 on any non-server-defined paths.
+            This function reroutes those otherwise failed requests against the React-Router
+            client, allowing it to redirect the client to the appropriate location.
+
+            :param request: client request object
+            :param full_path: request path
+            :return: Starlette template response object
+            """
+            return templates.TemplateResponse("index.html", {"request": request})
 
     return app