diff --git a/caddy/caddy.go b/caddy/caddy.go
index 330546aaf9..52eb874843 100644
--- a/caddy/caddy.go
+++ b/caddy/caddy.go
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
+const defaultDocumentRoot = "public"
+
 func init() {
 	caddy.RegisterModule(FrankenPHPApp{})
 	caddy.RegisterModule(FrankenPHPModule{})
@@ -220,13 +222,18 @@ func (f *FrankenPHPModule) Provision(ctx caddy.Context) error {
 	f.logger = ctx.Logger(f)
 
 	if f.Root == "" {
-		if frankenphp.EmbeddedDocumentRoot == "" {
+		if frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath == "" {
 			f.Root = "{http.vars.root}"
 		} else {
-			f.Root = frankenphp.EmbeddedDocumentRoot
+			f.Root = frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath + defaultDocumentRoot
 			f.ResolveRootSymlink = false
 		}
+	} else {
+		if frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath != "" && filepath.IsLocal(f.Root) {
+			f.Root = filepath.Join(frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath, f.Root)
+		}
 	}
+
 	if len(f.SplitPath) == 0 {
 		f.SplitPath = []string{".php"}
 	}
@@ -433,10 +440,15 @@ func parsePhpServer(h httpcaddyfile.Helper) ([]httpcaddyfile.ConfigValue, error)
 	// unmarshaler can read it from the start
 	dispenser.Reset()
 
-	if phpsrv.Root == "" && frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath != "" {
-		phpsrv.Root = frankenphp.EmbeddedDocumentRoot
-		fsrv.Root = frankenphp.EmbeddedDocumentRoot
-		phpsrv.ResolveRootSymlink = false
+	if frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath != "" {
+		if phpsrv.Root == "" {
+			phpsrv.Root = frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath + defaultDocumentRoot
+			fsrv.Root = phpsrv.Root
+			phpsrv.ResolveRootSymlink = false
+		} else if filepath.IsLocal(fsrv.Root) {
+			phpsrv.Root = filepath.Join(frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath, phpsrv.Root)
+			fsrv.Root = phpsrv.Root
+		}
 	}
 
 	// set up a route list that we'll append to
diff --git a/caddy/php-server.go b/caddy/php-server.go
index f173f8a21f..ebea1a2868 100644
--- a/caddy/php-server.go
+++ b/caddy/php-server.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
@@ -61,8 +62,12 @@ func cmdPHPServer(fs caddycmd.Flags) (int, error) {
 	debug := fs.Bool("debug")
 	compress := !fs.Bool("no-compress")
 
-	if root == "" && frankenphp.EmbeddedDocumentRoot != "" {
-		root = frankenphp.EmbeddedDocumentRoot
+	if frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath != "" {
+		if root == "" {
+			root = frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath + defaultDocumentRoot
+		} else if filepath.IsLocal(root) {
+			root = filepath.Join(frankenphp.EmbeddedAppPath, root)
+		}
 	}
 
 	const indexFile = "index.php"
diff --git a/embed.go b/embed.go
index 7eba1cde0a..3f54981c23 100644
--- a/embed.go
+++ b/embed.go
@@ -13,21 +13,21 @@ import (
 )
 
 const embedDir = "embed"
-const publicDir = "public"
 
 // The path of the embedded PHP application (empty if none)
 var EmbeddedAppPath string
 
-// The path of the document root of the embedded PHP application (empty if none)
-var EmbeddedDocumentRoot string
-
 //go:embed all:embed
 var embeddedApp embed.FS
 
 func init() {
-	_, err := embeddedApp.ReadDir(embedDir + "/" + publicDir)
+	entries, err := embeddedApp.ReadDir(embedDir)
 	if err != nil {
-		// no embedded app
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	if len(entries) == 1 && entries[0].Name() == embedDir+"/.gitignore" {
+		//no embedded app
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -45,11 +45,6 @@ func init() {
 	h := md5.Sum([]byte(e))
 	appPath := fmt.Sprintf("%sfrankenphp_%s/", os.TempDir(), hex.EncodeToString(h[:]))
 
-	entries, err := embeddedApp.ReadDir(embedDir)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-
 	if err := os.RemoveAll(appPath); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
@@ -59,7 +54,6 @@ func init() {
 	}
 
 	EmbeddedAppPath = appPath
-	EmbeddedDocumentRoot = appPath + publicDir
 }
 
 func copyToDisk(appPath string, currentDir string, entries []fs.DirEntry) error {
diff --git a/frankenphp.go b/frankenphp.go
index a0ba4fadb8..820d74cad8 100644
--- a/frankenphp.go
+++ b/frankenphp.go
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ func Init(options ...Option) error {
 
 	logger.Info("FrankenPHP started 🐘", zap.String("php_version", Version().Version))
 	if EmbeddedAppPath != "" {
-		logger.Info("embedded PHP app 📦", zap.String("path", EmbeddedAppPath), zap.String("document_root", EmbeddedDocumentRoot))
+		logger.Info("embedded PHP app 📦", zap.String("path", EmbeddedAppPath))
 	}
 
 	return nil