diff --git a/src/Controllers/TenantAssetsController.php b/src/Controllers/TenantAssetsController.php
index 1e2014a7..356c25dd 100644
--- a/src/Controllers/TenantAssetsController.php
+++ b/src/Controllers/TenantAssetsController.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ declare(strict_types=1);
 
 namespace Stancl\Tenancy\Controllers;
 
+use Exception;
 use Illuminate\Routing\Controller;
 use Throwable;
 
@@ -28,18 +29,41 @@ class TenantAssetsController extends Controller
     }
 
     /**
+     * Prevent path traversal attacks. This is generally a non-issue on modern
+     * webservers but it's still worth handling on the application level as well.
+     *
      * @throws \Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\HttpException
      */
     protected function validatePath(string|null $path): void
     {
-        abort_if($path === null, 404);
+        $this->abortIf($path === null, 'Empty path');
 
-        $allowedRoot = storage_path('app/public');
+        $allowedRoot = realpath(storage_path('app/public'));
 
-        // Prevent path traversal attacks. This is generally a non-issue on modern
-        // webservers but it's still worth handling on the application level as well.
-        if (! str(realpath("{$allowedRoot}/{$path}"))->startsWith($allowedRoot)) {
-            abort(403);
+        // `storage_path('app/public')` doesn't exist, so it cannot contain files
+        $this->abortIf($allowedRoot === false, "Storage root doesn't exist");
+
+        $attemptedPath = realpath("{$allowedRoot}/{$path}");
+
+        // User is attempting to access a nonexistent file
+        $this->abortIf($attemptedPath === false, 'Accessing a nonexistent file');
+
+        // User is attempting to access a file outside the $allowedRoot folder
+        $this->abortIf(! str($attemptedPath)->startsWith($allowedRoot), 'Accessing a file outside the storage root');
+    }
+
+    protected function abortIf($condition, $exceptionMessage): void
+    {
+        if ($condition) {
+            if (app()->runningUnitTests()) {
+                // Makes testing the cause of the failure in validatePath() easier
+                throw new Exception($exceptionMessage);
+            } else {
+                // We always use 404 to avoid leaking information about the cause of the error
+                // e.g. when someone is trying to access a nonexistent file outside of the allowed
+                // root folder, we don't want to let the user know whether such a file exists or not.
+                abort(404);
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/TenantAssetTest.php b/tests/TenantAssetTest.php
index c24767cc..8aabc0e2 100644
--- a/tests/TenantAssetTest.php
+++ b/tests/TenantAssetTest.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ declare(strict_types=1);
 
 namespace Stancl\Tenancy\Tests;
 
+use Exception;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Event;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;
@@ -134,24 +135,79 @@ class TenantAssetTest extends TestCase
         $tenant = Tenant::create();
 
         tenancy()->initialize($tenant);
-        $response = $this->get(tenant_asset(null), [
+
+        $this->withoutExceptionHandling();
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage('Empty path'); // outside tests this is a 404
+
+        $this->get(tenant_asset(null), [
             'X-Tenant' => $tenant->id,
         ]);
-
-        $response->assertNotFound();
     }
 
-    public function test_asset_controller_returns_a_403_when_an_invalid_path_is_provided()
+    public function test_asset_controller_returns_a_404_when_the_storage_root_doesnt_exist()
     {
         TenantAssetsController::$tenancyMiddleware = InitializeTenancyByRequestData::class;
 
         $tenant = Tenant::create();
 
         tenancy()->initialize($tenant);
-        $response = $this->get(tenant_asset('../foo.txt'), [
+
+        $storageRoot = storage_path("app/public");
+
+        if (is_dir($storageRoot)) {
+            rmdir(storage_path("app/public"));
+        }
+
+        $this->withoutExceptionHandling();
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage("Storage root doesn't exist"); // outside tests this is a 404
+
+        $this->get(tenant_asset('foo.txt'), [
             'X-Tenant' => $tenant->id,
         ]);
+    }
 
-        $response->assertForbidden();
+    public function test_asset_controller_returns_a_404_when_accessing_a_nonexistent_file()
+    {
+        TenantAssetsController::$tenancyMiddleware = InitializeTenancyByRequestData::class;
+
+        $tenant = Tenant::create();
+
+        tenancy()->initialize($tenant);
+
+        $storageRoot = storage_path("app/public");
+
+        if (! is_dir($storageRoot)) {
+            mkdir(storage_path("app/public"), recursive: true);
+        }
+
+        $this->withoutExceptionHandling();
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage("Accessing a nonexistent file"); // outside tests this is a 404
+
+        $this->get(tenant_asset('foo.txt'), [
+            'X-Tenant' => $tenant->id,
+        ]);
+    }
+
+    public function test_asset_controller_returns_a_404_when_accessing_a_file_outside_the_storage_root()
+    {
+        TenantAssetsController::$tenancyMiddleware = InitializeTenancyByRequestData::class;
+
+        $tenant = Tenant::create();
+
+        tenancy()->initialize($tenant);
+
+        $storageRoot = storage_path("app/public");
+
+        if (! is_dir($storageRoot)) {
+            mkdir(storage_path("app/public"), recursive: true);
+            file_put_contents(storage_path('app/foo.txt'), 'bar');
+        }
+
+        $this->withoutExceptionHandling();
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage('Accessing a file outside the storage root'); // outside tests this is a 404
+
+        $this->get(tenant_asset('../foo.txt'), [
+            'X-Tenant' => $tenant->id,
+        ]);
     }
 }