diff --git a/lib/jekyll/static_file.rb b/lib/jekyll/static_file.rb
index d888aff0..33155aea 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/static_file.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/static_file.rb
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ module Jekyll
 
       FileUtils.mkdir_p(File.dirname(dest_path))
       FileUtils.rm(dest_path) if File.exist?(dest_path)
-      if @site.safe || Jekyll.env.start_with?("prod")
+      if @site.safe
         FileUtils.cp(path, dest_path)
       else
         FileUtils.copy_entry(path, dest_path)