diff --git a/browse/js/loader.js b/browse/js/loader.js
index 3116be3..eb473ca 100644
--- a/browse/js/loader.js
+++ b/browse/js/loader.js
@@ -62,12 +62,24 @@
 
     // Fetch children of a directory in server mode.
     // path must end with '/' so the request hits the directory route.
+    //
+    // 404 is treated as "empty directory" rather than a hard error.
+    // A directory that doesn't exist on the server (e.g. a fresh
+    // project's working/ before any drafts have been created, or a
+    // dir deleted between listing and expand) is functionally
+    // indistinguishable from an empty one for tree-rendering purposes.
+    // Server-side, zddc-server already returns 200 + [] for canonical
+    // project folders that are missing on disk; this fallback covers
+    // the same UX for anything else and for non-zddc-server backends.
     async function fetchServerChildren(path) {
         if (!path.endsWith('/')) path += '/';
         var resp = await fetch(path, {
             headers: { 'Accept': 'application/json' },
             credentials: 'same-origin'
         });
+        if (resp.status === 404) {
+            return [];
+        }
         if (!resp.ok) {
             throw new Error('HTTP ' + resp.status + ' fetching ' + path);
         }