diff --git a/changelog.d/8040-runtime-relative-chunk-require.md b/changelog.d/8040-runtime-relative-chunk-require.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..27c7b32b9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/8040-runtime-relative-chunk-require.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+A compiled production Next.js App Route no longer dies at startup with `Cannot find module './chunks/2.js'`.
+
+Next's production webpack runtime loads lazy chunks by a *computed* relative specifier — `.next/server/webpack-runtime.js` calls `require("./chunks/" + g.u(a))`. Perry's CJS `require` shim passed that string straight to the path→module registry, which is keyed by each module's **absolute** source path, so the lookup could never hit. Statically-known relative specifiers are resolved at compile time and never reach that branch; only computed ones do, which is why this only showed up on the real production route.
+
+The result was that every lazy chunk was unreachable at runtime even though it had been compiled into the image — all 104 modules of the #8034 fixture produced object files, `chunks/2.js` among them, and the host still exited during startup.
+
+Computed relative specifiers are now joined against the requiring module's own directory before the registry lookup. The `./` prefix is stripped textually rather than left to `std::fs::canonicalize`, which only normalizes paths that exist on disk while registration falls back to the raw string when they do not — relying on it would work from a source tree and silently fail in the deployed case the dylib packaging exists for.
+
+Refs #8040, #5438.
+
+A second defect sat behind the first. Even with the correct absolute key, the lookup missed: `perry_module_init` ran every eager module init *before* recording the path→init addresses, so a module performing a runtime path-require during its own init — which is exactly when Next's `webpack-runtime` loads a chunk — queried an init registry that was still empty. The addresses it needed were recorded a few instructions later.
+
+Recording is pure bookkeeping (no init runs at that point), so it now happens before the eager-init loop.
+
+Both defects had to be fixed to get past startup; either alone still fails, which is why the first fix alone showed no improvement.
diff --git a/crates/perry-codegen/src/codegen/entry.rs b/crates/perry-codegen/src/codegen/entry.rs
index 861d1823c0..ecb57bc9f0 100644
--- a/crates/perry-codegen/src/codegen/entry.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-codegen/src/codegen/entry.rs
@@ -630,12 +630,14 @@ pub(super) fn compile_module_entry(
             if !nextjs_path_inits.is_empty() {
                 blk.call_void("js_globalthis_seed_async_local_storage", &[]);
             }
-            for prefix in non_entry_module_prefixes {
-                if cross_module.deferred_module_prefixes.contains(prefix) {
-                    continue;
-                }
-                blk.call_void(&format!("{}__init", prefix), &[]);
-            }
+            // #8040: record the path->init addresses BEFORE the eager init
+            // loop below. Recording is pure bookkeeping — "No init runs here,
+            // only the address is recorded" — but a module that performs a
+            // runtime path-require DURING its own eager init (Next's
+            // webpack-runtime loads chunk 2 while initializing) previously hit
+            // an empty init registry and died with MODULE_NOT_FOUND, even
+            // though the chunk was compiled and its init address was about to
+            // be recorded a few instructions later.
             // Next.js wall 54 (part 2): record each Deferred `.next/server/**`
             // module's `__init` address under its absolute path so a runtime
             // `require(absolutePath)` (turbopack page/chunk loading) can trigger
@@ -655,6 +657,12 @@ pub(super) fn compile_module_entry(
                     ],
                 );
             }
+            for prefix in non_entry_module_prefixes {
+                if cross_module.deferred_module_prefixes.contains(prefix) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                blk.call_void(&format!("{}__init", prefix), &[]);
+            }
         }
         // Mark the boundary between init prelude and user code so
         // hoisted post-init setup (cached `@perry_class_keys_*` loads
diff --git a/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/cjs_wrap/preamble_canary_tests.rs b/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/cjs_wrap/preamble_canary_tests.rs
index 75ba6f15d7..249ac98013 100644
--- a/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/cjs_wrap/preamble_canary_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/cjs_wrap/preamble_canary_tests.rs
@@ -204,8 +204,15 @@ fn path_module_wrap_publishes_partial_then_final_exports_and_tracks_undefined()
         .rfind("__perry_register_path_module(")
         .expect("CJS wrapper must publish its final module.exports value");
     assert!(partial < body && body < final_publish, "{wrapped}");
+    // #8040: both the value lookup and the presence probe must consult the
+    // SAME resolved specifier. A computed relative request is joined against
+    // the module's directory before either call (`__perry_path_spec`), so a
+    // mismatch here would resolve the value from one path and the
+    // exists-but-undefined bit from another.
     assert!(
-        wrapped.contains("__perry_path_mod !== undefined || __perry_has_path_module(specifier)"),
+        wrapped.contains(
+            "__perry_path_mod !== undefined || __perry_has_path_module(__perry_path_spec)"
+        ),
         "an exported undefined value must not be mistaken for a registry miss\n{wrapped}"
     );
 
@@ -214,3 +221,43 @@ fn path_module_wrap_publishes_partial_then_final_exports_and_tracks_undefined()
     let ast = perry_parser::parse_typescript(&wrapped, "lazy.js").unwrap();
     perry_hir::lower_module(&ast, "lazy", &path.to_string_lossy()).unwrap();
 }
+
+/// #8040: Next's production webpack runtime loads lazy chunks with a *computed*
+/// relative specifier — `.next/server/webpack-runtime.js` calls
+/// `require("./chunks/" + g.u(a))`. The path->module registry is keyed by each
+/// module's ABSOLUTE source path, so handing it the raw `./chunks/2.js` could
+/// never hit: the compiled App Route died at startup with
+/// `Cannot find module './chunks/2.js'` even though that chunk had been
+/// compiled into the image alongside the other 103 modules.
+///
+/// Statically-known relative specifiers are resolved at compile time and never
+/// reach that branch, which is why only the real production route exposed it.
+#[test]
+fn computed_relative_requires_are_joined_against_the_module_dir() {
+    let path = Path::new("/tmp/perry-canary/.next/server/webpack-runtime.js");
+    let wrapped = wrap_commonjs_for_target(CJS_FIXTURE, path, None);
+
+    // Anti-vacuity: if the wrap stops consulting the registry at all, the
+    // assertions below would be about a branch that no longer exists.
+    assert!(
+        wrapped.contains("__perry_require_path_module("),
+        "the wrap no longer consults the path->module registry:\n{wrapped}"
+    );
+    // The join needs the module's own directory as a literal.
+    assert!(
+        wrapped.contains("/tmp/perry-canary/.next/server"),
+        "the wrap lost the module-dir literal the join needs:\n{wrapped}"
+    );
+    // The registry lookup must use the JOINED path...
+    assert!(
+        wrapped.contains("__perry_require_path_module(__perry_path_spec)"),
+        "computed relative requires are not joined before the registry lookup (#8040):\n{wrapped}"
+    );
+    // ...and must not still be handed the raw specifier, which is the shape
+    // that made every lazy chunk miss.
+    assert!(
+        !wrapped.contains("__perry_require_path_module(specifier)"),
+        "the raw-specifier registry lookup is still present; a computed \
+         './chunks/N.js' will miss it (#8040)"
+    );
+}
diff --git a/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/cjs_wrap/wrap.rs b/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/cjs_wrap/wrap.rs
index 3112ef1392..700ff71836 100644
--- a/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/cjs_wrap/wrap.rs
+++ b/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/cjs_wrap/wrap.rs
@@ -828,8 +828,31 @@ pub(in crate::commands::compile) fn wrap_commonjs_with_body_offset(
         // compiled module self-registers into at init; `undefined` = not
         // registered, fall through to the `.json` read / MODULE_NOT_FOUND throw.
         {{
-            const __perry_path_mod = __perry_require_path_module(specifier);
-            if (__perry_path_mod !== undefined || __perry_has_path_module(specifier)) return __perry_path_mod;
+            // A runtime-COMPUTED *relative* specifier never matches that
+            // registry, which is keyed by absolute source path. Next's
+            // production webpack runtime does exactly this — `.next/server/
+            // webpack-runtime.js` calls `require("./chunks/" + g.u(a))` — so
+            // every lazy chunk missed and the App Route died at startup with
+            // `Cannot find module './chunks/2.js'` even though that chunk WAS
+            // compiled into the image. Statically-known relative specifiers are
+            // already handled by the cases above; only computed ones reach
+            // here, so join them against this module's own directory.
+            //
+            // The `./` prefix is stripped textually rather than left to
+            // `std::fs::canonicalize`: that only normalizes a path that exists
+            // on disk, and registration falls back to the raw string when it
+            // does not, so `<dir>/./chunks/2.js` would miss `<dir>/chunks/2.js`
+            // in exactly the deployed case where the sources are absent.
+            var __perry_path_spec = specifier;
+            if (specifier.charCodeAt(0) === 46) {{
+                if (specifier.charCodeAt(1) === 47) {{
+                    __perry_path_spec = {module_dir_literal} + '/' + specifier.slice(2);
+                }} else if (specifier.charCodeAt(1) === 46 && specifier.charCodeAt(2) === 47) {{
+                    __perry_path_spec = {module_dir_literal} + '/' + specifier;
+                }}
+            }}
+            const __perry_path_mod = __perry_require_path_module(__perry_path_spec);
+            if (__perry_path_mod !== undefined || __perry_has_path_module(__perry_path_spec)) return __perry_path_mod;
         }}
         // Runtime `require(absolutePath)` of a `.json` file (Next.js loads
         // manifests this way: `require(this.middlewareManifestPath)`). Node's