diff --git a/internal/project/project.go b/internal/project/project.go
index f966c69..7a3124f 100644
--- a/internal/project/project.go
+++ b/internal/project/project.go
@@ -145,10 +145,7 @@ func (p *Project) ValidateLayout() error {
 	} {
 		info, err := os.Stat(path)
 		if err != nil {
-			if label == "paths.assets" && errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) && p.isCachePath(path) {
-				if mkErr := os.MkdirAll(path, 0o755); mkErr != nil {
-					failures = append(failures, fmt.Errorf("%s: create cache directory %s: %w", label, path, mkErr))
-				}
+			if label == "paths.assets" && errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
 				continue
 			}
 			failures = append(failures, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", label, err))
@@ -166,15 +163,6 @@ func (p *Project) ValidateLayout() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (p *Project) isCachePath(path string) bool {
-	rel, err := filepath.Rel(p.Root, path)
-	if err != nil || strings.HasPrefix(rel, ".."+string(filepath.Separator)) || rel == ".." {
-		return false
-	}
-	parts := strings.Split(filepath.Clean(rel), string(filepath.Separator))
-	return len(parts) > 0 && parts[0] == ".cache"
-}
-
 func (p *Project) Scan() error {
 	sourceFiles, sourceExts, err := scanDir(p.SourceDir(), func(path string) bool {
 		ext := strings.ToLower(filepath.Ext(path))
@@ -189,7 +177,11 @@ func (p *Project) Scan() error {
 		return slices.Contains(AssetExtensions, ext)
 	})
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("scan assets tree: %w", err)
+		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+			assetFiles = nil
+		} else {
+			return fmt.Errorf("scan assets tree: %w", err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	var scripts []string
diff --git a/internal/project/project_test.go b/internal/project/project_test.go
index d3ab26e..c7bc0be 100644
--- a/internal/project/project_test.go
+++ b/internal/project/project_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package project
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"slices"
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ func TestTopDataAssetsDirReturnsEmptyForNoConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestValidateLayoutCreatesMissingCacheAssetsDir(t *testing.T) {
+func TestValidateLayoutAllowsMissingAssetsDir(t *testing.T) {
 	root := t.TempDir()
 	mkdirAll(t, filepath.Join(root, "src"))
 	mkdirAll(t, filepath.Join(root, "build"))
@@ -91,17 +92,36 @@ func TestValidateLayoutCreatesMissingCacheAssetsDir(t *testing.T) {
 		Root: root,
 		Config: Config{
 			Module: ModuleConfig{Name: "Test", ResRef: "test"},
-			Paths:  PathConfig{Source: "src", Assets: ".cache/module-assets", Build: "build"},
+			Paths:  PathConfig{Source: "src", Assets: "assets", Build: "build"},
 		},
 	}
 
 	if err := proj.ValidateLayout(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("ValidateLayout returned error: %v", err)
 	}
-	if info, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(root, ".cache", "module-assets")); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("expected cache assets dir to be created: %v", err)
-	} else if !info.IsDir() {
-		t.Fatalf("expected cache assets path to be a directory")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(root, "assets")); !errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected missing assets dir to remain absent, got err=%v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestScanAllowsMissingAssetsDir(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	mkdirAll(t, filepath.Join(root, "src"))
+	mkdirAll(t, filepath.Join(root, "build"))
+
+	proj := &Project{
+		Root: root,
+		Config: Config{
+			Module: ModuleConfig{Name: "Test", ResRef: "test"},
+			Paths:  PathConfig{Source: "src", Assets: "assets", Build: "build"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	if err := proj.Scan(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Scan returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(proj.Inventory.AssetFiles) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected no asset files, got %#v", proj.Inventory.AssetFiles)
 	}
 }