diff --git a/cmd/strelaypoolsrv/main.go b/cmd/strelaypoolsrv/main.go
index 0c5bd4f00..c5dbb158f 100644
--- a/cmd/strelaypoolsrv/main.go
+++ b/cmd/strelaypoolsrv/main.go
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
 // Copyright (C) 2015 Audrius Butkevicius and Contributors (see the CONTRIBUTORS file).
 
-//go:generate go run ../../script/genassets.go gui >auto/gui.go
-
 package main
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"compress/gzip"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/tls"
@@ -302,16 +299,15 @@ func handleAssets(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 	if strings.Contains(r.Header.Get("Accept-Encoding"), "gzip") {
 		w.Header().Set("Content-Encoding", "gzip")
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Length", strconv.Itoa(len(bs)))
+		io.WriteString(w, bs)
 	} else {
 		// ungzip if browser not send gzip accepted header
 		var gr *gzip.Reader
-		gr, _ = gzip.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(bs))
-		bs, _ = ioutil.ReadAll(gr)
+		gr, _ = gzip.NewReader(strings.NewReader(bs))
+		io.Copy(w, gr)
 		gr.Close()
 	}
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Length", fmt.Sprintf("%d", len(bs)))
-
-	w.Write(bs)
 }
 
 func mimeTypeForFile(file string) string {
diff --git a/lib/api/api_statics.go b/lib/api/api_statics.go
index 719f211c4..18a51c062 100644
--- a/lib/api/api_statics.go
+++ b/lib/api/api_statics.go
@@ -7,14 +7,14 @@
 package api
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"compress/gzip"
 	"fmt"
-	"io/ioutil"
+	"io"
 	"mime"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const themePrefix = "theme-assets/"
 
 type staticsServer struct {
 	assetDir        string
-	assets          map[string][]byte
+	assets          map[string]string
 	availableThemes []string
 
 	mut             sync.RWMutex
@@ -168,16 +168,15 @@ func (s *staticsServer) serveAsset(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 	if strings.Contains(r.Header.Get("Accept-Encoding"), "gzip") {
 		w.Header().Set("Content-Encoding", "gzip")
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Length", strconv.Itoa(len(bs)))
+		io.WriteString(w, bs)
 	} else {
 		// ungzip if browser not send gzip accepted header
 		var gr *gzip.Reader
-		gr, _ = gzip.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(bs))
-		bs, _ = ioutil.ReadAll(gr)
+		gr, _ = gzip.NewReader(strings.NewReader(bs))
+		io.Copy(w, gr)
 		gr.Close()
 	}
-	w.Header().Set("Content-Length", fmt.Sprintf("%d", len(bs)))
-
-	w.Write(bs)
 }
 
 func (s *staticsServer) serveThemes(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
diff --git a/lib/api/api_test.go b/lib/api/api_test.go
index c315c28df..4cc981bc3 100644
--- a/lib/api/api_test.go
+++ b/lib/api/api_test.go
@@ -152,19 +152,19 @@ func TestAssetsDir(t *testing.T) {
 	gw := gzip.NewWriter(buf)
 	gw.Write([]byte("default"))
 	gw.Close()
-	def := buf.Bytes()
+	def := buf.String()
 
 	buf = new(bytes.Buffer)
 	gw = gzip.NewWriter(buf)
 	gw.Write([]byte("foo"))
 	gw.Close()
-	foo := buf.Bytes()
+	foo := buf.String()
 
 	e := &staticsServer{
 		theme:    "foo",
 		mut:      sync.NewRWMutex(),
 		assetDir: "testdata",
-		assets: map[string][]byte{
+		assets: map[string]string{
 			"foo/a":     foo, // overridden in foo/a
 			"foo/b":     foo,
 			"default/a": def, // overridden in default/a (but foo/a takes precedence)
diff --git a/lib/auto/auto_test.go b/lib/auto/auto_test.go
index 4e065cdff..a33e3c7d3 100644
--- a/lib/auto/auto_test.go
+++ b/lib/auto/auto_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"compress/gzip"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/syncthing/syncthing/lib/auto"
@@ -23,10 +24,10 @@ func TestAssets(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	var gr *gzip.Reader
-	gr, _ = gzip.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(idx))
-	idx, _ = ioutil.ReadAll(gr)
+	gr, _ = gzip.NewReader(strings.NewReader(idx))
+	html, _ := ioutil.ReadAll(gr)
 
-	if !bytes.Contains(idx, []byte("<html")) {
+	if !bytes.Contains(html, []byte("<html")) {
 		t.Fatal("No html in index.html")
 	}
 }
diff --git a/script/genassets.go b/script/genassets.go
index 090d468fb..373c9c5fc 100644
--- a/script/genassets.go
+++ b/script/genassets.go
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ package auto
 
 const Generated int64 = {{.Generated}}
 
-func Assets() map[string][]byte {
-	var assets = make(map[string][]byte, {{.Assets | len}})
+func Assets() map[string]string {
+	var assets = make(map[string]string, {{.Assets | len}})
 {{range $asset := .Assets}}
 	assets["{{$asset.Name}}"] = {{$asset.Data}}{{end}}
 	return assets
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func walkerFor(basePath string) filepath.WalkFunc {
 			name, _ = filepath.Rel(basePath, name)
 			assets = append(assets, asset{
 				Name: filepath.ToSlash(name),
-				Data: fmt.Sprintf("[]byte(%q)", buf.String()),
+				Data: fmt.Sprintf("%q", buf.String()),
 			})
 		}