diff --git a/.changeset/heavy-ravens-crash.md b/.changeset/heavy-ravens-crash.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cc8efbc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/heavy-ravens-crash.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'thebe-lite': minor
+---
+
+Added a custom service worker for jupyterlite based on the default jupyterlite sw but with no caching, added build steps for this to be included in `thebe-lite` builds.
diff --git a/packages/lite/src/jlite.ts b/packages/lite/src/jlite.ts
index 708b5a81..df3db8c0 100644
--- a/packages/lite/src/jlite.ts
+++ b/packages/lite/src/jlite.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import type { ServiceManager } from '@jupyterlab/services';
+import type { LiteServerConfig } from './types';
 import { PageConfig } from '@jupyterlab/coreutils';
 import { JupyterLiteServer } from '@jupyterlite/server';
-import { LiteServerConfig } from './types';
 
 const serverExtensions = [import('@jupyterlite/server-extension')];
 
diff --git a/packages/lite/src/service-worker.js b/packages/lite/src/service-worker.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d3736d3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/lite/src/service-worker.js
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+'use strict';
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/triple-slash-reference
+/// <reference path="../../../node_modules/@types/serviceworker/index.d.ts" />
+/**
+ * reproduced and reduced from https://github.com/jupyterlite/jupyterlite/blob/main/packages/server/src/service-worker.ts
+ * to remove caching and other features not needed for thebe
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Communication channel for drive access
+ */
+const broadcast = new BroadcastChannel('/api/drive.v1');
+/**
+ * Install event listeners
+ */
+self.addEventListener('install', onInstall);
+self.addEventListener('activate', onActivate);
+self.addEventListener('fetch', onFetch);
+// Event handlers
+/**
+ * Handle installation with the cache
+ */
+function onInstall(event) {
+  void self.skipWaiting();
+}
+/**
+ * Handle activation.
+ */
+function onActivate(event) {
+  event.waitUntil(self.clients.claim());
+}
+/**
+ * Handle fetching a single resource.
+ */
+async function onFetch(event) {
+  const { request } = event;
+  const url = new URL(event.request.url);
+  let responsePromise = null;
+  if (shouldBroadcast(url)) {
+    responsePromise = broadcastOne(request);
+  } else if (!shouldDrop(request, url)) {
+    // responsePromise = maybeFromCache(event);
+    const { request } = event;
+    responsePromise = await fetch(request);
+  }
+  if (responsePromise) {
+    event.respondWith(responsePromise);
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether a given URL should be broadcast
+ */
+function shouldBroadcast(url) {
+  return url.origin === location.origin && url.pathname.includes('/api/drive');
+}
+/**
+ * Whether the fallback behavior should be used
+ */
+function shouldDrop(request, url) {
+  return (
+    request.method !== 'GET' || url.origin.match(/^http/) === null || url.pathname.includes('/api/')
+  );
+}
+/**
+ * Forward request to main using the broadcast channel
+ */
+async function broadcastOne(request) {
+  const promise = new Promise((resolve) => {
+    broadcast.onmessage = (event) => {
+      resolve(new Response(JSON.stringify(event.data)));
+    };
+  });
+  const message = await request.json();
+  // Mark message as being for broadcast.ts
+  // This makes sure we won't get problems with messages
+  // across tabs with multiple notebook tabs open
+  message.receiver = 'broadcast.ts';
+  broadcast.postMessage(message);
+  return await promise;
+}
+
+//# sourceMappingURL=service-worker.js.map
diff --git a/packages/lite/webpack.config.cjs b/packages/lite/webpack.config.cjs
index 7360909c..15f0fc24 100644
--- a/packages/lite/webpack.config.cjs
+++ b/packages/lite/webpack.config.cjs
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ module.exports = {
           to: 'pypi',
           context: path.dirname(require.resolve('@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel')),
         },
+        {
+          from: './src/service-worker.js',
+          to: './',
+        },
       ],
     }),
   ],
@@ -58,6 +62,13 @@ module.exports = {
         use: 'ts-loader',
         exclude: /node_modules/,
       },
+      {
+        resourceQuery: /text/,
+        type: 'asset/resource',
+        generator: {
+          filename: '[name][ext]',
+        },
+      },
     ],
   },
   resolve: {