diff --git a/.changeset/orange-clouds-relax.md b/.changeset/orange-clouds-relax.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 2f30b96fdb6..00000000000
--- a/.changeset/orange-clouds-relax.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
----
-'@clerk/nextjs': patch
----
-
-Revert: Improve error messages when clerkMiddleware is missing by suggesting the correct path to place the middleware.ts file (#4979).
diff --git a/.changeset/weak-phones-retire.md b/.changeset/weak-phones-retire.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a5ccb2f22f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/weak-phones-retire.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@clerk/nextjs': patch
+---
+
+Bug fix: Remove warning for accessing Node APIs when running `next build` with `clerkMiddleware` imported.
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/keyless-actions.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/keyless-actions.ts
index 920751126c1..d906b55c0ff 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/keyless-actions.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/keyless-actions.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,6 @@ export async function deleteKeylessAction() {
     return;
   }
 
-  await import('../server/keyless-node.js').then(m => m.removeKeyless());
+  await import('../server/keyless-node.js').then(m => m.removeKeyless()).catch(() => {});
   return;
 }
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/ClerkProvider.tsx b/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/ClerkProvider.tsx
index fdfab20cb7d..690a1dc5e04 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/ClerkProvider.tsx
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/ClerkProvider.tsx
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { createClerkClientWithOptions } from '../../server/createClerkClient';
 import type { NextClerkProviderProps } from '../../types';
 import { canUseKeyless } from '../../utils/feature-flags';
 import { mergeNextClerkPropsWithEnv } from '../../utils/mergeNextClerkPropsWithEnv';
+import { onlyTry } from '../../utils/only-try';
 import { isNext13 } from '../../utils/sdk-versions';
 import { ClientClerkProvider } from '../client/ClerkProvider';
 import { deleteKeylessAction } from '../keyless-actions';
@@ -24,15 +25,6 @@ const getNonceFromCSPHeader = React.cache(async function getNonceFromCSPHeader()
   return getScriptNonceFromHeader((await headers()).get('Content-Security-Policy') || '') || '';
 });
 
-/** Discards errors thrown by attempted code */
-const onlyTry = (cb: () => unknown) => {
-  try {
-    cb();
-  } catch {
-    // ignore
-  }
-};
-
 export async function ClerkProvider(
   props: Without<NextClerkProviderProps, '__unstable_invokeMiddlewareOnAuthStateChange'>,
 ) {
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/auth.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/auth.ts
index b46a003c500..eddee32a647 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/auth.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/auth.ts
@@ -3,12 +3,13 @@ import { constants, createClerkRequest, createRedirect, type RedirectFun } from
 import { notFound, redirect } from 'next/navigation';
 
 import { PUBLISHABLE_KEY, SIGN_IN_URL, SIGN_UP_URL } from '../../server/constants';
-import { createGetAuth } from '../../server/createGetAuth';
+import { createAsyncGetAuth } from '../../server/createGetAuth';
 import { authAuthHeaderMissing } from '../../server/errors';
 import { getAuthKeyFromRequest, getHeader } from '../../server/headers-utils';
 import type { AuthProtect } from '../../server/protect';
 import { createProtect } from '../../server/protect';
 import { decryptClerkRequestData } from '../../server/utils';
+import { isNextWithUnstableServerActions } from '../../utils/sdk-versions';
 import { buildRequestLike } from './utils';
 
 /**
@@ -25,8 +26,10 @@ type Auth = AuthObject & {
    */
   redirectToSignIn: RedirectFun<ReturnType<typeof redirect>>;
 };
+
 export interface AuthFn {
   (): Promise<Auth>;
+
   /**
    * `auth` includes a single property, the `protect()` method, which you can use in two ways:
    * - to check if a user is authenticated (signed in)
@@ -60,9 +63,22 @@ export const auth: AuthFn = async () => {
   require('server-only');
 
   const request = await buildRequestLike();
-  const authObject = createGetAuth({
+
+  const stepsBasedOnSrcDirectory = async () => {
+    if (isNextWithUnstableServerActions) {
+      return [];
+    }
+
+    try {
+      const isSrcAppDir = await import('../../server/fs/middleware-location.js').then(m => m.hasSrcAppDir());
+      return [`Your Middleware exists at ./${isSrcAppDir ? 'src/' : ''}middleware.(ts|js)`];
+    } catch {
+      return [];
+    }
+  };
+  const authObject = await createAsyncGetAuth({
     debugLoggerName: 'auth()',
-    noAuthStatusMessage: authAuthHeaderMissing(),
+    noAuthStatusMessage: authAuthHeaderMissing('auth', await stepsBasedOnSrcDirectory()),
   })(request);
 
   const clerkUrl = getAuthKeyFromRequest(request, 'ClerkUrl');
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/utils.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/utils.ts
index 490166d3027..1c6e24a38f4 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/app-router/server/utils.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ export async function buildRequestLike(): Promise<NextRequest> {
     }
 
     throw new Error(
-      `Clerk: auth() and currentUser() are only supported in App Router (/app directory).\nIf you're using /pages, try getAuth() instead.\nOriginal error: ${e}`,
+      `Clerk: auth(), currentUser() and clerkClient(), are only supported in App Router (/app directory).\nIf you're using /pages, try getAuth() instead.\nOriginal error: ${e}`,
     );
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/runtime/browser/safe-node-apis.js b/packages/nextjs/src/runtime/browser/safe-node-apis.js
index 7cad32e4d0f..d9bc5ba5b97 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/runtime/browser/safe-node-apis.js
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/runtime/browser/safe-node-apis.js
@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@
  */
 const fs = undefined;
 const path = undefined;
+const cwd = undefined;
 
-module.exports = { fs, path };
+module.exports = { fs, path, cwd };
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/runtime/node/safe-node-apis.js b/packages/nextjs/src/runtime/node/safe-node-apis.js
index 5be87334100..0e074a8191e 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/runtime/node/safe-node-apis.js
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/runtime/node/safe-node-apis.js
@@ -14,4 +14,6 @@ const fs = {
   rmSync,
 };
 
-module.exports = { fs, path };
+const cwd = () => process.cwd();
+
+module.exports = { fs, path, cwd };
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/server/__tests__/createGetAuth.test.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/server/__tests__/createGetAuth.test.ts
index e881ab7368b..56a9e99bd12 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/server/__tests__/createGetAuth.test.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/server/__tests__/createGetAuth.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import hmacSHA1 from 'crypto-js/hmac-sha1';
 import { NextRequest } from 'next/server';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 
-import { createGetAuth, getAuth } from '../createGetAuth';
+import { createSyncGetAuth, getAuth } from '../createGetAuth';
 
 const mockSecretKey = 'sk_test_mock';
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ const mockTokenSignature = hmacSHA1(mockToken, 'sk_test_mock').toString();
 
 describe('createGetAuth(opts)', () => {
   it('returns a getAuth function', () => {
-    expect(createGetAuth({ debugLoggerName: 'test', noAuthStatusMessage: 'test' })).toBeInstanceOf(Function);
+    expect(createSyncGetAuth({ debugLoggerName: 'test', noAuthStatusMessage: 'test' })).toBeInstanceOf(Function);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/server/createGetAuth.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/server/createGetAuth.ts
index f95ea6871b7..07225435f97 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/server/createGetAuth.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/server/createGetAuth.ts
@@ -3,15 +3,60 @@ import { constants } from '@clerk/backend/internal';
 import { isTruthy } from '@clerk/shared/underscore';
 
 import { withLogger } from '../utils/debugLogger';
+import { isNextWithUnstableServerActions } from '../utils/sdk-versions';
 import { getAuthDataFromRequest } from './data/getAuthDataFromRequest';
 import { getAuthAuthHeaderMissing } from './errors';
-import { getHeader } from './headers-utils';
+import { detectClerkMiddleware, getHeader } from './headers-utils';
 import type { RequestLike } from './types';
 import { assertAuthStatus } from './utils';
 
-export const createGetAuth = ({
+/**
+ * The async variant of our old `createGetAuth` allows for asynchronous code inside its callback.
+ * Should be used with function like `auth()` that are already asynchronous.
+ */
+export const createAsyncGetAuth = ({
+  debugLoggerName,
   noAuthStatusMessage,
+}: {
+  debugLoggerName: string;
+  noAuthStatusMessage: string;
+}) =>
+  withLogger(debugLoggerName, logger => {
+    return async (req: RequestLike, opts?: { secretKey?: string }): Promise<AuthObject> => {
+      if (isTruthy(getHeader(req, constants.Headers.EnableDebug))) {
+        logger.enable();
+      }
+
+      if (!detectClerkMiddleware(req)) {
+        // Keep the same behaviour for versions that may have issues with bundling `node:fs`
+        if (isNextWithUnstableServerActions) {
+          assertAuthStatus(req, noAuthStatusMessage);
+        }
+
+        const missConfiguredMiddlewareLocation = await import('./fs/middleware-location.js')
+          .then(m => m.suggestMiddlewareLocation())
+          .catch(() => undefined);
+
+        if (missConfiguredMiddlewareLocation) {
+          throw new Error(missConfiguredMiddlewareLocation);
+        }
+
+        // still throw there is no suggested move location
+        assertAuthStatus(req, noAuthStatusMessage);
+      }
+
+      return getAuthDataFromRequest(req, { ...opts, logger });
+    };
+  });
+
+/**
+ * Previous known as `createGetAuth`. We needed to create a sync and async variant in order to allow for improvements
+ * that required dynamic imports (using `require` would not work).
+ * It powers the synchronous top-level api `getAuh()`.
+ */
+export const createSyncGetAuth = ({
   debugLoggerName,
+  noAuthStatusMessage,
 }: {
   debugLoggerName: string;
   noAuthStatusMessage: string;
@@ -23,7 +68,6 @@ export const createGetAuth = ({
       }
 
       assertAuthStatus(req, noAuthStatusMessage);
-
       return getAuthDataFromRequest(req, { ...opts, logger });
     };
   });
@@ -107,7 +151,7 @@ export const createGetAuth = ({
  * }
  * ```
  */
-export const getAuth = createGetAuth({
+export const getAuth = createSyncGetAuth({
   debugLoggerName: 'getAuth()',
   noAuthStatusMessage: getAuthAuthHeaderMissing(),
 });
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/server/errors.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/server/errors.ts
index 0bd1e7be064..24235da292b 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/server/errors.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/server/errors.ts
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ Check if signInUrl is missing from your configuration or if it is not an absolut
 
 export const getAuthAuthHeaderMissing = () => authAuthHeaderMissing('getAuth');
 
-export const authAuthHeaderMissing = (helperName = 'auth') =>
+export const authAuthHeaderMissing = (helperName = 'auth', prefixSteps?: string[]) =>
   `Clerk: ${helperName}() was called but Clerk can't detect usage of clerkMiddleware(). Please ensure the following:
--  clerkMiddleware() is used in your Next.js Middleware.
+- ${prefixSteps ? [...prefixSteps, ''].join('\n- ') : ' '}clerkMiddleware() is used in your Next.js Middleware.
 - Your Middleware matcher is configured to match this route or page.
 - If you are using the src directory, make sure the Middleware file is inside of it.
 
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/server/fs/middleware-location.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/server/fs/middleware-location.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3586d4a1ae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/server/fs/middleware-location.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { nodeCwdOrThrow, nodeFsOrThrow, nodePathOrThrow } from './utils';
+
+function hasSrcAppDir() {
+  const { existsSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
+  const path = nodePathOrThrow();
+  const cwd = nodeCwdOrThrow();
+
+  const projectWithAppSrc = path.join(cwd(), 'src', 'app');
+
+  return !!existsSync(projectWithAppSrc);
+}
+
+function suggestMiddlewareLocation() {
+  const fileExtensions = ['ts', 'js'] as const;
+  const suggestionMessage = (
+    extension: (typeof fileExtensions)[number],
+    to: 'src/' | '',
+    from: 'src/app/' | 'app/' | '',
+  ) =>
+    `Clerk: clerkMiddleware() was not run, your middleware file might be misplaced. Move your middleware file to ./${to}middleware.${extension}. Currently located at ./${from}middleware.${extension}`;
+
+  const { existsSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
+  const path = nodePathOrThrow();
+  const cwd = nodeCwdOrThrow();
+
+  const projectWithAppSrcPath = path.join(cwd(), 'src', 'app');
+  const projectWithAppPath = path.join(cwd(), 'app');
+
+  const checkMiddlewareLocation = (
+    basePath: string,
+    to: 'src/' | '',
+    from: 'src/app/' | 'app/' | '',
+  ): string | undefined => {
+    for (const fileExtension of fileExtensions) {
+      if (existsSync(path.join(basePath, `middleware.${fileExtension}`))) {
+        return suggestionMessage(fileExtension, to, from);
+      }
+    }
+    return undefined;
+  };
+
+  if (existsSync(projectWithAppSrcPath)) {
+    return (
+      checkMiddlewareLocation(projectWithAppSrcPath, 'src/', 'src/app/') || checkMiddlewareLocation(cwd(), 'src/', '')
+    );
+  }
+
+  if (existsSync(projectWithAppPath)) {
+    return checkMiddlewareLocation(projectWithAppPath, '', 'app/');
+  }
+
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+export { suggestMiddlewareLocation, hasSrcAppDir };
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/server/fs/utils.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/server/fs/utils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4150a4d39ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/server/fs/utils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/**
+ * Attention: Only import this module when the node runtime is used.
+ * We are using conditional imports to mitigate bundling issues with Next.js server actions on version prior to 14.1.0.
+ */
+// @ts-ignore
+import nodeRuntime from '#safe-node-apis';
+
+const throwMissingFsModule = (module: string) => {
+  throw new Error(`Clerk: ${module} is missing. This is an internal error. Please contact Clerk's support.`);
+};
+
+const nodeFsOrThrow = () => {
+  if (!nodeRuntime.fs) {
+    throwMissingFsModule('fs');
+  }
+  return nodeRuntime.fs;
+};
+
+const nodePathOrThrow = () => {
+  if (!nodeRuntime.path) {
+    throwMissingFsModule('path');
+  }
+  return nodeRuntime.path;
+};
+
+const nodeCwdOrThrow = () => {
+  if (!nodeRuntime.cwd) {
+    throwMissingFsModule('cwd');
+  }
+  return nodeRuntime.cwd;
+};
+
+export { nodeCwdOrThrow, nodeFsOrThrow, nodePathOrThrow };
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/server/keyless-node.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/server/keyless-node.ts
index 5de03b2be55..347a70c57c3 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/server/keyless-node.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/server/keyless-node.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,7 @@
 import type { AccountlessApplication } from '@clerk/backend';
 
-/**
- * Attention: Only import this module when the node runtime is used.
- * We are using conditional imports to mitigate bundling issues with Next.js server actions on version prior to 14.1.0.
- */
-// @ts-ignore
-import nodeRuntime from '#safe-node-apis';
-
 import { createClerkClientWithOptions } from './createClerkClient';
+import { nodeCwdOrThrow, nodeFsOrThrow, nodePathOrThrow } from './fs/utils';
 
 /**
  * The Clerk-specific directory name.
@@ -20,33 +14,16 @@ const CLERK_HIDDEN = '.clerk';
  */
 const CLERK_LOCK = 'clerk.lock';
 
-const throwMissingFsModule = () => {
-  throw new Error("Clerk: fsModule.fs is missing. This is an internal error. Please contact Clerk's support.");
-};
-
-const safeNodeRuntimeFs = () => {
-  if (!nodeRuntime.fs) {
-    throwMissingFsModule();
-  }
-  return nodeRuntime.fs;
-};
-
-const safeNodeRuntimePath = () => {
-  if (!nodeRuntime.path) {
-    throwMissingFsModule();
-  }
-  return nodeRuntime.path;
-};
-
 /**
  * The `.clerk/` directory is NOT safe to be committed as it may include sensitive information about a Clerk instance.
  * It may include an instance's secret key and the secret token for claiming that instance.
  */
 function updateGitignore() {
-  const { existsSync, writeFileSync, readFileSync, appendFileSync } = safeNodeRuntimeFs();
+  const { existsSync, writeFileSync, readFileSync, appendFileSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
 
-  const path = safeNodeRuntimePath();
-  const gitignorePath = path.join(process.cwd(), '.gitignore');
+  const path = nodePathOrThrow();
+  const cwd = nodeCwdOrThrow();
+  const gitignorePath = path.join(cwd(), '.gitignore');
   if (!existsSync(gitignorePath)) {
     writeFileSync(gitignorePath, '');
   }
@@ -60,8 +37,9 @@ function updateGitignore() {
 }
 
 const generatePath = (...slugs: string[]) => {
-  const path = safeNodeRuntimePath();
-  return path.join(process.cwd(), CLERK_HIDDEN, ...slugs);
+  const path = nodePathOrThrow();
+  const cwd = nodeCwdOrThrow();
+  return path.join(cwd(), CLERK_HIDDEN, ...slugs);
 };
 
 const _TEMP_DIR_NAME = '.tmp';
@@ -71,7 +49,7 @@ const getKeylessReadMePath = () => generatePath(_TEMP_DIR_NAME, 'README.md');
 let isCreatingFile = false;
 
 export function safeParseClerkFile(): AccountlessApplication | undefined {
-  const { readFileSync } = safeNodeRuntimeFs();
+  const { readFileSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
   try {
     const CONFIG_PATH = getKeylessConfigurationPath();
     let fileAsString;
@@ -90,7 +68,7 @@ export function safeParseClerkFile(): AccountlessApplication | undefined {
  * Using both an in-memory and file system lock seems to be the most effective solution.
  */
 const lockFileWriting = () => {
-  const { writeFileSync } = safeNodeRuntimeFs();
+  const { writeFileSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
 
   isCreatingFile = true;
 
@@ -107,7 +85,7 @@ const lockFileWriting = () => {
 };
 
 const unlockFileWriting = () => {
-  const { rmSync } = safeNodeRuntimeFs();
+  const { rmSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
 
   try {
     rmSync(CLERK_LOCK, { force: true, recursive: true });
@@ -119,12 +97,12 @@ const unlockFileWriting = () => {
 };
 
 const isFileWritingLocked = () => {
-  const { existsSync } = safeNodeRuntimeFs();
+  const { existsSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
   return isCreatingFile || existsSync(CLERK_LOCK);
 };
 
 async function createOrReadKeyless(): Promise<AccountlessApplication | null> {
-  const { writeFileSync, mkdirSync } = safeNodeRuntimeFs();
+  const { writeFileSync, mkdirSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
 
   /**
    * If another request is already in the process of acquiring keys return early.
@@ -188,7 +166,7 @@ This directory is auto-generated from \`@clerk/nextjs\` because you are running
 }
 
 function removeKeyless() {
-  const { rmSync } = safeNodeRuntimeFs();
+  const { rmSync } = nodeFsOrThrow();
 
   /**
    * If another request is already in the process of acquiring keys return early.
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/utils/only-try.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/utils/only-try.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5f8c62e87f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/utils/only-try.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+/**
+ * Discards errors thrown by attempted code
+ */
+const onlyTry = (cb: () => unknown) => {
+  try {
+    cb();
+  } catch {
+    // ignore
+  }
+};
+
+export { onlyTry };