diff --git a/internal/controller/nginx/conf/nginx-plus.conf b/internal/controller/nginx/conf/nginx-plus.conf
index 56029281b7..0208b9593f 100644
--- a/internal/controller/nginx/conf/nginx-plus.conf
+++ b/internal/controller/nginx/conf/nginx-plus.conf
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ events {
 http {
   include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
   include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
-  js_import /usr/lib/nginx/modules/njs/httpmatches.js;
-  js_import /usr/lib/nginx/modules/njs/epp.js;
+  js_import modules/njs/httpmatches.js;
+  js_import modules/njs/epp.js;
 
   default_type application/octet-stream;
 
diff --git a/internal/controller/nginx/conf/nginx.conf b/internal/controller/nginx/conf/nginx.conf
index 5b64fe4761..09ee1ba97e 100644
--- a/internal/controller/nginx/conf/nginx.conf
+++ b/internal/controller/nginx/conf/nginx.conf
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ events {
 http {
   include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
   include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
-  js_import /usr/lib/nginx/modules/njs/httpmatches.js;
-  js_import /usr/lib/nginx/modules/njs/epp.js;
+  js_import modules/njs/httpmatches.js;
+  js_import modules/njs/epp.js;
 
   default_type application/octet-stream;
 
diff --git a/internal/controller/state/graph/httproute.go b/internal/controller/state/graph/httproute.go
index 4c01f1ff60..d99807409e 100644
--- a/internal/controller/state/graph/httproute.go
+++ b/internal/controller/state/graph/httproute.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func buildHTTPRoute(
 	r.Attachable = true
 
 	rules, valid, conds := processHTTPRouteRules(
-		ghr.Spec.Rules,
+		ghr,
 		validator,
 		getSnippetsFilterResolverForNamespace(snippetsFilters, r.Source.GetNamespace()),
 		inferencePools,
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ func removeHTTPMirrorFilters(filters []v1.HTTPRouteFilter) []v1.HTTPRouteFilter
 
 func processHTTPRouteRule(
 	specRule v1.HTTPRouteRule,
+	routeNamespace string,
 	rulePath *field.Path,
 	validator validation.HTTPFieldsValidator,
 	resolveExtRefFunc resolveExtRefFilter,
@@ -280,24 +281,25 @@ func processHTTPRouteRule(
 }
 
 func processHTTPRouteRules(
-	specRules []v1.HTTPRouteRule,
+	route *v1.HTTPRoute,
 	validator validation.HTTPFieldsValidator,
 	resolveExtRefFunc resolveExtRefFilter,
 	inferencePools map[types.NamespacedName]*inference.InferencePool,
 	routeNamespace string,
 ) (rules []RouteRule, valid bool, conds []conditions.Condition) {
-	rules = make([]RouteRule, len(specRules))
+	rules = make([]RouteRule, len(route.Spec.Rules))
 
 	var (
 		allRulesErrors  routeRuleErrors
 		atLeastOneValid bool
 	)
 
-	for i, rule := range specRules {
+	for i, rule := range route.Spec.Rules {
 		rulePath := field.NewPath("spec").Child("rules").Index(i)
 
 		rr, errors := processHTTPRouteRule(
 			rule,
+			route.GetNamespace(),
 			rulePath,
 			validator,
 			resolveExtRefFunc,