I'm trying to assign __webpack_public_path__ to a non-constant: an identifier, not a string.

I have the line

// elsewhere, outside of webpack, window.publicUrl = '//cdn.com/'
__webpack_public_path__ = window.publicUrl;

This is not replaced by webpack. If I change it to

__webpack_public_path__ = getPublicUrl();

it is replaced.

It is inconvenient to have to use a function on the RHS.