diff --git a/docker/nginx/conf.d/include/location-skylink b/docker/nginx/conf.d/include/location-skylink
index 9d362a43..4977c9fe 100644
--- a/docker/nginx/conf.d/include/location-skylink
+++ b/docker/nginx/conf.d/include/location-skylink
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 include /etc/nginx/conf.d/include/cors;
+include /etc/nginx/conf.d/include/proxy-cache-downloads;
+
+# ensure that skylink that we pass around is base64 encoded (transform base32 encoded ones)
+# this is important because we want only one format in cache keys and logs
+set_by_lua_block $skylink { return require("skynet.skylink").parse(ngx.var.skylink) }
 
 proxy_set_header User-Agent: Sia-Agent;
 proxy_pass http://sia:9980/skynet/skylink/$skylink$path$is_args$args;