diff --git a/docker/nginx/conf.d/include/location-hns b/docker/nginx/conf.d/include/location-hns
index f41ac303..62ff9729 100644
--- a/docker/nginx/conf.d/include/location-hns
+++ b/docker/nginx/conf.d/include/location-hns
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ include /etc/nginx/conf.d/include/proxy-pass-internal;
 include /etc/nginx/conf.d/include/portal-access-check;
 
 # variable definititions - we need to define a variable to be able to access it in lua by ngx.var.something
-set $skylink ''; # placeholder for the base64 skylink
-set $skylink_base32 ''; # placeholder for the base32 skylink
+set $skylink ''; # placeholder for the raw 46 bit skylink
 
 # resolve handshake domain by requesting to /hnsres endpoint and assign correct values to $skylink and $rest
 rewrite_by_lua_block {
@@ -75,16 +74,10 @@ rewrite_by_lua_block {
     if ngx.var.path == "/" and skylink_rest ~= nil and skylink_rest ~= "" and skylink_rest ~= "/" then
         ngx.var.path = skylink_rest
     end
-
-    -- assign base32 skylink to be used in proxy_pass
-    ngx.var.skylink_base32 = require("skynet.skylink").base32(ngx.var.skylink)
 }
 
-# host header has to be adjusted to properly match server name
-proxy_set_header Host $skylink_base32.$skynet_portal_domain;
-
-# pass the skylink request to subdomain skylink server
-proxy_pass $scheme://$server_addr$path$is_args$args;
+# we proxy to another nginx location rather than directly to siad because we do not want to deal with caching here
+proxy_pass https://127.0.0.1/$skylink$path$is_args$args;
 
 # in case siad returns location header, we need to replace the skylink with the domain name
 header_filter_by_lua_block {
diff --git a/docker/nginx/conf.d/server/server.api b/docker/nginx/conf.d/server/server.api
index 4f8f2512..6a2b146b 100644
--- a/docker/nginx/conf.d/server/server.api
+++ b/docker/nginx/conf.d/server/server.api
@@ -123,14 +123,15 @@ location /abuse/report {
 location /hns {
     include /etc/nginx/conf.d/include/cors;
 
-    rewrite_by_lua_block {
-        local hns_domain = string.match(ngx.var.uri, "/hns/([^/?]+)")
-        local path = string.match(ngx.var.uri, "/hns/[^/?]+(.*)")
-        local args = ngx.var.args and ngx.var.is_args .. ngx.var.args or ""
-        local hns_subdomain_url = ngx.var.scheme .. "://" .. hns_domain .. ".hns." .. ngx.var.skynet_portal_domain .. path .. args
+    # match the request_uri and extract the hns domain and anything that is passed in the uri after it
+    # example: /hns/something/foo/bar matches:
+    # > hns_domain: something
+    # > path: /foo/bar/
+    set_by_lua_block $hns_domain { return string.match(ngx.var.uri, "/hns/([^/?]+)") }
+    set_by_lua_block $path { return string.match(ngx.var.uri, "/hns/[^/?]+(.*)") }
 
-        return ngx.redirect(hns_subdomain_url, ngx.HTTP_MOVED_PERMANENTLY)
-    }
+    proxy_set_header Host $host;
+    include /etc/nginx/conf.d/include/location-hns;
 }
 
 location /hnsres {
@@ -340,8 +341,7 @@ location ~ "^/(([a-zA-Z0-9-_]{46}|[a-z0-9]{55})(/.*)?)$" {
     rewrite_by_lua_block {
         local skynet_skylink = require("skynet.skylink")
         local base32_skylink = skynet_skylink.base32(ngx.var.skylink)
-        local args = ngx.var.args and ngx.var.is_args .. ngx.var.args or ""
-        local base32_url = ngx.var.scheme .. "://" .. base32_skylink .. "." .. ngx.var.skynet_portal_domain .. ngx.var.path .. args
+        local base32_url = ngx.var.scheme .. "://" .. base32_skylink .. "." .. ngx.var.skynet_portal_domain .. ngx.var.path .. ngx.var.is_args .. ngx.var.args
 
         return ngx.redirect(base32_url, ngx.HTTP_MOVED_PERMANENTLY)
     }