diff --git a/src/atlasViewer/atlasViewer.constantService.service.ts b/src/atlasViewer/atlasViewer.constantService.service.ts
index 41899d81dcdb348882b4ff3d995cf786c5900f91..285c5370aa2cee46dbf87d75480c91a27247dcba 100644
--- a/src/atlasViewer/atlasViewer.constantService.service.ts
+++ b/src/atlasViewer/atlasViewer.constantService.service.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ export class AtlasViewerConstantsServices implements OnDestroy {
       prevLandmarks.length === newLandmarks.length
   }
 
-  public backendUrl = BACKEND_URL
+  // instead of using window.location.href, which includes query param etc
+  public backendUrl = BACKEND_URL || `${window.location.origin}${window.location.pathname}`
 
   /* to be provided by KG in future */
   public templateUrlsPr : Promise<string[]> = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
diff --git a/src/ui/databrowserModule/kgSingleDatasetService.service.ts b/src/ui/databrowserModule/kgSingleDatasetService.service.ts
index ee7ff85b50b20d365b389bcda80179cc9dde6d85..16c39e640ff16d969c858b493c388605de4fc39c 100644
--- a/src/ui/databrowserModule/kgSingleDatasetService.service.ts
+++ b/src/ui/databrowserModule/kgSingleDatasetService.service.ts
@@ -46,14 +46,14 @@ export class KgSingleDatasetService implements OnDestroy{
 
   public datasetHasPreview({ name } : { name: string } = { name: null }){
     if (!name) throw new Error('kgSingleDatasetService#datasetHashPreview name must be defined')
-    const _url = new URL(`${this.constantService.backendUrl}datasets/hasPreview`)
+    const _url = new URL(`datasets/hasPreview`, this.constantService.backendUrl )
     const searchParam = _url.searchParams
     searchParam.set('datasetName', name)
     return this.http.get(_url.toString())
   }
 
   public getInfoFromKg({ kgId, kgSchema = 'minds/core/dataset/v1.0.0' }: Partial<KgQueryInterface>) {
-    const _url = new URL(`${this.constantService.backendUrl}datasets/kgInfo`)
+    const _url = new URL(`datasets/kgInfo`, this.constantService.backendUrl )
     const searchParam = _url.searchParams
     searchParam.set('kgSchema', kgSchema)
     searchParam.set('kgId', kgId)
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export class KgSingleDatasetService implements OnDestroy{
   }
 
   public getDownloadZipFromKgHref({ kgSchema = 'minds/core/dataset/v1.0.0', kgId }){
-    const _url = new URL(`${this.constantService.backendUrl}datasets/downloadKgFiles`)
+    const _url = new URL(`datasets/downloadKgFiles`, this.constantService.backendUrl)
     const searchParam = _url.searchParams
     searchParam.set('kgSchema', kgSchema)
     searchParam.set('kgId', kgId)
diff --git a/webpack.staticassets.js b/webpack.staticassets.js
index 7c25d26f0b8ff9770749b1cbc5b28a6468f7ad2d..5732303b88538bc26c52a14a36737dca17560735 100644
--- a/webpack.staticassets.js
+++ b/webpack.staticassets.js
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ module.exports = {
       PRODUCTION: process.env.PRODUCTION
         ? true
         : false,
-      BACKEND_URL: JSON.stringify(process.env.BACKEND_URL || ''),
+      BACKEND_URL: (process.env.BACKEND_URL && JSON.stringify(process.env.BACKEND_URL)) || 'null',
       USE_LOGO: JSON.stringify(process.env.USE_LOGO || 'hbp' || 'ebrains' )
     })
   ],