diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/common/files/default/thins.yml b/chef/cookbooks/common/files/default/thins.yml
index 1b981d300..37ec634b3 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/common/files/default/thins.yml
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/common/files/default/thins.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ thins:
   - port: '3001'
   - port: '3002'
   - port: '3003'
-url: 'alpha.joindiaspora.com'
+url: 'joindiaspora.com'
 cert_location: '/usr/local/nginx/conf/diaspora.crt'
 key_location: '/usr/local/nginx/conf/diaspora.key'
+s3_bucket: "https://joindiaspora.s3.amazonaws.com"
+s3_path: "/uploads/images/'
diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/common/recipes/nginx.rb b/chef/cookbooks/common/recipes/nginx.rb
index aa07b168e..df2b41aa2 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/common/recipes/nginx.rb
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/common/recipes/nginx.rb
@@ -29,5 +29,6 @@ end
 config = YAML.load_file("/usr/local/app/diaspora/chef/cookbooks/common/files/default/thins.yml")
 template "/usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf" do
   source "nginx.conf.erb"
-  variables :ports => config['thins'].map{|thin| "#{thin["port"]}"}, :url => config['url'], :cert_location => config['cert_location'], :key_location => config['key_location']
+  variables :ports => config['thins'].map{|thin| "#{thin["port"]}"}, :url => config['url'], :cert_location => config['cert_location'], :key_location => config['key_location'],
+  :s3_bucket => config['s3_bucket'] , :s3_path => config['s3_path'] 
 end
diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/common/templates/default/nginx.conf.erb b/chef/cookbooks/common/templates/default/nginx.conf.erb
index a8aa121ec..c038d82c9 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/common/templates/default/nginx.conf.erb
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/common/templates/default/nginx.conf.erb
@@ -109,7 +109,9 @@ http {
      break;
     }
 
-    rewrite ^/uploads/images/(.*)$ https://joindiaspora.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/$1 permanent;
+    <% unless @s3_bucket.blank? || @s3_path.blank? %>
+      <%= "rewrite ^/uploads/images/(.*)$ #{@s3_bucket}#{@s3_path}$1 permanent; %>
+    <% end %>
    }
 
    error_page 500 502 503 504 /50x.html;