diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index d554c5a15..9095dddf4 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ module ApplicationHelper
   end
 
   def raw_bookmarklet( height = 250, width = 620)
-    "javascript:(function(){f='#{AppConfig.environment.url}bookmarklet?url='+encodeURIComponent(window.location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title)+'&notes='+encodeURIComponent(''+(window.getSelection?window.getSelection():document.getSelection?document.getSelection():document.selection.createRange().text))+'&v=1&';a=function(){if(!window.open(f+'noui=1&jump=doclose','diasporav1','location=yes,links=no,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,width=#{width},height=#{height}'))location.href=f+'jump=yes'};if(/Firefox/.test(navigator.userAgent)){setTimeout(a,0)}else{a()}})()"
+    "javascript:(function(){f='#{AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s}bookmarklet?url='+encodeURIComponent(window.location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title)+'&notes='+encodeURIComponent(''+(window.getSelection?window.getSelection():document.getSelection?document.getSelection():document.selection.createRange().text))+'&v=1&';a=function(){if(!window.open(f+'noui=1&jump=doclose','diasporav1','location=yes,links=no,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,width=#{width},height=#{height}'))location.href=f+'jump=yes'};if(/Firefox/.test(navigator.userAgent)){setTimeout(a,0)}else{a()}})()"
   end
 
   def magic_bookmarklet_link
diff --git a/app/models/photo.rb b/app/models/photo.rb
index 5e80ea1ba..ce666b5d1 100644
--- a/app/models/photo.rb
+++ b/app/models/photo.rb
@@ -99,9 +99,7 @@ class Photo < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   def update_remote_path
     unless self.unprocessed_image.url.match(/^https?:\/\//)
-      pod_url = AppConfig.environment.url.get.dup
-      pod_url.chop! if pod_url[-1,1] == '/'
-      remote_path = "#{pod_url}#{self.unprocessed_image.url}"
+      remote_path = "#{AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s.chomp("/")}#{self.unprocessed_image.url}"
     else
       remote_path = self.unprocessed_image.url
     end
diff --git a/app/models/profile.rb b/app/models/profile.rb
index 331dde95b..5a8073d3b 100644
--- a/app/models/profile.rb
+++ b/app/models/profile.rb
@@ -185,8 +185,6 @@ class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def absolutify_local_url url
-    pod_url = AppConfig.environment.url.get
-    pod_url.chop! if pod_url[-1,1] == '/'
-    "#{pod_url}#{url}"
+    "#{AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s.chomp("/")}#{url}"
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/services/facebook.rb b/app/models/services/facebook.rb
index 1e23bf61e..39d2b1086 100644
--- a/app/models/services/facebook.rb
+++ b/app/models/services/facebook.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class Services::Facebook < Service
   end
 
   def create_open_graph_params(post)
-    {:post => "#{AppConfig.environment.url}#{short_post_path(post)}", :access_token => self.access_token}
+    {:post => "#{AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s}#{short_post_path(post)}", :access_token => self.access_token}
   end
 
   def create_post_params(post)
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 7677245f6..f37457d07 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def set_person(person)
-    person.url = AppConfig.environment.url
+    person.url = AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s
     person.diaspora_handle = "#{self.username}#{User.diaspora_id_host}"
     self.person = person
   end
diff --git a/app/presenters/o_embed_presenter.rb b/app/presenters/o_embed_presenter.rb
index 73e1cbb35..c8baf4752 100644
--- a/app/presenters/o_embed_presenter.rb
+++ b/app/presenters/o_embed_presenter.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class OEmbedPresenter
   def as_json(opts={})
     {
       :provider_name => "Diaspora", 
-      :provider_url => AppConfig.environment.url,
+      :provider_url => AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s,
       :type => 'rich',
       :version => '1.0',
       :title => post_title,
diff --git a/app/views/layouts/notifier.html.erb b/app/views/layouts/notifier.html.erb
index a55c90bd3..ddc0a59f6 100644
--- a/app/views/layouts/notifier.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/layouts/notifier.html.erb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
   <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center" width="100%" style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;color:#333;">
     <tr>
       <td style="text-align:center;padding:30px;">
-        <img src="<%=AppConfig.environment.url %>assets/branding/logo_caps.png" alt="DIASPORA*" width="95px" height="14px"/>
+        <img src="<%=AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s %>assets/branding/logo_caps.png" alt="DIASPORA*" width="95px" height="14px"/>
       </td>
     </tr>
   </table>
diff --git a/app/views/publics/host_meta.erb b/app/views/publics/host_meta.erb
index 0fcde3b96..f5efcab11 100644
--- a/app/views/publics/host_meta.erb
+++ b/app/views/publics/host_meta.erb
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@
 
   <Link rel='lrdd'
         type='application/xrd+xml'
-        template='<%= AppConfig.environment.url %>webfinger?q={uri}' />
+        template='<%= AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s %>webfinger?q={uri}' />
 
 </XRD>
diff --git a/app/views/shared/_right_sections.html.haml b/app/views/shared/_right_sections.html.haml
index 6a0861c48..565e15dcd 100644
--- a/app/views/shared/_right_sections.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/shared/_right_sections.html.haml
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@
       = t('aspects.index.donate')
   .content
     - if AppConfig.settings.paypal_hosted_button_id.present?
-      = t('aspects.index.keep_pod_running', :pod => URI.parse(AppConfig.environment.url).host)
+      = t('aspects.index.keep_pod_running', :pod => AppConfig.pod_uri.host)
       %br
       = render 'shared/donatepod'
     - else
diff --git a/app/views/users/public.atom.builder b/app/views/users/public.atom.builder
index b29ea1140..3c5fb21a7 100644
--- a/app/views/users/public.atom.builder
+++ b/app/views/users/public.atom.builder
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ atom_feed({'xmlns:thr' => 'http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0',
  :id => "#{@user.public_url}.atom",
  :root_url => "#{@user.public_url}"}) do |feed|
 
-  feed.tag! :generator, 'Diaspora', :uri => "#{AppConfig.environment.url}"
+  feed.tag! :generator, 'Diaspora', :uri => "#{AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s}"
   feed.title "#{@user.name}'s Public Feed"
   feed.subtitle "Updates from #{@user.name} on Diaspora"
   feed.logo "#{@user.image_url(:thumb_small)}"
diff --git a/lib/tasks/db.rake b/lib/tasks/db.rake
index f87ecfae6..d91a6123b 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/db.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/db.rake
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ namespace :db do
     require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
     Person.where(:url => 'example.org').all.each{|person|
       if person.owner
-        person.url = AppConfig.environment.url
+        person.url = AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s
         person.diaspora_handle = person.owner.diaspora_handle
         person.save
       end
diff --git a/spec/factories.rb b/spec/factories.rb
index 5062653cb..d814ae7aa 100644
--- a/spec/factories.rb
+++ b/spec/factories.rb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ FactoryGirl.define do
 
   factory :person do
     sequence(:diaspora_handle) { |n| "bob-person-#{n}#{r_str}@example.net" }
-    sequence(:url)  { |n| AppConfig.environment.url.get }
+    url AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s
     serialized_public_key OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.generate(1024).public_key.export
     after(:build) do |person|
       person.profile = FactoryGirl.build(:profile, :person => person) unless person.profile.first_name.present?
diff --git a/spec/lib/configuration/methods_spec.rb b/spec/lib/configuration/methods_spec.rb
index 352664d42..1ec0b7520 100644
--- a/spec/lib/configuration/methods_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/configuration/methods_spec.rb
@@ -10,11 +10,36 @@ describe Configuration::Methods do
   end
   
   describe "#pod_uri" do
+    before do
+      @settings.environment.url = nil
+      @settings.instance_variable_set(:@pod_uri, nil)
+    end
+    
     it "properly parses the pod url" do
       @settings.environment.url = "http://example.org/"
       @settings.pod_uri.scheme.should == "http"
       @settings.pod_uri.host.should == "example.org"
     end
+    
+     it "adds a trailing slash if there isn't one" do
+      @settings.environment.url = "http://example.org"
+      @settings.pod_uri.to_s.should == "http://example.org/"
+    end
+    
+    it "does not add an extra trailing slash" do
+      @settings.environment.url = "http://example.org/"
+      @settings.pod_uri.to_s.should == "http://example.org/"
+    end
+    
+    it "adds http:// on the front if it's missing" do
+      @settings.environment.url = "example.org/"
+      @settings.pod_uri.to_s.should == "http://example.org/"
+    end
+    
+    it "does not add a prefix if there already is https:// on the front" do
+      @settings.environment.url = "https://example.org/"
+      @settings.pod_uri.to_s.should == "https://example.org/"
+    end
   end
   
   describe "#bare_pod_uri" do
diff --git a/spec/models/person_spec.rb b/spec/models/person_spec.rb
index 7ce861cb3..c5104ae54 100644
--- a/spec/models/person_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/person_spec.rb
@@ -132,11 +132,9 @@ describe Person do
       end
 
       it 'does not include www if it is set in app config' do
-        old_url = AppConfig.environment.url.get
-        AppConfig.environment.url = 'https://www.foobar.com/'
+        AppConfig.stub(:pod_uri).and_return(Addressable::URI.parse('https://www.foobar.com/'))
         new_person = User.build(:username => "foo123", :email => "foo123@example.com", :password => "password", :password_confirmation => "password").person
         new_person.diaspora_handle.should == "foo123@foobar.com"
-        AppConfig.environment.url = old_url
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/models/profile_spec.rb b/spec/models/profile_spec.rb
index fabc6815f..4d152589d 100644
--- a/spec/models/profile_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/profile_spec.rb
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ describe Profile do
     before do
       @profile = FactoryGirl.build(:profile)
       @profile.image_url = "http://tom.joindiaspora.com/images/user/tom.jpg"
-      @pod_url = (AppConfig.environment.url.get[-1,1] == '/' ? AppConfig.environment.url.chop : AppConfig.environment.url)
+      @pod_url = AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s.chomp("/")
     end
 
     it 'ignores an empty string' do
diff --git a/spec/support/user_methods.rb b/spec/support/user_methods.rb
index e2a7038cd..6d167f342 100644
--- a/spec/support/user_methods.rb
+++ b/spec/support/user_methods.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 class User
   include Rails.application.routes.url_helpers
   def default_url_options
-    {:host => AppConfig.environment.url}
+    {:host => AppConfig.pod_uri.host}
   end
 
   alias_method :share_with_original, :share_with