diff --git a/backend/nginx.conf b/backend/nginx.conf
index a58fce5..ae9992b 100644
--- a/backend/nginx.conf
+++ b/backend/nginx.conf
@@ -17,24 +17,24 @@ http {
     }
 
     server {
-        listen 80;  # NGINX always listens on port 80 inside the container
+        listen 80;
         server_name localhost;
 
         location / {
-            proxy_pass http://server:8000;  # Explicitly forward to Django service
-            proxy_set_header Host $host;
-            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
-            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
-            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+            proxy_pass http://server:8000;  # Forward to internal Gunicorn server
+            proxy_set_header Host $host;  # Forward Host header from the request
+            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;  # Forward real IP
+            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;  # Forward original IP
+            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;  # Forward the protocol
+            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;  # Forward the Host header
         }
 
-
         location /static/ {
-            alias /code/staticfiles/;  # Serve static files directly
+            alias /code/staticfiles/;
         }
 
         location /media/ {
-            alias /code/media/;   # Serve media files directly
+            alias /code/media/;
         }
-    }
+}
 }
diff --git a/backend/server/adventures/middleware.py b/backend/server/adventures/middleware.py
index 3cd9713..550e581 100644
--- a/backend/server/adventures/middleware.py
+++ b/backend/server/adventures/middleware.py
@@ -20,4 +20,23 @@ class PrintCookiesMiddleware:
     def __call__(self, request):
         print(request.COOKIES)
         response = self.get_response(request)
-        return response
\ No newline at end of file
+        return response
+    
+# middlewares.py
+
+import os
+from django.http import HttpRequest
+
+class OverrideHostMiddleware:
+    def __init__(self, get_response):
+        self.get_response = get_response
+
+    def __call__(self, request: HttpRequest):
+        # Override the host with the PUBLIC_URL environment variable
+        public_url = os.getenv('PUBLIC_URL', None)
+        if public_url:
+            # Split the public URL to extract the host and port (if available)
+            host = public_url.split("//")[-1].split("/")[0]
+            request.META['HTTP_HOST'] = host  # Override the HTTP_HOST header
+        response = self.get_response(request)
+        return response
diff --git a/backend/server/main/settings.py b/backend/server/main/settings.py
index c135d79..2b23b99 100644
--- a/backend/server/main/settings.py
+++ b/backend/server/main/settings.py
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ MIDDLEWARE = (
     'corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware',
     'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
+    'adventures.middleware.OverrideHostMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
     'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
     'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',