diff --git a/src/backend/src/helpers.js b/src/backend/src/helpers.js
index 7c4a1cc64..991e1b56a 100644
--- a/src/backend/src/helpers.js
+++ b/src/backend/src/helpers.js
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ import { contentType as _contentType } from 'mime-types';
 import { resolve as _resolve, extname } from 'path';
 import { v4 } from 'uuid';
 import APIError from './api/APIError.js';
-import { redisClient } from './clients/redis/redisSingleton.js';
 import { setRedisCacheValue } from './clients/redis/cacheUpdate.js';
+import { redisClient } from './clients/redis/redisSingleton.js';
 import config from './config.js';
 import { APP_ICONS_SUBDOMAIN } from './consts/app-icons.js';
 import { NodeUIDSelector } from './filesystem/node/selectors.js';
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ const isBase64AppIcon = (app) => {
     return isRawBase64ImageString(trimmed);
 };
 
-const buildAppIconUrl = (app_uid, size = DEFAULT_APP_ICON_SIZE) => {
+const buildAppIconSubdomainUrl = (app_uid, size = DEFAULT_APP_ICON_SIZE) => {
     if ( ! app_uid ) return null;
     const normalized_uid = normalizeAppUid(app_uid);
     const iconSize = Number.isFinite(Number(size)) ? Number(size) : DEFAULT_APP_ICON_SIZE;
@@ -176,16 +176,6 @@ const buildAppIconEndpointUrl = (app_uid, size = DEFAULT_APP_ICON_SIZE) => {
     return `${apiBaseUrl}/app-icon/${normalized_uid}/${iconSize}`;
 };
 
-const withAppIconUrl = (app) => {
-    if ( ! app ) return app;
-    const iconIsBase64 = isBase64AppIcon(app);
-    const icon_url = iconIsBase64
-        ? buildAppIconEndpointUrl(app.uid ?? app.uuid)
-        : buildAppIconUrl(app.uid ?? app.uuid);
-    if ( ! icon_url ) return { ...app };
-    return { ...app, icon: icon_url, icon_is_base64: iconIsBase64 };
-};
-
 export async function is_empty (dir_uuid) {
     /** @type BaseDatabaseAccessService */
     const db = servicesContainer.services.get('database').get(DB_READ, 'filesystem');
@@ -521,6 +511,15 @@ export async function get_app (options) {
     return app;
 }
 
+const get_app_icon_url = (app, size) => {
+    const iconIsBase64 = isBase64AppIcon(app);
+    const svc_appIcon = servicesContainer.services.get('app-icon');
+    console.log('THIS SHOULD BE TRUE', svc_appIcon.config.no_subdomain);
+    return (iconIsBase64 || svc_appIcon.config.no_subdomain)
+        ? buildAppIconEndpointUrl(app.uid ?? app.uuid, size)
+        : buildAppIconSubdomainUrl(app.uid ?? app.uuid, size);
+};
+
 /**
  * Get multiple apps by uid/name/id, aligned to the input order.
  *
@@ -533,7 +532,12 @@ export const get_apps = spanify('get_apps', async (specifiers, options = {}) =>
         specifiers = [specifiers];
     }
 
-    const decorateApp = (app) => (withAppIconUrl(app));
+    const decorateApp = (app) => {
+        if ( ! app ) return app;
+        const icon_url = get_app_icon_url(app.uid ?? app.uuid);
+        if ( ! icon_url ) return { ...app };
+        return { ...app, icon: icon_url };
+    };
     const normalizeAppForCache = (app) => {
         if ( ! app ) return app;
         const normalized = { ...app };
@@ -2113,13 +2117,7 @@ export async function get_taskbar_items (user, {
         if ( no_icons ) {
             delete item.icon;
         } else {
-            const svc_appIcon = servicesContainer.services.get('app-icon');
-            const iconUrl = svc_appIcon.getSizedIconUrl({
-                appUid: item.uid,
-                size: iconSize,
-            });
-
-            item.icon = iconUrl;;
+            item.icon = get_app_icon_url(item, iconSize);
         }
 
         // add to final object
diff --git a/src/backend/src/modules/apps/AppIconService.js b/src/backend/src/modules/apps/AppIconService.js
index 02ed4fc1e..09ecfb40d 100644
--- a/src/backend/src/modules/apps/AppIconService.js
+++ b/src/backend/src/modules/apps/AppIconService.js
@@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ import { LLMkdir } from '../../filesystem/ll_operations/ll_mkdir.js';
 import { LLRead } from '../../filesystem/ll_operations/ll_read.js';
 import { NodePathSelector } from '../../filesystem/node/selectors.js';
 import { get_app, get_user } from '../../helpers.js';
-import { AppRedisCacheSpace } from './AppRedisCacheSpace.js';
 import BaseService from '../../services/BaseService.js';
 import { DB_READ, DB_WRITE } from '../../services/database/consts.js';
 import { Endpoint } from '../../util/expressutil.js';
 import { buffer_to_stream, stream_to_buffer } from '../../util/streamutil.js';
+import { AppRedisCacheSpace } from './AppRedisCacheSpace.js';
 import DEFAULT_APP_ICON from './default-app-icon.js';
 
 const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ export class AppIconService extends BaseService {
             } = await this.#getIconStream({
                 appUid,
                 size: resolvedSize,
-                allowRedirect: true,
+                allowRedirect: !this.config.no_subdomain,
             });
 
             if ( redirectUrl ) {
diff --git a/src/backend/src/modules/apps/AppIconService.test.js b/src/backend/src/modules/apps/AppIconService.test.js
index 0bbc058c6..0e927cf36 100644
--- a/src/backend/src/modules/apps/AppIconService.test.js
+++ b/src/backend/src/modules/apps/AppIconService.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import config from '../../config.js';
 import { AppIconService } from './AppIconService.js';
 
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ describe('AppIconService', () => {
     describe('URL helpers', () => {
         it('extracts a puter subdomain from a static hosting URL', () => {
             const service = Object.create(AppIconService.prototype);
+            // TODO: We might need a better way to do this. A service with no
+            //       initialization is difficult to test.
+            service.config = {};
             const domain = 'site.puter.localhost:4100';
             config.load_config({
                 static_hosting_domain: domain,