diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 257b724..80fb666 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -82,7 +82,10 @@ func Serve(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	// TODO: make this an MRU cache with a size limit
 	fileResponseCache := cache.NewKeyValueCache()
 
-	giteaClient := gitea.NewClient(giteaRoot, giteaAPIToken)
+	giteaClient, err := gitea.NewClient(giteaRoot, giteaAPIToken)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not create new gitea client: %v", err)
+	}
 
 	// Create handler based on settings
 	handler := server.Handler(mainDomainSuffix, []byte(rawDomain),
diff --git a/server/gitea/client.go b/server/gitea/client.go
index d4eb980..30d60cc 100644
--- a/server/gitea/client.go
+++ b/server/gitea/client.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ const giteaAPIRepos = "/api/v1/repos/"
 var ErrorNotFound = errors.New("not found")
 
 type Client struct {
-	giteaRoot      string
+	giteaRoot      *url.URL
 	giteaAPIToken  string
 	fastClient     *fasthttp.Client
 	infoTimeout    time.Duration
@@ -29,18 +29,22 @@ type FileResponse struct {
 	Body     []byte
 }
 
-func joinURL(giteaRoot string, paths ...string) string { return giteaRoot + path.Join(paths...) }
+func joinURL(baseURL *url.URL, paths ...string) string {
+	baseURL.Path = path.Join(append([]string{baseURL.Path}, paths...)...)
+	return baseURL.String()
+}
 
 func (f FileResponse) IsEmpty() bool { return len(f.Body) != 0 }
 
-func NewClient(giteaRoot, giteaAPIToken string) *Client {
+func NewClient(giteaRoot, giteaAPIToken string) (*Client, error) {
+	rootURL, err := url.Parse(giteaRoot)
 	return &Client{
-		giteaRoot:      giteaRoot,
+		giteaRoot:      rootURL,
 		giteaAPIToken:  giteaAPIToken,
 		infoTimeout:    5 * time.Second,
 		contentTimeout: 10 * time.Second,
 		fastClient:     getFastHTTPClient(),
-	}
+	}, err
 }
 
 func (client *Client) GiteaRawContent(targetOwner, targetRepo, ref, resource string) ([]byte, error) {
diff --git a/server/gitea/client_test.go b/server/gitea/client_test.go
index bae9d4e..5be1e58 100644
--- a/server/gitea/client_test.go
+++ b/server/gitea/client_test.go
@@ -1,23 +1,21 @@
 package gitea
 
 import (
+	"net/url"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
 func TestJoinURL(t *testing.T) {
-	url := joinURL("")
-	assert.EqualValues(t, "", url)
+	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("")
+	u := joinURL(baseURL)
+	assert.EqualValues(t, "", u)
 
-	url = joinURL("", "", "")
-	assert.EqualValues(t, "", url)
+	u = joinURL(baseURL, "", "")
+	assert.EqualValues(t, "", u)
 
-	url = joinURL("http://wwow.url.com", "a", "b/c/", "d")
-	// assert.EqualValues(t, "http://wwow.url.com/a/b/c/d", url)
-	assert.EqualValues(t, "http://wwow.url.coma/b/c/d", url)
-
-	url = joinURL("h:://wrong", "acdc")
-	// assert.EqualValues(t, "h:://wrong/acdc", url)
-	assert.EqualValues(t, "h:://wrongacdc", url)
+	baseURL, _ = url.Parse("http://wwow.url.com")
+	u = joinURL(baseURL, "a", "b/c/", "d")
+	assert.EqualValues(t, "http://wwow.url.com/a/b/c/d", u)
 }
diff --git a/server/handler_test.go b/server/handler_test.go
index 73002a2..23d9af5 100644
--- a/server/handler_test.go
+++ b/server/handler_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestHandlerPerformance(t *testing.T) {
 	giteaRoot := "https://codeberg.org"
-	giteaClient := gitea.NewClient(giteaRoot, "")
+	giteaClient, _ := gitea.NewClient(giteaRoot, "")
 	testHandler := Handler(
 		[]byte("codeberg.page"), []byte("raw.codeberg.org"),
 		giteaClient,