diff --git a/app/models/topic.rb b/app/models/topic.rb
index e425bb56495..2e910dc1f7a 100644
--- a/app/models/topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic.rb
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
       Jobs.enqueue(:generate_topic_thumbnails, { topic_id: id, extra_sizes: extra_sizes })
     end
 
-    infos.each { |i| i[:url] = UrlHelper.cook_url(i[:url], secure: original.secure?) }
+    infos.each { |i| i[:url] = UrlHelper.cook_url(i[:url], secure: original.secure?, local: true) }
 
     infos.sort_by! { |i| -i[:width] * i[:height] }
   end
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
     end
 
     raw_url = thumbnail&.optimized_image&.url || image_upload&.url
-    UrlHelper.cook_url(raw_url, secure: image_upload&.secure?)
+    UrlHelper.cook_url(raw_url, secure: image_upload&.secure?, local: true) if raw_url
   end
 
   def featured_users
diff --git a/lib/file_store/s3_store.rb b/lib/file_store/s3_store.rb
index fcc289123cf..968c673af43 100644
--- a/lib/file_store/s3_store.rb
+++ b/lib/file_store/s3_store.rb
@@ -11,10 +11,12 @@ module FileStore
   class S3Store < BaseStore
     TOMBSTONE_PREFIX ||= "tombstone/"
 
-    attr_reader :s3_helper
-
     def initialize(s3_helper = nil)
-      @s3_helper = s3_helper || S3Helper.new(s3_bucket,
+      @s3_helper = s3_helper
+    end
+
+    def s3_helper
+      @s3_helper ||= S3Helper.new(s3_bucket,
         Rails.configuration.multisite ? multisite_tombstone_prefix : TOMBSTONE_PREFIX
       )
     end
@@ -68,7 +70,7 @@ module FileStore
       path.prepend(File.join(upload_path, "/")) if Rails.configuration.multisite
 
       # if this fails, it will throw an exception
-      path, etag = @s3_helper.upload(file, path, options)
+      path, etag = s3_helper.upload(file, path, options)
 
       # return the upload url and etag
       [File.join(absolute_base_url, path), etag]
@@ -77,12 +79,12 @@ module FileStore
     def remove_file(url, path)
       return unless has_been_uploaded?(url)
       # copy the removed file to tombstone
-      @s3_helper.remove(path, true)
+      s3_helper.remove(path, true)
     end
 
     def copy_file(url, source, destination)
       return unless has_been_uploaded?(url)
-      @s3_helper.copy(source, destination)
+      s3_helper.copy(source, destination)
     end
 
     def has_been_uploaded?(url)
@@ -119,11 +121,11 @@ module FileStore
     end
 
     def s3_bucket_folder_path
-      @s3_helper.s3_bucket_folder_path
+      S3Helper.get_bucket_and_folder_path(s3_bucket)[1]
     end
 
     def s3_bucket_name
-      @s3_helper.s3_bucket_name
+      S3Helper.get_bucket_and_folder_path(s3_bucket)[0]
     end
 
     def absolute_base_url
@@ -139,7 +141,7 @@ module FileStore
     end
 
     def purge_tombstone(grace_period)
-      @s3_helper.update_tombstone_lifecycle(grace_period)
+      s3_helper.update_tombstone_lifecycle(grace_period)
     end
 
     def multisite_tombstone_prefix
@@ -165,7 +167,7 @@ module FileStore
     def cdn_url(url)
       return url if SiteSetting.Upload.s3_cdn_url.blank?
       schema = url[/^(https?:)?\/\//, 1]
-      folder = @s3_helper.s3_bucket_folder_path.nil? ? "" : "#{@s3_helper.s3_bucket_folder_path}/"
+      folder = s3_bucket_folder_path.nil? ? "" : "#{s3_bucket_folder_path}/"
       url.sub(File.join("#{schema}#{absolute_base_url}", folder), File.join(SiteSetting.Upload.s3_cdn_url, "/"))
     end
 
@@ -177,7 +179,7 @@ module FileStore
     def cache_avatar(avatar, user_id)
       source = avatar.url.sub(absolute_base_url + "/", "")
       destination = avatar_template(avatar, user_id).sub(absolute_base_url + "/", "")
-      @s3_helper.copy(source, destination)
+      s3_helper.copy(source, destination)
     end
 
     def avatar_template(avatar, user_id)
@@ -213,7 +215,7 @@ module FileStore
     end
 
     def download_file(upload, destination_path)
-      @s3_helper.download_file(get_upload_key(upload), destination_path)
+      s3_helper.download_file(get_upload_key(upload), destination_path)
     end
 
     def copy_from(source_path)
@@ -258,7 +260,7 @@ module FileStore
         )
       end
 
-      obj = @s3_helper.object(url)
+      obj = s3_helper.object(url)
       obj.presigned_url(:get, opts)
     end
 
@@ -272,7 +274,7 @@ module FileStore
 
     def update_ACL(key, secure)
       begin
-        @s3_helper.object(key).acl.put(acl: secure ? "private" : "public-read")
+        s3_helper.object(key).acl.put(acl: secure ? "private" : "public-read")
       rescue Aws::S3::Errors::NoSuchKey
         Rails.logger.warn("Could not update ACL on upload with key: '#{key}'. Upload is missing.")
       end
@@ -282,7 +284,7 @@ module FileStore
       connection = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.raw_connection
       connection.exec('CREATE TEMP TABLE verified_ids(val integer PRIMARY KEY)')
       marker = nil
-      files = @s3_helper.list(prefix, marker)
+      files = s3_helper.list(prefix, marker)
 
       while files.count > 0 do
         verified_ids = []
@@ -295,7 +297,7 @@ module FileStore
 
         verified_id_clause = verified_ids.map { |id| "('#{PG::Connection.escape_string(id.to_s)}')" }.join(",")
         connection.exec("INSERT INTO verified_ids VALUES #{verified_id_clause}")
-        files = @s3_helper.list(prefix, marker)
+        files = s3_helper.list(prefix, marker)
       end
 
       missing_uploads = model.joins('LEFT JOIN verified_ids ON verified_ids.val = id').where("verified_ids.val IS NULL")
diff --git a/lib/url_helper.rb b/lib/url_helper.rb
index eff8ab87e2a..be75c5d0a29 100644
--- a/lib/url_helper.rb
+++ b/lib/url_helper.rb
@@ -76,8 +76,9 @@ class UrlHelper
     url[/x-amz-(algorithm|credential)/i].present?
   end
 
-  def self.cook_url(url, secure: false)
-    return url unless is_local(url)
+  def self.cook_url(url, secure: false, local: nil)
+    local = is_local(url) if local.nil?
+    return url if !local
 
     url = secure ? secure_proxy_without_cdn(url) : absolute_without_cdn(url)
 
diff --git a/spec/components/file_store/s3_store_spec.rb b/spec/components/file_store/s3_store_spec.rb
index e9e4f7c3dc7..8b6831219bc 100644
--- a/spec/components/file_store/s3_store_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/file_store/s3_store_spec.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ require 'file_store/local_store'
 
 describe FileStore::S3Store do
   let(:store) { FileStore::S3Store.new }
-  let(:s3_helper) { store.instance_variable_get(:@s3_helper) }
+  let(:s3_helper) { store.s3_helper }
   let(:client) { Aws::S3::Client.new(stub_responses: true) }
   let(:resource) { Aws::S3::Resource.new(client: client) }
   let(:s3_bucket) { resource.bucket("s3-upload-bucket") }
diff --git a/spec/multisite/s3_store_spec.rb b/spec/multisite/s3_store_spec.rb
index f9049a1d858..cc90a40738d 100644
--- a/spec/multisite/s3_store_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/multisite/s3_store_spec.rb
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ RSpec.describe 'Multisite s3 uploads', type: :multisite do
     let(:client) { Aws::S3::Client.new(stub_responses: true) }
     let(:resource) { Aws::S3::Resource.new(client: client) }
     let(:s3_bucket) { resource.bucket("some-really-cool-bucket") }
-    let(:s3_helper) { store.instance_variable_get(:@s3_helper) }
+    let(:s3_helper) { store.s3_helper }
     let(:s3_object) { stub }
 
     before(:each) do