diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/api.js b/frontend/src/utils/api.js
index 972b566..9560a70 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils/api.js
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/api.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import axios from 'axios';
 
-const API_BASE_URL = import.meta.env.VITE_API_BASE_URL || 'http://localhost:8000';
+// Use relative URLs to go through nginx proxy, or use env variable for direct connection
+const API_BASE_URL = import.meta.env.VITE_API_BASE_URL || '';
 
 const api = axios.create({
   baseURL: API_BASE_URL,