diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2f47b2e..c473a75 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ $ npm start
 | `USE_DELEGATED_ROUTING`     | Whether to use the delegated routing v1 API                                                                                                    | `true`                                                                                                                  |
 | `DELEGATED_ROUTING_V1_HOST` | Hostname to use for delegated routing v1                                                                                                       | `https://delegated-ipfs.dev`                                                                                            |
 | `USE_DHT_ROUTING`           | Whether to use @libp2p/kad-dht for routing when libp2p is enabled                                                                              | `true`                                                                                                                  |
+| `USE_SESSIONS`              | If true, use a blockstore session per IPFS/IPNS path                                                                                           | `true`                                                                                                                  |
 
 <!--
 TODO: currently broken when used in docker, but they work when running locally (you can cache datastore and blockstore locally to speed things up if you want)
diff --git a/src/constants.ts b/src/constants.ts
index 8c4e136..08c7386 100644
--- a/src/constants.ts
+++ b/src/constants.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ export const FASTIFY_DEBUG = process.env.FASTIFY_DEBUG ?? ''
 
 export const USE_SUBDOMAINS = process.env.USE_SUBDOMAINS !== 'false'
 
+export const USE_SESSIONS = process.env.USE_SESSIONS !== 'false'
+
 export const ECHO_HEADERS = process.env.ECHO_HEADERS === 'true'
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/helia-http-gateway.ts b/src/helia-http-gateway.ts
index a44540f..ee98acb 100644
--- a/src/helia-http-gateway.ts
+++ b/src/helia-http-gateway.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { raceSignal } from 'race-signal'
-import { USE_SUBDOMAINS } from './constants.js'
+import { USE_SUBDOMAINS, USE_SESSIONS } from './constants.js'
 import { dnsLinkLabelEncoder, isInlinedDnsLink } from './dns-link-labels.js'
 import { getFullUrlFromFastifyRequest, getRequestAwareSignal } from './helia-server.js'
 import { getIpnsAddressDetails } from './ipns-address-utils.js'
@@ -89,7 +89,11 @@ export function httpGateway (opts: HeliaHTTPGatewayOptions): RouteOptions[] {
 
     // if subdomains are disabled, have @helia/verified-fetch follow redirects
     // internally, otherwise let the client making the request do it
-    const resp = await opts.fetch(url, { signal, redirect: USE_SUBDOMAINS ? 'manual' : 'follow' })
+    const resp = await opts.fetch(url, {
+      signal,
+      redirect: USE_SUBDOMAINS ? 'manual' : 'follow',
+      session: USE_SESSIONS
+    })
 
     await convertVerifiedFetchResponseToFastifyReply(url, resp, reply, {
       signal