diff --git a/trains/backend_api/session/session.py b/trains/backend_api/session/session.py
index 6baa4e4a..1bb690af 100644
--- a/trains/backend_api/session/session.py
+++ b/trains/backend_api/session/session.py
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ class Session(TokenManager):
             from ...config import config_obj
             config = config_obj
         return ENV_HOST.get(default=(config.get("api.api_server", None) or
-                                     config.get("api.host", None) or cls.default_host))
+                                     config.get("api.host", None) or cls.default_host)).rstrip('/')
 
     @classmethod
     def get_app_server_host(cls, config=None):
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ class Session(TokenManager):
             config = config_obj
 
         # get from config/environment
-        web_host = ENV_WEB_HOST.get(default=config.get("api.web_server", None))
+        web_host = ENV_WEB_HOST.get(default=config.get("api.web_server", "")).rstrip('/')
         if web_host:
             return web_host
 
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ class Session(TokenManager):
             from ...config import config_obj
             config = config_obj
         # get from config/environment
-        files_host = ENV_FILES_HOST.get(default=(config.get("api.files_server", None)))
+        files_host = ENV_FILES_HOST.get(default=(config.get("api.files_server", ""))).rstrip('/')
         if files_host:
             return files_host
 
diff --git a/trains/storage/helper.py b/trains/storage/helper.py
index f952cdfb..8fa0c844 100644
--- a/trains/storage/helper.py
+++ b/trains/storage/helper.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ from tempfile import mktemp
 from time import time
 from types import GeneratorType
 
-import numpy as np
 import requests
 import six
 from _socket import gethostname
@@ -740,8 +739,10 @@ class StorageHelper(object):
 
             # TODO: ugly py3 hack, please remove ASAP
             if six.PY3 and not isinstance(stream, GeneratorType):
+                import numpy as np
                 return np.frombuffer(stream, dtype=np.uint8)
             else:
+                import numpy as np
                 return np.asarray(bytearray(b''.join(stream)), dtype=np.uint8)
 
         except Exception as e:
@@ -962,9 +963,9 @@ class _HttpDriver(_Driver):
                 from ..backend_interface.base import InterfaceBase
                 self._default_backend_session = InterfaceBase._get_default_session()
             if self._default_files_server_host is None:
-                self._default_files_server_host = self._default_backend_session.get_files_server_host()
+                self._default_files_server_host = self._default_backend_session.get_files_server_host().rstrip('/')
 
-            if url.startswith(self._default_files_server_host):
+            if url == self._default_files_server_host or url.startswith(self._default_files_server_host + '/'):
                 return self._default_backend_session.add_auth_headers({})
             return None