diff --git a/services/director-v2/src/simcore_service_director_v2/core/settings.py b/services/director-v2/src/simcore_service_director_v2/core/settings.py
index 6b9c64de4a3..249bbe836ec 100644
--- a/services/director-v2/src/simcore_service_director_v2/core/settings.py
+++ b/services/director-v2/src/simcore_service_director_v2/core/settings.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     NoAuthentication,
 )
 from pydantic import (
+    AfterValidator,
     AliasChoices,
     AnyHttpUrl,
     AnyUrl,
@@ -251,10 +252,14 @@ class AppSettings(BaseApplicationSettings, MixinLoggingSettings):
         description="resource usage tracker service client's plugin",
     )
 
-    DIRECTOR_V2_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL: AnyHttpUrl = Field(
-        ...,
-        description="Base URL used to access the public api e.g. http://127.0.0.1:6000 for development or https://api.osparc.io",
-    )
+    DIRECTOR_V2_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL: Annotated[
+        AnyHttpUrl | str,
+        AfterValidator(lambda v: f"{v}".rstrip("/")),
+        Field(
+            ...,
+            description="Base URL used to access the public api e.g. http://127.0.0.1:6000 for development or https://api.osparc.io",
+        ),
+    ]
     DIRECTOR_V2_TRACING: TracingSettings | None = Field(
         json_schema_extra={"auto_default_from_env": True},
         description="settings for opentelemetry tracing",
diff --git a/services/director-v2/src/simcore_service_director_v2/modules/osparc_variables/substitutions.py b/services/director-v2/src/simcore_service_director_v2/modules/osparc_variables/substitutions.py
index 2249937341d..22a7bef360d 100644
--- a/services/director-v2/src/simcore_service_director_v2/modules/osparc_variables/substitutions.py
+++ b/services/director-v2/src/simcore_service_director_v2/modules/osparc_variables/substitutions.py
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
-""" Substitution of osparc variables and secrets
-
-"""
+"""Substitution of osparc variables and secrets"""
 
 import functools
 import logging
@@ -24,6 +22,7 @@
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 from servicelib.fastapi.app_state import SingletonInAppStateMixin
 from servicelib.logging_utils import log_context
+from simcore_service_director_v2.core.settings import get_application_settings
 
 from ...utils.db import get_repository
 from ...utils.osparc_variables import (
@@ -194,6 +193,7 @@ async def resolve_and_substitute_session_variables_in_model(
             # if it raises an error vars need replacement
             raise_if_unresolved_osparc_variable_identifier_found(model)
     except UnresolvedOsparcVariableIdentifierError:
+        app_settings = get_application_settings(app)
         table = OsparcSessionVariablesTable.get_from_app_state(app)
         identifiers = await resolve_variables_from_context(
             table.copy(),
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ async def resolve_and_substitute_session_variables_in_model(
                 project_id=project_id,
                 node_id=node_id,
                 run_id=service_run_id,
-                api_server_base_url=app.state.settings.DIRECTOR_V2_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL,
+                api_server_base_url=app_settings.DIRECTOR_V2_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL,
             ),
         )
         _logger.debug("replacing with the identifiers=%s", identifiers)
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ async def resolve_and_substitute_session_variables_in_specs(
             identifiers_to_replace,
         )
         if identifiers_to_replace:
+            app_settings = get_application_settings(app)
             environs = await resolve_variables_from_context(
                 table.copy(include=identifiers_to_replace),
                 context=ContextDict(
@@ -247,7 +248,7 @@ async def resolve_and_substitute_session_variables_in_specs(
                     project_id=project_id,
                     node_id=node_id,
                     run_id=service_run_id,
-                    api_server_base_url=app.state.settings.DIRECTOR_V2_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL,
+                    api_server_base_url=app_settings.DIRECTOR_V2_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL,
                 ),
             )