diff --git a/server/utils/fileUtils.js b/server/utils/fileUtils.js
index 99bb49ebd5..1fc161c7ff 100644
--- a/server/utils/fileUtils.js
+++ b/server/utils/fileUtils.js
@@ -357,7 +357,10 @@ module.exports.removeFile = (path) => {
 }
 
 module.exports.encodeUriPath = (path) => {
-  const uri = new URL(path, "file://")
+  const uri = new URL('/', "file://")
+  // we assign the path here to assure that URL control characters like # are
+  // actually interpreted as part of the URL path
+  uri.pathname = path
   return uri.pathname
 }