diff --git a/binderhub/app.py b/binderhub/app.py
index c2404f62c..85872210c 100755
--- a/binderhub/app.py
+++ b/binderhub/app.py
@@ -378,7 +378,22 @@ def _default_hub_token(self):
         """,
         config=True,
     )
-    @validate('hub_url')
+
+    hub_url_local = Unicode(
+        help="""
+        The base URL of the JupyterHub instance for local/internal traffic
+
+        If local/internal network connections from the BinderHub process should access
+        JupyterHub using a different URL than public/external traffic set this, default
+        is hub_url
+        """,
+        config=True,
+    )
+    @default('hub_url_local')
+    def _default_hub_url_local(self):
+        return self.hub_url
+
+    @validate('hub_url', 'hub_url_local')
     def _add_slash(self, proposal):
         """trait validator to ensure hub_url ends with a trailing slash"""
         if proposal.value is not None and not proposal.value.endswith('/'):
@@ -577,6 +592,7 @@ def initialize(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.launcher = Launcher(
             parent=self,
             hub_url=self.hub_url,
+            hub_url_local=self.hub_url_local,
             hub_api_token=self.hub_api_token,
             create_user=not self.auth_enabled,
         )
@@ -665,7 +681,7 @@ def initialize(self, *args, **kwargs):
                 tornado.web.StaticFileHandler,
                 {'path': os.path.join(self.tornado_settings['static_path'], 'images')}),
             (r'/about', AboutHandler),
-            (r'/health', HealthHandler, {'hub_url': self.hub_url}),
+            (r'/health', HealthHandler, {'hub_url': self.hub_url_local}),
             (r'/', MainHandler),
             (r'.*', Custom404),
         ]
diff --git a/binderhub/launcher.py b/binderhub/launcher.py
index 63810a96a..9ee80e447 100644
--- a/binderhub/launcher.py
+++ b/binderhub/launcher.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 from tornado import web, gen
 from tornado.httpclient import AsyncHTTPClient, HTTPRequest, HTTPError
 from traitlets.config import LoggingConfigurable
-from traitlets import Integer, Unicode, Bool
+from traitlets import Integer, Unicode, Bool, default
 from jupyterhub.traitlets import Callable
 from jupyterhub.utils import maybe_future
 
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ class Launcher(LoggingConfigurable):
 
     hub_api_token = Unicode(help="The API token for the Hub")
     hub_url = Unicode(help="The URL of the Hub")
+    hub_url_local = Unicode(help="The internal URL of the Hub if different")
+    @default('hub_url_local')
+    def _default_hub_url_local(self):
+        return self.hub_url
     create_user = Bool(True, help="Create a new Hub user")
     allow_named_servers = Bool(
         os.getenv('JUPYTERHUB_ALLOW_NAMED_SERVERS', "false") == "true",
@@ -81,7 +85,7 @@ async def api_request(self, url, *args, **kwargs):
         """Make an API request to JupyterHub"""
         headers = kwargs.setdefault('headers', {})
         headers.update({'Authorization': 'token %s' % self.hub_api_token})
-        hub_api_url = os.getenv('JUPYTERHUB_API_URL', '') or self.hub_url + 'hub/api/'
+        hub_api_url = os.getenv('JUPYTERHUB_API_URL', '') or self.hub_url_local + 'hub/api/'
         request_url = hub_api_url + url
         req = HTTPRequest(request_url, *args, **kwargs)
         retry_delay = self.retry_delay
diff --git a/helm-chart/binderhub/templates/deployment.yaml b/helm-chart/binderhub/templates/deployment.yaml
index a4e553cde..4ca58e1ce 100644
--- a/helm-chart/binderhub/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/binderhub/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ spec:
               key: "binder.hub-token"
         {{- if .Values.config.BinderHub.auth_enabled }}
         - name: JUPYTERHUB_API_URL
-          value: {{ (print (.Values.config.BinderHub.hub_url | trimSuffix "/") "/hub/api/") }}
+          value: {{ (print (.Values.config.BinderHub.hub_url_local | default .Values.config.BinderHub.hub_url | trimSuffix "/") "/hub/api/") }}
         - name: JUPYTERHUB_BASE_URL
           value: {{ .Values.jupyterhub.hub.baseUrl | quote }}
         - name: JUPYTERHUB_CLIENT_ID