diff --git a/cmd/guaccollect/cmd/files.go b/cmd/guaccollect/cmd/files.go
index e2806839f6..beba66f300 100644
--- a/cmd/guaccollect/cmd/files.go
+++ b/cmd/guaccollect/cmd/files.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/guacsec/guac/pkg/blob"
+	"github.com/guacsec/guac/pkg/cli"
 	"github.com/guacsec/guac/pkg/emitter"
 	"github.com/guacsec/guac/pkg/handler/collector"
 	"github.com/guacsec/guac/pkg/handler/collector/file"
@@ -44,6 +45,8 @@ type filesOptions struct {
 	blobAddr string
 	// poll location
 	poll bool
+	// use blob URL for origin instead of source URL (useful if the blob store is persistent and we want to store the blob source location)
+	useBlobURL bool
 }
 
 var filesCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -70,6 +73,7 @@ you have access to read and write to the respective blob store.`,
 			viper.GetString("pubsub-addr"),
 			viper.GetString("blob-addr"),
 			viper.GetBool("service-poll"),
+			viper.GetBool("use-blob-url"),
 			args)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("unable to validate flags: %v\n", err)
@@ -81,7 +85,7 @@ you have access to read and write to the respective blob store.`,
 		logger := logging.FromContext(ctx)
 
 		// Register collector
-		fileCollector := file.NewFileCollector(ctx, opts.path, opts.poll, 30*time.Second)
+		fileCollector := file.NewFileCollector(ctx, opts.path, opts.poll, 30*time.Second, opts.useBlobURL)
 		err = collector.RegisterDocumentCollector(fileCollector, file.FileCollector)
 		if err != nil {
 			logger.Fatalf("unable to register file collector: %v", err)
@@ -91,12 +95,13 @@ you have access to read and write to the respective blob store.`,
 	},
 }
 
-func validateFilesFlags(pubsubAddr string, blobAddr string, poll bool, args []string) (filesOptions, error) {
+func validateFilesFlags(pubsubAddr, blobAddr string, poll, useBlobURL bool, args []string) (filesOptions, error) {
 	var opts filesOptions
 
 	opts.pubsubAddr = pubsubAddr
 	opts.blobAddr = blobAddr
 	opts.poll = poll
+	opts.useBlobURL = useBlobURL
 
 	if len(args) != 1 {
 		return opts, fmt.Errorf("expected positional argument for file_path")
@@ -186,5 +191,15 @@ func initializeNATsandCollector(ctx context.Context, pubsubAddr string, blobAddr
 }
 
 func init() {
+	set, err := cli.BuildFlags([]string{"use-blob-url"})
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "failed to setup flag: %v", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	filesCmd.PersistentFlags().AddFlagSet(set)
+	if err := viper.BindPFlags(filesCmd.PersistentFlags()); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "failed to bind flags: %v", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(filesCmd)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/guacone/cmd/files.go b/cmd/guacone/cmd/files.go
index 7a4d87f703..54f2cf3db3 100644
--- a/cmd/guacone/cmd/files.go
+++ b/cmd/guacone/cmd/files.go
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ var filesCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		}
 
 		// Register collector
-		fileCollector := file.NewFileCollector(ctx, opts.path, false, time.Second)
+		fileCollector := file.NewFileCollector(ctx, opts.path, false, time.Second, false)
 		err = collector.RegisterDocumentCollector(fileCollector, file.FileCollector)
 		if err != nil {
 			logger.Fatalf("unable to register file collector: %v", err)
diff --git a/internal/testing/cmd/pubsub_test/cmd/files.go b/internal/testing/cmd/pubsub_test/cmd/files.go
index ccea1dc802..7544f2d754 100644
--- a/internal/testing/cmd/pubsub_test/cmd/files.go
+++ b/internal/testing/cmd/pubsub_test/cmd/files.go
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ var filesCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		logger := logging.FromContext(ctx)
 
 		// Register collector
-		fileCollector := file.NewFileCollector(ctx, opts.path, opts.poll, 30*time.Second)
+		fileCollector := file.NewFileCollector(ctx, opts.path, opts.poll, 30*time.Second, false)
 		err = collector.RegisterDocumentCollector(fileCollector, file.FileCollector)
 		if err != nil {
 			logger.Errorf("unable to register file collector: %v", err)
diff --git a/pkg/cli/store.go b/pkg/cli/store.go
index 489c63c888..e5c8d75671 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/store.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/store.go
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ func init() {
 	set.String("github-sbom", "", "name of sbom file to look for in github release.")
 	set.String("github-workflow-file", "", "name of workflow file to look for in github workflow. \nThis will be the name of the actual file, not the workflow name (i.e. ci.yaml).")
 
+	// Files collector options
+	set.Bool("use-blob-url", false, "use blob URL for origin instead of source URL (useful if the blob store is persistent and we want to store the blob source location)")
+
 	set.VisitAll(func(f *pflag.Flag) {
 		flagStore[f.Name] = f
 	})
diff --git a/pkg/handler/collector/collector_test.go b/pkg/handler/collector/collector_test.go
index f610b042dc..23ed051ba2 100644
--- a/pkg/handler/collector/collector_test.go
+++ b/pkg/handler/collector/collector_test.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func TestCollect(t *testing.T) {
 		want          []*processor.Document
 	}{{
 		name:      "file collector file",
-		collector: file.NewFileCollector(ctx, "./testdata", false, time.Second),
+		collector: file.NewFileCollector(ctx, "./testdata", false, time.Second, false),
 		want: []*processor.Document{{
 			Blob:   []byte("hello\n"),
 			Type:   processor.DocumentUnknown,
diff --git a/pkg/handler/collector/file/file.go b/pkg/handler/collector/file/file.go
index 97a13ec397..a28749a807 100644
--- a/pkg/handler/collector/file/file.go
+++ b/pkg/handler/collector/file/file.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/guacsec/guac/pkg/events"
 	"github.com/guacsec/guac/pkg/handler/processor"
 )
 
@@ -35,13 +36,15 @@ type fileCollector struct {
 	lastChecked time.Time
 	poll        bool
 	interval    time.Duration
+	useBlobURL  bool
 }
 
-func NewFileCollector(ctx context.Context, path string, poll bool, interval time.Duration) *fileCollector {
+func NewFileCollector(ctx context.Context, path string, poll bool, interval time.Duration, useBlobURL bool) *fileCollector {
 	return &fileCollector{
-		path:     path,
-		poll:     poll,
-		interval: interval,
+		path:       path,
+		poll:       poll,
+		interval:   interval,
+		useBlobURL: useBlobURL,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -87,13 +90,18 @@ func (f *fileCollector) RetrieveArtifacts(ctx context.Context, docChannel chan<-
 			return fmt.Errorf("error reading file: %s, err: %w", path, err)
 		}
 
+		source := fmt.Sprintf("file:///%s", path)
+		if f.useBlobURL {
+			source = events.GetKey(blob) // this is the blob store path
+		}
+
 		doc := &processor.Document{
 			Blob:   blob,
 			Type:   processor.DocumentUnknown,
 			Format: processor.FormatUnknown,
 			SourceInformation: processor.SourceInformation{
 				Collector: string(FileCollector),
-				Source:    fmt.Sprintf("file:///%s", path),
+				Source:    source,
 			},
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/handler/collector/file/file_test.go b/pkg/handler/collector/file/file_test.go
index 344722a4e1..415cd62d6e 100644
--- a/pkg/handler/collector/file/file_test.go
+++ b/pkg/handler/collector/file/file_test.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ func Test_fileCollector_RetrieveArtifacts(t *testing.T) {
 		lastChecked time.Time
 		poll        bool
 		interval    time.Duration
+		useBlobURL  bool
 	}
 	tests := []struct {
 		name    string
@@ -66,6 +67,25 @@ func Test_fileCollector_RetrieveArtifacts(t *testing.T) {
 			}},
 		},
 		wantErr: false,
+	}, {
+		name: "found file with useBlobURL",
+		fields: fields{
+			path:        "./testdata",
+			lastChecked: time.Date(2009, 11, 17, 20, 34, 58, 651387237, time.UTC),
+			poll:        false,
+			interval:    0,
+			useBlobURL:  true,
+		},
+		want: []*processor.Document{{
+			Blob:   []byte("hello\n"),
+			Type:   processor.DocumentUnknown,
+			Format: processor.FormatUnknown,
+			SourceInformation: processor.SourceInformation{
+				Collector: string(FileCollector),
+				Source:    "sha256:5891b5b522d5df086d0ff0b110fbd9d21bb4fc7163af34d08286a2e846f6be03",
+			}},
+		},
+		wantErr: false,
 	}, {
 		name: "with canceled poll",
 		fields: fields{
@@ -92,6 +112,7 @@ func Test_fileCollector_RetrieveArtifacts(t *testing.T) {
 				lastChecked: tt.fields.lastChecked,
 				poll:        tt.fields.poll,
 				interval:    tt.fields.interval,
+				useBlobURL:  tt.fields.useBlobURL,
 			}
 			// NOTE: Below is one of the simplest ways to validate the context getting canceled()
 			// This is still brittle if a test for some reason takes longer than a second.
diff --git a/pkg/handler/collector/git/git.go b/pkg/handler/collector/git/git.go
index 60ad14f04b..f195220e0a 100644
--- a/pkg/handler/collector/git/git.go
+++ b/pkg/handler/collector/git/git.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ type gitDocumentCollector struct {
 }
 
 func NewGitDocumentCollector(ctx context.Context, url string, dir string, poll bool, interval time.Duration) *gitDocumentCollector {
-	fileCollector := file.NewFileCollector(ctx, dir, false, time.Second)
+	fileCollector := file.NewFileCollector(ctx, dir, false, time.Second, false)
 
 	return &gitDocumentCollector{
 		url:           url,