diff --git a/docs/docs/connect_your_rest_apis.md b/docs/docs/connect_your_rest_apis.md
index 2c8f3842..ceac9bae 100644
--- a/docs/docs/connect_your_rest_apis.md
+++ b/docs/docs/connect_your_rest_apis.md
@@ -16,8 +16,10 @@ The `Elasticsearch` adapter can be configured by passing an object. The configur
 
 ```jsx
 const searchApi = new ESSearchAPI({
-  url: 'https://my.es.backend.org/search/',
-  timeout: 5000
+  axios: {
+    url: 'https://my.es.backend.org/search/',
+    timeout: 5000,
+  }
 });
 
 class App extends Component {
@@ -37,9 +39,11 @@ The `Invenio` adapter works in a very similar way:
 
 ```jsx
 const searchApi = new InvenioSearchApi({
-  url: 'https://zenodo.org/api/records/',
-  timeout: 5000,
-  headers: { Accept: 'application/vnd.zenodo.v1+json' },
+  axios: {
+    url: 'https://zenodo.org/api/records/',
+    timeout: 5000,
+    headers: { Accept: 'application/vnd.zenodo.v1+json' },
+  }
 });
 
 class App extends Component {
@@ -97,8 +101,10 @@ const MyRequestSerializer = new MyRequestSerializer();
 const MyResponseSerializer = new MyResponseSerializer();
 
 const searchApi = new ESSearchAPI({
-  url: 'https://my.es.backend.org/search/',
-  timeout: 5000,
+  axios: {
+    url: 'https://my.es.backend.org/search/',
+    timeout: 5000,
+  },
   es: {
     requestSerializer: MyRequestSerializer,
     responseSerializer: MyResponseSerializer,
diff --git a/src/lib/api/contrib/elasticsearch/ESSearchApi.js b/src/lib/api/contrib/elasticsearch/ESSearchApi.js
index ceb6a62a..6b35eee8 100644
--- a/src/lib/api/contrib/elasticsearch/ESSearchApi.js
+++ b/src/lib/api/contrib/elasticsearch/ESSearchApi.js
@@ -14,17 +14,24 @@ import { ESResponseSerializer } from './ESResponseSerializer';
 
 export class ESSearchApi {
   constructor(config) {
-    this.validateConfig(config);
+    this.axiosConfig = _get(config, 'axios', {});
+    this.validateAxiosConfig();
     this.initSerializers(config);
-    this.initAxios(config);
+    this.initInterceptors(config);
+    this.initAxios();
   }
 
-  validateConfig(config) {
-    if (!_hasIn(config, 'url')) {
+  validateAxiosConfig() {
+    if (!_hasIn(this.axiosConfig, 'url')) {
       throw new Error('ESSearchApi config: `node` field is required.');
     }
   }
 
+  initInterceptors(config) {
+    this.requestInterceptor = _get(config, 'interceptors.request', undefined);
+    this.responseInterceptor = _get(config, 'interceptors.response', undefined);
+  }
+
   initSerializers(config) {
     const requestSerializerCls = _get(
       config,
@@ -41,13 +48,24 @@ export class ESSearchApi {
     this.responseSerializer = new responseSerializerCls();
   }
 
-  initAxios(config) {
-    delete config.es;
-    const axiosConfig = {
-      baseURL: config.url,
-      ...config,
-    };
-    this.http = axios.create(axiosConfig);
+  initAxios() {
+    this.http = axios.create(this.axiosConfig);
+    this.addInterceptors();
+  }
+
+  addInterceptors() {
+    if (this.requestInterceptor) {
+      this.http.interceptors.request.use(
+        this.requestInterceptor.resolve,
+        this.requestInterceptor.reject
+      );
+    }
+    if (this.responseInterceptor) {
+      this.http.interceptors.request.use(
+        this.responseInterceptor.resolve,
+        this.responseInterceptor.reject
+      );
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/lib/api/contrib/elasticsearch/ESSearchApi.test.js b/src/lib/api/contrib/elasticsearch/ESSearchApi.test.js
index 4a4d8d8a..31624949 100644
--- a/src/lib/api/contrib/elasticsearch/ESSearchApi.test.js
+++ b/src/lib/api/contrib/elasticsearch/ESSearchApi.test.js
@@ -25,9 +25,11 @@ class MockedResponseSerializer {
 describe('test ESSearchApi class', () => {
   it('should use the provided configuration', async () => {
     const searchApi = new ESSearchApi({
-      url: 'https://mydomain.test.com/api/',
-      timeout: 5000,
-      headers: { Accept: 'application/json' },
+      axios: {
+        url: 'https://mydomain.test.com/api/',
+        timeout: 5000,
+        headers: { Accept: 'application/json' },
+      },
       es: {
         requestSerializer: MockedRequestSerializer,
         responseSerializer: MockedResponseSerializer,
@@ -48,11 +50,32 @@ describe('test ESSearchApi class', () => {
     expect(mockedAxios.history.post.length).toBe(1);
 
     const request = mockedAxios.history.post[0];
-    expect(request.baseURL).toBe('https://mydomain.test.com/api/');
+    expect(request.url).toBe('https://mydomain.test.com/api/');
     expect(request.method).toBe('post');
     expect(request.timeout).toBe(5000);
     expect(request.data).toEqual('q=test');
 
     expect(response).toEqual(mockedResponse);
   });
+
+  it('should properly use relative URLs', async () => {
+    const searchApi = new ESSearchApi({
+      axios: {
+        url: '/api/records',
+      },
+      es: {
+        requestSerializer: MockedRequestSerializer,
+        responseSerializer: MockedResponseSerializer,
+      },
+    });
+    const mockedAxios = new MockAdapter(searchApi.http);
+
+    const mockedResponse = { hits: [{ result: '1' }] };
+    mockedAxios.onAny().reply(200, mockedResponse);
+    await searchApi.search({ q: 'test' });
+    expect(mockedAxios.history.post.length).toBe(1);
+
+    const request = mockedAxios.history.post[0];
+    expect(request.url).toBe('/api/records');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/api/contrib/invenio/InvenioSearchApi.js b/src/lib/api/contrib/invenio/InvenioSearchApi.js
index 947a929a..6d9a51d5 100644
--- a/src/lib/api/contrib/invenio/InvenioSearchApi.js
+++ b/src/lib/api/contrib/invenio/InvenioSearchApi.js
@@ -14,17 +14,24 @@ import { InvenioResponseSerializer } from './InvenioResponseSerializer';
 
 export class InvenioSearchApi {
   constructor(config) {
-    this.validateConfig(config);
+    this.axiosConfig = _get(config, 'axios', {});
+    this.validateAxiosConfig();
     this.initSerializers(config);
-    this.initAxios(config);
+    this.initInterceptors(config);
+    this.initAxios();
   }
 
-  validateConfig(config) {
-    if (!_hasIn(config, 'url')) {
+  validateAxiosConfig() {
+    if (!_hasIn(this.axiosConfig, 'url')) {
       throw new Error('InvenioSearchApi config: `url` field is required.');
     }
   }
 
+  initInterceptors(config) {
+    this.requestInterceptor = _get(config, 'interceptors.request', undefined);
+    this.responseInterceptor = _get(config, 'interceptors.response', undefined);
+  }
+
   initSerializers(config) {
     const requestSerializerCls = _get(
       config,
@@ -41,30 +48,26 @@ export class InvenioSearchApi {
     this.responseSerializer = new responseSerializerCls();
   }
 
-  initAxios(config) {
-    delete config.invenio;
+  initAxios() {
     const axiosConfig = {
       paramsSerializer: this.requestSerializer.serialize,
-      baseURL: config.url, // transform URL to baseURL to have clean external APIs
-      ...config,
+      ...this.axiosConfig,
     };
     this.http = axios.create(axiosConfig);
-    if (config.interceptors) {
-      this.addInterceptors(config.interceptors);
-    }
+    this.addInterceptors();
   }
 
-  addInterceptors(interceptors) {
-    if (interceptors.request) {
+  addInterceptors() {
+    if (this.requestInterceptor) {
       this.http.interceptors.request.use(
-        interceptors.request.resolve,
-        interceptors.request.reject
+        this.requestInterceptor.resolve,
+        this.requestInterceptor.reject
       );
     }
-    if (interceptors.response) {
-      this.http.interceptors.response.use(
-        interceptors.response.resolve,
-        interceptors.response.reject
+    if (this.responseInterceptor) {
+      this.http.interceptors.request.use(
+        this.responseInterceptor.resolve,
+        this.responseInterceptor.reject
       );
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/lib/api/contrib/invenio/InvenioSearchApi.test.js b/src/lib/api/contrib/invenio/InvenioSearchApi.test.js
index ae4eba64..f1c29a51 100644
--- a/src/lib/api/contrib/invenio/InvenioSearchApi.test.js
+++ b/src/lib/api/contrib/invenio/InvenioSearchApi.test.js
@@ -25,9 +25,11 @@ class MockedResponseSerializer {
 describe('test InvenioSearchApi class', () => {
   it('should use the provided configuration', async () => {
     const searchApi = new InvenioSearchApi({
-      url: 'https://mydomain.test.com/api/',
-      timeout: 5000,
-      headers: { Accept: 'application/json' },
+      axios: {
+        url: 'https://mydomain.test.com/api/',
+        timeout: 5000,
+        headers: { Accept: 'application/json' },
+      },
       invenio: {
         requestSerializer: MockedRequestSerializer,
         responseSerializer: MockedResponseSerializer,
@@ -48,7 +50,7 @@ describe('test InvenioSearchApi class', () => {
     expect(mockedAxios.history.get.length).toBe(1);
 
     const request = mockedAxios.history.get[0];
-    expect(request.baseURL).toBe('https://mydomain.test.com/api/');
+    expect(request.url).toBe('https://mydomain.test.com/api/');
     expect(request.method).toBe('get');
     expect(request.timeout).toBe(5000);
     expect(request.headers).toEqual({ Accept: 'application/json' });
@@ -57,4 +59,21 @@ describe('test InvenioSearchApi class', () => {
 
     expect(response).toEqual(mockedResponse);
   });
+
+  it('should properly use relative URLs', async () => {
+    const searchApi = new InvenioSearchApi({
+      axios: {
+        url: '/api/records',
+      },
+    });
+    const mockedAxios = new MockAdapter(searchApi.http);
+
+    const mockedResponse = { hits: [{ result: '1' }] };
+    mockedAxios.onAny().reply(200, mockedResponse);
+    await searchApi.search({ q: 'test' });
+    expect(mockedAxios.history.get.length).toBe(1);
+
+    const request = mockedAxios.history.get[0];
+    expect(request.url).toBe('/api/records');
+  });
 });