diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 06b9c99..f0d01d0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ High-level overview:
 
     ```hosts
     echo '127.0.0.1 docker.local' | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
+    echo '::1       docker.local' | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
     ```
 
     - Flush local DNS cache:
diff --git a/netutil/netutil.go b/netutil/netutil.go
index 6cda177..034ff87 100644
--- a/netutil/netutil.go
+++ b/netutil/netutil.go
@@ -3,10 +3,40 @@ package netutil
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"net"
+	"net/http"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
+	"time"
 )
 
+// Default http client with timeout
+// https://golang.org/pkg/net/http/#pkg-examples
+// Clients and Transports are safe for concurrent use by multiple goroutines.
+var defaultClient = &http.Client{
+	Timeout:   time.Second * 10,
+	Transport: defaultTransport,
+}
+
+// https://golang.org/src/net/http/transport.go
+var defaultTransport = &http.Transport{
+	Proxy: http.ProxyFromEnvironment,
+	DialContext: (&net.Dialer{
+		Timeout:   10 * time.Second,
+		KeepAlive: 10 * time.Second,
+		DualStack: true,
+	}).DialContext,
+	ForceAttemptHTTP2:     true,
+	MaxIdleConns:          10,
+	IdleConnTimeout:       10 * time.Second,
+	TLSHandshakeTimeout:   10 * time.Second,
+	ExpectContinueTimeout: 1 * time.Second,
+}
+
+// Get issues a GET to the specified URL - a drop-in replacement for http.Get with timeouts.
+func Get(url string) (resp *http.Response, err error) {
+	return defaultClient.Get(url)
+}
+
 // GetFreePort asks the kernel for a free open port that is ready to use.
 func GetFreePort() (int, error) {
 	ip, err := LocalIP()
diff --git a/regutil/regutil.go b/regutil/regutil.go
index 36d72b8..8524515 100644
--- a/regutil/regutil.go
+++ b/regutil/regutil.go
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/miguelmota/ipdr/netutil"
+
 	cid "github.com/ipfs/go-cid"
 	base58 "github.com/jbenet/go-base58"
 	mbase "github.com/multiformats/go-multibase"
@@ -86,7 +88,7 @@ func ToB32(s string) string {
 func Dig(gw string, short bool, name string) (string, error) {
 	uri := fmt.Sprintf("http://%s/dig?q=%s&short=%v", gw, name, short)
 
-	resp, err := http.Get(uri)
+	resp, err := netutil.Get(uri)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
diff --git a/server/registry/blobs.go b/server/registry/blobs.go
index 18ba00c..3c039be 100644
--- a/server/registry/blobs.go
+++ b/server/registry/blobs.go
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/miguelmota/ipdr/netutil"
 )
 
 // Returns whether this url should be handled by the blob handler
@@ -148,7 +150,7 @@ func (b *blobs) handle(resp http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) *regError {
 			}
 		}
 		uri := b.registry.ipfsURL([]string{cid, "blobs", target})
-		ipfsResp, err := http.Get(uri)
+		ipfsResp, err := netutil.Get(uri)
 		if err != nil {
 			return &regError{
 				Status:  http.StatusNotFound,
diff --git a/server/registry/cids.go b/server/registry/cids.go
index d08a6d7..dc0c51e 100644
--- a/server/registry/cids.go
+++ b/server/registry/cids.go
@@ -18,9 +18,6 @@ type cidStore struct {
 }
 
 func key(repo, ref string) string {
-	if ref == "" {
-		ref = "latest"
-	}
 	return repo + ":" + ref
 }
 
diff --git a/server/registry/registry.go b/server/registry/registry.go
index edd8905..ade701f 100644
--- a/server/registry/registry.go
+++ b/server/registry/registry.go
@@ -176,6 +176,8 @@ func (r *registry) resolveCID(repo, reference string) (string, error) {
 }
 
 func (r *registry) resolve(repo, reference string) []string {
+	r.log.Printf("resolving CID: %s:%s", repo, reference)
+
 	// local/cached
 	if cid, ok := r.cids.Get(repo, reference); ok {
 		return []string{cid}
diff --git a/server/registry/util.go b/server/registry/util.go
index bf6a667..2e08a65 100644
--- a/server/registry/util.go
+++ b/server/registry/util.go
@@ -5,12 +5,13 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 
+	"github.com/miguelmota/ipdr/netutil"
 	"github.com/miguelmota/ipdr/regutil"
 )
 
 func getContent(gw string, cid string, s []string) ([]byte, error) {
 	uri := regutil.IpfsURL(gw, append([]string{cid}, s...))
-	resp, err := http.Get(uri)
+	resp, err := netutil.Get(uri)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}