diff --git a/Gruntfile.js b/Gruntfile.js
index 8409840709..396093dd15 100644
--- a/Gruntfile.js
+++ b/Gruntfile.js
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 //
 // **Debug tip:** If you have any problems with any Grunt tasks, try running them with the `--verbose` command
 const config = require('./core/shared/config');
-const urlService = require('./core/frontend/services/url');
 const _ = require('lodash');
 const fs = require('fs-extra');
 const KnexMigrator = require('knex-migrator');
@@ -333,7 +332,7 @@ const configureGrunt = function (grunt) {
 
             watch: {
                 projects: {
-                    'core/client': ['shell:ember:watch', '--live-reload-base-url="' + urlService.utils.getSubdir() + '/ghost/"']
+                    'core/client': ['shell:ember:watch', '--live-reload-base-url="' + config.getSubdir() + '/ghost/"']
                 }
             }
         },
diff --git a/core/shared/config/loader.js b/core/shared/config/loader.js
index a0f420b9c8..8c2c4c43bd 100644
--- a/core/shared/config/loader.js
+++ b/core/shared/config/loader.js
@@ -6,8 +6,13 @@ const _debug = require('@tryghost/debug')._base;
 const debug = _debug('ghost:config');
 const localUtils = require('./utils');
 const helpers = require('./helpers');
+const urlHelpers = require('@tryghost/config-url-helpers');
 const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
 
+/**
+ * @param {object} options
+ * @returns {Nconf.Provider & urlHelpers.BoundHelpers}
+ */
 function loadNconf(options) {
     debug('config start');
     options = options || {};
@@ -47,6 +52,7 @@ function loadNconf(options) {
     // Expose dynamic utility methods
     nconf.isPrivacyDisabled = helpers.isPrivacyDisabled.bind(nconf);
     nconf.getContentPath = helpers.getContentPath.bind(nconf);
+    urlHelpers.bindAll(nconf);
 
     // ## Sanitization
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index bfd7ee8f8a..324cbb24ff 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
     "@tryghost/admin-api-schema": "2.3.0",
     "@tryghost/bookshelf-plugins": "0.1.2",
     "@tryghost/bootstrap-socket": "0.2.9",
+    "@tryghost/config-url-helpers": "^0.1.0",
     "@tryghost/constants": "0.1.8",
     "@tryghost/debug": "0.1.1",
     "@tryghost/email-analytics-provider-mailgun": "1.0.0",
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index e472ebc404..8e86301bfd 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -626,6 +626,11 @@
   dependencies:
     long-timeout "^0.1.1"
 
+"@tryghost/config-url-helpers@^0.1.0":
+  version "0.1.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@tryghost/config-url-helpers/-/config-url-helpers-0.1.0.tgz#10cb3930c19a72e4967b52c6d6450a05449a3f9d"
+  integrity sha512-zZU4+sKlK7L7wz7X7s6XEPrhWYJuMSaR65FaktZsdUQNneTHcmSQXJyLhWKLMFeayP51Os6tPYlLitBvHFLUOA==
+
 "@tryghost/constants@0.1.8":
   version "0.1.8"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@tryghost/constants/-/constants-0.1.8.tgz#b08074cdc6f8a379209750e60c2ab62c8ba895cf"