diff --git a/common/models/user.js b/common/models/user.js
index b3291b773b..b8681c2553 100644
--- a/common/models/user.js
+++ b/common/models/user.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import _ from 'lodash';
 import jwt from 'jsonwebtoken';
 import generate from 'nanoid/generate';
 
-import { homeLocation } from '../../config/env';
+import { homeLocation, apiLocation } from '../../config/env';
 
 import { fixCompletedChallengeItem } from '../utils';
 import { themes } from '../utils/themes';
@@ -596,7 +596,7 @@ module.exports = function(User) {
         }
         const { id: loginToken, created: emailAuthLinkTTL } = token;
         const loginEmail = this.getEncodedEmail(newEmail ? newEmail : null);
-        const host = homeLocation;
+        const host = apiLocation;
         const mailOptions = {
           type: 'email',
           to: newEmail ? newEmail : this.email,
diff --git a/config/env.js b/config/env.js
index d0833ae121..f80e542755 100644
--- a/config/env.js
+++ b/config/env.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 module.exports = {
-  homeLocation: process.env.HOME_LOCATION
+  homeLocation: process.env.HOME_LOCATION,
+  apiLocation: process.env.API_LOCATION
 };
diff --git a/sample.env b/sample.env
index 63828aab11..0a92bf5ff5 100644
--- a/sample.env
+++ b/sample.env
@@ -20,3 +20,4 @@ DEBUG=true
 IMAGE_BASE_URL='https://s3.amazonaws.com/freecodecamp/images/'
 
 HOME_LOCATION='http://localhost:8000'
+API_LOCATION='http://localhost:3000'