diff --git a/crates/apub/src/activities/comment/mod.rs b/crates/apub/src/activities/comment/mod.rs
index 7d5259fdf..1810a38ac 100644
--- a/crates/apub/src/activities/comment/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/apub/src/activities/comment/mod.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ use lemmy_utils::{
 };
 use lemmy_websocket::LemmyContext;
 use log::debug;
-use reqwest::Client;
 use url::Url;
 
 pub mod create_or_update;
@@ -136,16 +135,18 @@ async fn get_comment_parent_creator(
 /// using webfinger.
 async fn fetch_webfinger_url(
   mention: &MentionData,
-  client: &Client,
-  protocol_string: &str,
+  context: &LemmyContext,
 ) -> Result<Url, LemmyError> {
   let fetch_url = format!(
     "{}://{}/.well-known/webfinger?resource=acct:{}@{}",
-    protocol_string, mention.domain, mention.name, mention.domain
+    context.settings().get_protocol_string(),
+    mention.domain,
+    mention.name,
+    mention.domain
   );
   debug!("Fetching webfinger url: {}", &fetch_url);
 
-  let response = retry(|| client.get(&fetch_url).send()).await?;
+  let response = retry(|| context.client().get(&fetch_url).send()).await?;
 
   let res: WebfingerResponse = response
     .json()
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/rate_limit/mod.rs b/crates/utils/src/rate_limit/mod.rs
index 209e7acb5..c1a4627c1 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/rate_limit/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/rate_limit/mod.rs
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@ impl RateLimited {
   {
     // Does not need to be blocking because the RwLock in settings never held across await points,
     // and the operation here locks only long enough to clone
-    // let rate_limit: RateLimitConfig = Settings::get().rate_limit.unwrap_or_default();
     let rate_limit = self.rate_limit_config;
 
     // before
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/settings/mod.rs b/crates/utils/src/settings/mod.rs
index 8808f9126..715c9128e 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/settings/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/settings/mod.rs
@@ -16,12 +16,22 @@ impl Settings {
   /// Warning: Only call this once.
   pub fn init() -> Result<Self, LemmyError> {
     // Read the config file
-    let config = from_str::<Settings>(&Self::read_config_file()?)?;
+    let mut config = from_str::<Settings>(&Self::read_config_file()?)?;
 
     if config.hostname == "unset" {
       return Err(anyhow!("Hostname variable is not set!").into());
     }
 
+    // Initialize the regexes
+    config.webfinger_username_regex = Some(
+      Regex::new(&format!("^group:([a-z0-9_]{{3,}})@{}$", config.hostname))
+        .expect("compile webfinger regex"),
+    );
+    config.webfinger_username_regex = Some(
+      Regex::new(&format!("^acct:([a-z0-9_]{{3,}})@{}$", config.hostname))
+        .expect("compile webfinger regex"),
+    );
+
     Ok(config)
   }
 
@@ -76,15 +86,17 @@ impl Settings {
     Ok(Self::read_config_file()?)
   }
 
-  // TODO for these regexes: we can't use lazy_static here anymore, since the settings must be
-  // initialized first.
   pub fn webfinger_community_regex(&self) -> Regex {
-    Regex::new(&format!("^group:([a-z0-9_]{{3,}})@{}$", self.hostname))
+    self
+      .webfinger_community_regex
+      .to_owned()
       .expect("compile webfinger regex")
   }
 
   pub fn webfinger_username_regex(&self) -> Regex {
-    Regex::new(&format!("^acct:([a-z0-9_]{{3,}})@{}$", self.hostname))
+    self
+      .webfinger_username_regex
+      .to_owned()
       .expect("compile webfinger regex")
   }
 
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs b/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
index 9ba8a5f94..293349348 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use regex::Regex;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use std::net::{IpAddr, Ipv4Addr};
 
@@ -30,6 +31,12 @@ pub struct Settings {
   pub additional_slurs: Option<String>,
   #[default(20)]
   pub actor_name_max_length: usize,
+  #[default(None)]
+  #[serde(skip)]
+  pub webfinger_community_regex: Option<Regex>,
+  #[default(None)]
+  #[serde(skip)]
+  pub webfinger_username_regex: Option<Regex>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Clone, SmartDefault)]