diff --git a/home/config.go b/home/config.go
index 0900c9d8..f9ac9eaf 100644
--- a/home/config.go
+++ b/home/config.go
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ type configuration struct {
 	versionCheckJSON     []byte
 	versionCheckLastTime time.Time
 
+	dnsServer   *dnsforward.Server
 	dhcpServer  dhcpd.Server
 	httpServer  *http.Server
 	httpsServer HTTPSServer
diff --git a/home/control.go b/home/control.go
index 0a2c6f43..b012f9e9 100644
--- a/home/control.go
+++ b/home/control.go
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ func handleQueryLogDisable(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 func handleQueryLog(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	log.Tracef("%s %v", r.Method, r.URL)
-	data := dnsServer.GetQueryLog()
+	data := config.dnsServer.GetQueryLog()
 
 	jsonVal, err := json.Marshal(data)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ func handleQueryLog(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 func handleStatsTop(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	log.Tracef("%s %v", r.Method, r.URL)
-	s := dnsServer.GetStatsTop()
+	s := config.dnsServer.GetStatsTop()
 
 	// use manual json marshalling because we want maps to be sorted by value
 	statsJSON := bytes.Buffer{}
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ func handleStatsTop(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 // handleStatsReset resets the stats caches
 func handleStatsReset(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	log.Tracef("%s %v", r.Method, r.URL)
-	dnsServer.PurgeStats()
+	config.dnsServer.PurgeStats()
 	_, err := fmt.Fprintf(w, "OK\n")
 	if err != nil {
 		httpError(w, http.StatusInternalServerError, "Couldn't write body: %s", err)
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ func handleStatsReset(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 // handleStats returns aggregated stats data for the 24 hours
 func handleStats(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	log.Tracef("%s %v", r.Method, r.URL)
-	summed := dnsServer.GetAggregatedStats()
+	summed := config.dnsServer.GetAggregatedStats()
 
 	statsJSON, err := json.Marshal(summed)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ func handleStatsHistory(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	data, err := dnsServer.GetStatsHistory(timeUnit, startTime, endTime)
+	data, err := config.dnsServer.GetStatsHistory(timeUnit, startTime, endTime)
 	if err != nil {
 		httpError(w, http.StatusBadRequest, "Cannot get stats history: %s", err)
 		return
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ func handleFilteringRemoveURL(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// Stop DNS server:
 	//  we close urlfilter object which in turn closes file descriptors to filter files.
 	// Otherwise, Windows won't allow us to remove the file which is being currently used.
-	_ = dnsServer.Stop()
+	_ = config.dnsServer.Stop()
 
 	// go through each element and delete if url matches
 	config.Lock()
@@ -968,7 +968,7 @@ func handleDOH(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	dnsServer.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	config.dnsServer.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 }
 
 // ------------------------
diff --git a/home/dns.go b/home/dns.go
index 4f3ed2d2..41ceaf32 100644
--- a/home/dns.go
+++ b/home/dns.go
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/miekg/dns"
 )
 
-var dnsServer *dnsforward.Server
-
 const (
 	rdnsTimeout = 3 * time.Second // max time to wait for rDNS response
 )
@@ -43,7 +41,7 @@ func initDNSServer(baseDir string) {
 		log.Fatalf("Cannot create DNS data dir at %s: %s", baseDir, err)
 	}
 
-	dnsServer = dnsforward.NewServer(baseDir)
+	config.dnsServer = dnsforward.NewServer(baseDir)
 
 	bindhost := config.DNS.BindHost
 	if config.DNS.BindHost == "0.0.0.0" {
@@ -64,7 +62,7 @@ func initDNSServer(baseDir string) {
 }
 
 func isRunning() bool {
-	return dnsServer != nil && dnsServer.IsRunning()
+	return config.dnsServer != nil && config.dnsServer.IsRunning()
 }
 
 func beginAsyncRDNS(ip string) {
@@ -242,12 +240,12 @@ func startDNSServer() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return errorx.Decorate(err, "Couldn't start forwarding DNS server")
 	}
-	err = dnsServer.Start(&newconfig)
+	err = config.dnsServer.Start(&newconfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errorx.Decorate(err, "Couldn't start forwarding DNS server")
 	}
 
-	top := dnsServer.GetStatsTop()
+	top := config.dnsServer.GetStatsTop()
 	for k := range top.Clients {
 		beginAsyncRDNS(k)
 	}
@@ -256,11 +254,11 @@ func startDNSServer() error {
 }
 
 func reconfigureDNSServer() error {
-	config, err := generateServerConfig()
+	newconfig, err := generateServerConfig()
 	if err != nil {
 		return errorx.Decorate(err, "Couldn't start forwarding DNS server")
 	}
-	err = dnsServer.Reconfigure(&config)
+	err = config.dnsServer.Reconfigure(&newconfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errorx.Decorate(err, "Couldn't start forwarding DNS server")
 	}
@@ -273,7 +271,7 @@ func stopDNSServer() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	err := dnsServer.Stop()
+	err := config.dnsServer.Stop()
 	if err != nil {
 		return errorx.Decorate(err, "Couldn't stop forwarding DNS server")
 	}
diff --git a/home/filter.go b/home/filter.go
index ede0cf6f..b03eb311 100644
--- a/home/filter.go
+++ b/home/filter.go
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ func refreshFiltersIfNecessary(force bool) int {
 
 	stopped := false
 	if updateCount != 0 {
-		_ = dnsServer.Stop()
+		_ = config.dnsServer.Stop()
 		stopped = true
 	}