diff --git a/core/p2p/federated.go b/core/p2p/federated.go
index 800d38b81..8dcb491a2 100644
--- a/core/p2p/federated.go
+++ b/core/p2p/federated.go
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func servesModel(nd schema.NodeData, model string) bool {
 // cheapest source first: an explicit query value, then the JSON body "model"
 // field. Returns "" when it cannot be determined (for example a multipart or
 // websocket request), in which case the caller routes by load/affinity only.
-func extractModel(path, queryModel string, body []byte) string {
+func extractModel(queryModel string, body []byte) string {
 	if strings.TrimSpace(queryModel) != "" {
 		return queryModel
 	}
diff --git a/core/p2p/federated_server.go b/core/p2p/federated_server.go
index 1d8b7c930..aaaa8245a 100644
--- a/core/p2p/federated_server.go
+++ b/core/p2p/federated_server.go
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func (fs *FederatedServer) proxy(ctx context.Context, node *node.Node) error {
 					// Websocket: no readable model; route by load only.
 					workerID, _ = fs.selectPeer("", nil, now)
 				default:
-					model = extractModel(req.URL.Path, req.URL.Query().Get("model"), body)
+					model = extractModel(req.URL.Query().Get("model"), body)
 					workerID, chain = fs.selectPeer(model, body, now)
 				}
 
diff --git a/core/p2p/federated_test.go b/core/p2p/federated_test.go
index f5c8ed5c3..817a79564 100644
--- a/core/p2p/federated_test.go
+++ b/core/p2p/federated_test.go
@@ -102,20 +102,20 @@ var _ = Describe("model-aware candidate building", func() {
 var _ = Describe("extractModel", func() {
 	It("reads the JSON body model field", func() {
 		body := []byte(`{"model":"llama-3","messages":[]}`)
-		Expect(extractModel("/v1/chat/completions", "", body)).To(Equal("llama-3"))
+		Expect(extractModel("", body)).To(Equal("llama-3"))
 	})
 
 	It("prefers a path/query model over the body", func() {
 		body := []byte(`{"model":"frombody"}`)
-		Expect(extractModel("/x", "fromquery", body)).To(Equal("fromquery"))
+		Expect(extractModel("fromquery", body)).To(Equal("fromquery"))
 	})
 
 	It("returns empty when no model is present", func() {
-		Expect(extractModel("/x", "", []byte(`{"messages":[]}`))).To(Equal(""))
+		Expect(extractModel("", []byte(`{"messages":[]}`))).To(Equal(""))
 	})
 
 	It("returns empty on non-JSON / unparseable body without panicking", func() {
-		Expect(extractModel("/x", "", []byte("--multipart-boundary--"))).To(Equal(""))
+		Expect(extractModel("", []byte("--multipart-boundary--"))).To(Equal(""))
 	})
 })
 
diff --git a/core/p2p/p2p.go b/core/p2p/p2p.go
index ff13e8b09..f7a0e0a26 100644
--- a/core/p2p/p2p.go
+++ b/core/p2p/p2p.go
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ func proxyHTTPToPeer(ctx context.Context, n *node.Node, serviceID string, conn n
 	// io.Copy(conn, stream) blocks forever, leaking the goroutine, conn, and
 	// stream. Websocket upgrades keep keep-alive: their duplex copy owns the
 	// lifetime.
+	req.Header.Del("Connection")
 	req.Close = !duplex
 	if err := req.Write(stream); err != nil {
 		zlog.Error("Could not write request to peer", "error", err)