diff --git a/services/nginx/config/default.conf b/services/nginx/config/default.conf
index 48ae5e059..0cb593b29 100644
--- a/services/nginx/config/default.conf
+++ b/services/nginx/config/default.conf
@@ -26,6 +26,14 @@ map $uri $is_entity_path {
     ~^/[A-Za-z_]+:[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+$ 1;
 }
 
+# True when request is from a bot AND targets an entity path.
+# Bots hitting entity pages get proxied to the API meta endpoint
+# for link-preview HTML; everyone else gets the SPA.
+map "$is_bot:$is_entity_path" $serve_meta {
+    default 0;
+    "1:1" 1;
+}
+
 upstream api {
     server api:8000;
 }
@@ -36,31 +44,22 @@ server {
 
     server_name  _;
 
-    # Main location - handle bot detection for entity pages
     location / {
         root /var/www;
         index index.html;
 
-        # If it's a bot AND an entity path, proxy to meta endpoint
-        set $serve_meta 0;
-        if ($is_bot = 1) {
-            set $serve_meta "B";
-        }
-        if ($is_entity_path = 1) {
-            set $serve_meta "${serve_meta}E";
-        }
+        proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
 
-        # Both conditions met - proxy to backend meta endpoint
-        if ($serve_meta = "BE") {
+        # Serve link-preview HTML to bots visiting entity pages
+        if ($serve_meta = 1) {
             rewrite ^/(.*)$ /v3/api/meta/$1 break;
             proxy_pass http://api;
-            proxy_set_header Host $host;
-            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
-            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
-            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
         }
 
-        # Regular users get the SPA
+        # Everyone else gets the SPA
         try_files $uri /index.html;
     }