diff --git a/layers/+distribution/spacemacs-base/packages.el b/layers/+distribution/spacemacs-base/packages.el
index a99effa82..d1841b86c 100644
--- a/layers/+distribution/spacemacs-base/packages.el
+++ b/layers/+distribution/spacemacs-base/packages.el
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
         subword
         undo-tree
         (uniquify :location built-in)
-        url
+        (url :location built-in)
         use-package
         which-key
         whitespace
@@ -1331,13 +1331,9 @@ ARG non nil means that the editing style is `vim'."
         ;; don't screw special buffers
         uniquify-ignore-buffers-re "^\\*"))
 
-;; gravatars from magit use this to store their cache
 (defun spacemacs-base/init-url ()
-  (use-package url
-    :defer t
-    :init
-    (setq url-configuration-directory
-          (concat spacemacs-cache-directory "url"))))
+  ;; gravatars from magit use this to store their cache
+  (setq url-configuration-directory (concat spacemacs-cache-directory "url/")))
 
 (defun spacemacs-base/init-use-package ())