diff --git a/pages/api/file/setupcontainer.js b/pages/api/file/setupcontainer.js
index ca2c5d00..01927dcc 100644
--- a/pages/api/file/setupcontainer.js
+++ b/pages/api/file/setupcontainer.js
@@ -1,10 +1,4 @@
-import {
-    createContainer,
-    createContainerSas,
-    getContainers,
-    getBlobs,
-    uploadFile
-} from "../../../actions/azurestorage";
+import { createContainer } from "../../../actions/azurestorage";
 import { hashAPIPath } from "../../../actions/core/hash";
 import { consoleLogger } from "../../../actions/core/logger";
 import { respondError, respondSuccess } from "../middleware/apiResponse";
@@ -16,8 +10,8 @@ const ApiProxy = nextConnect();
 ApiProxy.use(middleware);
 
 ApiProxy.get(async (req, res) => {
-    var containerName = req.query.ident;
-    var checkHash = req.query.hash;
+    const containerName = req.query.ident;
+    const checkHash = req.query.hash;
 
     if (
         typeof containerName === "undefined" ||
@@ -32,9 +26,19 @@ ApiProxy.get(async (req, res) => {
         });
     }
 
-    var checkquerypath = "/api/file/setupcontainer?ident=" + containerName;
+    const containerNameTrimmed = containerName.trim();
 
-    if (hashAPIPath(checkquerypath) != "&hash=" + checkHash) {
+    const hashCandidatePaths = [
+        "/api/file/setupcontainer?ident=" + containerNameTrimmed,
+        "/api/file/setupcontainer?ident=" +
+            encodeURIComponent(containerNameTrimmed)
+    ];
+
+    const isHashValid = hashCandidatePaths.some(
+        (candidatePath) => hashAPIPath(candidatePath) == "&hash=" + checkHash
+    );
+
+    if (!isHashValid) {
         return respondError(res, {
             status: 400,
             code: "INVALID_HASH",
@@ -42,18 +46,17 @@ ApiProxy.get(async (req, res) => {
         });
     }
 
-    await createContainer(containerName)
-        .then((data) => {
-            return respondSuccess(res, { data: "success", output: data });
-        })
-        .catch((error) => {
-            consoleLogger(error);
-            return respondError(res, {
-                status: 400,
-                code: "SETUP_CONTAINER_FAILED",
-                message: "Failed to setup container"
-            });
+    try {
+        const data = await createContainer(containerNameTrimmed);
+        return respondSuccess(res, { data: "success", output: data });
+    } catch (error) {
+        consoleLogger(error);
+        return respondError(res, {
+            status: 400,
+            code: "SETUP_CONTAINER_FAILED",
+            message: "Failed to setup container"
         });
+    }
 });
 
 export const config = {
diff --git a/tests/phase21/file-handler-contract.test.cjs b/tests/phase21/file-handler-contract.test.cjs
index 6b55f036..6287299f 100644
--- a/tests/phase21/file-handler-contract.test.cjs
+++ b/tests/phase21/file-handler-contract.test.cjs
@@ -596,6 +596,31 @@ test("setupcontainer handler returns MISSING_REQUIRED_QUERY when ident missing",
     assert.strictEqual(res.state.jsonBody.error.code, "MISSING_REQUIRED_QUERY");
 });
 
+test("setupcontainer handler accepts encoded ident hash variant", async () => {
+    const mod = loadModule("pages/api/file/setupcontainer.js", {
+        nextConnect: createNextConnectMock(),
+        middleware: () => {},
+        hashAPIPath: (queryPath) =>
+            queryPath.includes("ident=container%2Fname")
+                ? "&hash=expected"
+                : "&hash=other",
+        consoleLogger: () => {},
+        respondError: respondErrorMock,
+        respondSuccess: respondSuccessMock,
+        createContainer: async () => ({ created: true })
+    });
+
+    const req = { query: { ident: "container/name", hash: "expected" } };
+    const res = createRes();
+    await mod.default.handler(req, res);
+
+    assert.strictEqual(res.state.statusCode, 200);
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(res.state.jsonBody)), {
+        data: "success",
+        output: { created: true }
+    });
+});
+
 test("upload handler success returns data payload with 200", async () => {
     const mod = loadModule("pages/api/file/upload.js", {
         nextConnect: createNextConnectMock(),