diff --git a/.aegir.js b/.aegir.js
index 8745b24a81..caa757d76f 100644
--- a/.aegir.js
+++ b/.aegir.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const preloadNode = MockPreloadNode.createNode()
 const echoServer = EchoServer.createServer()
 
 module.exports = {
-  bundlesize: { maxSize: '689kB' },
+  bundlesize: { maxSize: '692kB' },
   webpack: {
     resolve: {
       mainFields: ['browser', 'main'],
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f65201103f..b406d695a5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
     "./src/core/runtime/add-from-fs-nodejs.js": "./src/core/runtime/add-from-fs-browser.js",
     "./src/core/runtime/config-nodejs.js": "./src/core/runtime/config-browser.js",
     "./src/core/runtime/dns-nodejs.js": "./src/core/runtime/dns-browser.js",
-    "./src/core/runtime/fetch-nodejs.js": "./src/core/runtime/fetch-browser.js",
     "./src/core/runtime/libp2p-nodejs.js": "./src/core/runtime/libp2p-browser.js",
     "./src/core/runtime/libp2p-pubsub-routers-nodejs.js": "./src/core/runtime/libp2p-pubsub-routers-browser.js",
     "./src/core/runtime/preload-nodejs.js": "./src/core/runtime/preload-browser.js",
@@ -123,6 +122,8 @@
     "it-to-stream": "^0.1.1",
     "just-safe-set": "^2.1.0",
     "kind-of": "^6.0.2",
+    "ky": "~0.13.0",
+    "ky-universal": "~0.3.0",
     "libp2p": "~0.26.1",
     "libp2p-bootstrap": "~0.9.3",
     "libp2p-crypto": "~0.16.0",
@@ -151,7 +152,7 @@
     "multicodec": "~0.5.5",
     "multihashes": "~0.4.14",
     "multihashing-async": "~0.6.0",
-    "node-fetch": "^2.3.0",
+    "p-queue": "^6.1.0",
     "peer-book": "~0.9.0",
     "peer-id": "~0.12.3",
     "peer-info": "~0.15.0",
diff --git a/src/cli/commands/daemon.js b/src/cli/commands/daemon.js
index 7bc4ee518c..a0b4aa0c8b 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/daemon.js
+++ b/src/cli/commands/daemon.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 const os = require('os')
 const toUri = require('multiaddr-to-uri')
 const { ipfsPathHelp } = require('../utils')
+const { isTest } = require('ipfs-utils/src/env')
 
 module.exports = {
   command: 'daemon',
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ module.exports = {
       })
       .option('enable-preload', {
         type: 'boolean',
-        default: true
+        default: !isTest // preload by default, unless in test env
       })
   },
 
diff --git a/src/core/components/files-regular/add-from-url.js b/src/core/components/files-regular/add-from-url.js
index 73697aa2cf..c9207c98cc 100644
--- a/src/core/components/files-regular/add-from-url.js
+++ b/src/core/components/files-regular/add-from-url.js
@@ -1,41 +1,22 @@
 'use strict'
 
 const { URL } = require('iso-url')
-const fetch = require('../../runtime/fetch-nodejs')
-
-module.exports = (self) => {
-  return async (url, options, callback) => {
-    if (typeof options === 'function') {
-      callback = options
-      options = {}
-    }
-
-    let files
-
-    try {
-      const parsedUrl = new URL(url)
-      const res = await fetch(url)
-
-      if (!res.ok) {
-        throw new Error('unexpected status code: ' + res.status)
-      }
-
-      // TODO: use res.body when supported
-      const content = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer())
-      const path = decodeURIComponent(parsedUrl.pathname.split('/').pop())
-
-      files = await self.add({ content, path }, options)
-    } catch (err) {
-      if (callback) {
-        return callback(err)
-      }
-      throw err
-    }
+const nodeify = require('promise-nodeify')
+const { default: ky } = require('ky-universal')
+
+module.exports = (ipfs) => {
+  const addFromURL = async (url, opts = {}) => {
+    const res = await ky.get(url)
+    const path = decodeURIComponent(new URL(res.url).pathname.split('/').pop())
+    const content = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer())
+    return ipfs.add({ content, path }, opts)
+  }
 
-    if (callback) {
-      callback(null, files)
+  return (name, opts = {}, cb) => {
+    if (typeof opts === 'function') {
+      cb = opts
+      opts = {}
     }
-
-    return files
+    return nodeify(addFromURL(name, opts), cb)
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/core/config.js b/src/core/config.js
index c41fcaf737..ba419d47a8 100644
--- a/src/core/config.js
+++ b/src/core/config.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 const Multiaddr = require('multiaddr')
 const mafmt = require('mafmt')
 const { struct, superstruct } = require('superstruct')
+const { isTest } = require('ipfs-utils/src/env')
 
 const { optional, union } = struct
 const s = superstruct({
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ const configSchema = s({
     enabled: 'boolean?',
     addresses: optional(s(['multiaddr'])),
     interval: 'number?'
-  }, { enabled: true, interval: 30 * 1000 }),
+  }, { enabled: !isTest, interval: 30 * 1000 }),
   init: optional(union(['boolean', s({
     bits: 'number?',
     emptyRepo: 'boolean?',
diff --git a/src/core/index.js b/src/core/index.js
index 7293ee8643..1d2483a3b9 100644
--- a/src/core/index.js
+++ b/src/core/index.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const defaultRepo = require('./runtime/repo-nodejs')
 const preload = require('./preload')
 const mfsPreload = require('./mfs-preload')
 const ipldOptions = require('./runtime/ipld-nodejs')
+const { isTest } = require('ipfs-utils/src/env')
 
 /**
  * @typedef { import("./ipns/index") } IPNS
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ class IPFS extends EventEmitter {
       start: true,
       EXPERIMENTAL: {},
       preload: {
-        enabled: true,
+        enabled: !isTest, // preload by default, unless in test env
         addresses: [
           '/dnsaddr/node0.preload.ipfs.io/https',
           '/dnsaddr/node1.preload.ipfs.io/https'
diff --git a/src/core/runtime/dns-browser.js b/src/core/runtime/dns-browser.js
index 74d0a14cdb..dd2bdba338 100644
--- a/src/core/runtime/dns-browser.js
+++ b/src/core/runtime/dns-browser.js
@@ -1,33 +1,62 @@
-/* global self */
+/* eslint-env browser */
 'use strict'
 
-module.exports = (domain, opts, callback) => {
+const TLRU = require('../../utils/tlru')
+const { default: PQueue } = require('p-queue')
+const { default: ky } = require('ky-universal')
+const nodeify = require('promise-nodeify')
+
+// Avoid sending multiple queries for the same hostname by caching results
+const cache = new TLRU(1000)
+// TODO: /api/v0/dns does not return TTL yet: https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/issues/5884
+// However we know browsers themselves cache DNS records for at least 1 minute,
+// which acts a provisional default ttl: https://stackoverflow.com/a/36917902/11518426
+const ttl = 60 * 1000
+
+// browsers limit concurrent connections per host,
+// we don't want preload calls to exhaust the limit (~6)
+const httpQueue = new PQueue({ concurrency: 4 })
+
+// Delegated HTTP resolver sending DNSLink queries to ipfs.io
+// TODO: replace hardcoded host with configurable DNS over HTTPS: https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs/issues/2212
+const api = ky.create({
+  prefixUrl: 'https://ipfs.io/api/v0/',
+  hooks: {
+    afterResponse: [
+      async (input, options, response) => {
+        const query = new URL(response.url).search.slice(1)
+        const json = await response.json()
+        cache.set(query, json, ttl)
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+})
+
+const ipfsPath = (response) => {
+  if (response.Path) return response.Path
+  throw new Error(response.Message)
+}
+
+module.exports = (fqdn, opts = {}, cb) => {
   if (typeof opts === 'function') {
-    callback = opts
+    cb = opts
     opts = {}
   }
+  const resolveDnslink = async (fqdn, opts = {}) => {
+    const searchParams = new URLSearchParams(opts)
+    searchParams.set('arg', fqdn)
 
-  opts = opts || {}
-
-  domain = encodeURIComponent(domain)
-  let url = `https://ipfs.io/api/v0/dns?arg=${domain}`
+    // try cache first
+    const query = searchParams.toString()
+    if (!opts.nocache && cache.has(query)) {
+      const response = cache.get(query)
+      return ipfsPath(response)
+    }
 
-  Object.keys(opts).forEach(prop => {
-    url += `&${encodeURIComponent(prop)}=${encodeURIComponent(opts[prop])}`
-  })
+    // fallback to delegated DNS resolver
+    const response = await httpQueue.add(() => api.get('dns', { searchParams }).json())
+    return ipfsPath(response)
+  }
 
-  self.fetch(url, { mode: 'cors' })
-    .then((response) => {
-      return response.json()
-    })
-    .then((response) => {
-      if (response.Path) {
-        return callback(null, response.Path)
-      } else {
-        return callback(new Error(response.Message))
-      }
-    })
-    .catch((error) => {
-      callback(error)
-    })
+  return nodeify(resolveDnslink(fqdn, opts), cb)
 }
diff --git a/src/core/runtime/fetch-browser.js b/src/core/runtime/fetch-browser.js
deleted file mode 100644
index b2f604db7c..0000000000
--- a/src/core/runtime/fetch-browser.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-/* eslint-env browser */
-'use strict'
-module.exports = fetch
diff --git a/src/core/runtime/fetch-nodejs.js b/src/core/runtime/fetch-nodejs.js
deleted file mode 100644
index ca77ad8310..0000000000
--- a/src/core/runtime/fetch-nodejs.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-'use strict'
-module.exports = require('node-fetch')
diff --git a/src/core/runtime/preload-browser.js b/src/core/runtime/preload-browser.js
index 81407f483f..81d2ad786e 100644
--- a/src/core/runtime/preload-browser.js
+++ b/src/core/runtime/preload-browser.js
@@ -1,27 +1,25 @@
 /* eslint-env browser */
 'use strict'
 
+const { default: PQueue } = require('p-queue')
+const { default: ky } = require('ky-universal')
 const debug = require('debug')
 
 const log = debug('ipfs:preload')
 log.error = debug('ipfs:preload:error')
 
+// browsers limit concurrent connections per host,
+// we don't want preload calls to exhaust the limit (~6)
+const httpQueue = new PQueue({ concurrency: 4 })
+
 module.exports = function preload (url, callback) {
   log(url)
 
   const controller = new AbortController()
   const signal = controller.signal
+  const cb = () => setImmediate(callback) // https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs/pull/2304#discussion_r320700893
 
-  fetch(url, { signal })
-    .then(res => {
-      if (!res.ok) {
-        log.error('failed to preload', url, res.status, res.statusText)
-        throw new Error(`failed to preload ${url}`)
-      }
-      return res.text()
-    })
-    .then(() => callback())
-    .catch(callback)
+  httpQueue.add(() => ky.get(url, { signal })).then(cb, cb)
 
   return {
     cancel: () => controller.abort()
diff --git a/src/utils/tlru.js b/src/utils/tlru.js
index ba3b26e8c6..569015c038 100644
--- a/src/utils/tlru.js
+++ b/src/utils/tlru.js
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ class TLRU {
         this.lru.remove(key)
         return undefined
       }
+      return value.value
     }
-    return value.value
+    return undefined
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/test/core/interface.spec.js b/test/core/interface.spec.js
index a0f06d9580..10e5c225bd 100644
--- a/test/core/interface.spec.js
+++ b/test/core/interface.spec.js
@@ -64,9 +64,6 @@ describe('interface-ipfs-core tests', function () {
     }, {
       name: 'addFromFs',
       reason: 'Not designed to run in the browser'
-    }, {
-      name: 'addFromURL',
-      reason: 'Not designed to run in the browser'
     }]
   })