diff --git a/src/leap/soledad/client/_db/blobs/__init__.py b/src/leap/soledad/client/_db/blobs/__init__.py
index 8d469760fda82cae382ee2c2d8c3bc5ae5090599..d4eddb8fab247d4f12318615e90368001164ef63 100644
--- a/src/leap/soledad/client/_db/blobs/__init__.py
+++ b/src/leap/soledad/client/_db/blobs/__init__.py
@@ -483,7 +483,8 @@ class BlobManager(BlobsSynchronizer):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _downstream(self, blobs_id_list, namespace=''):
         uri = urljoin(self.remote_stream, self.user)
-        params = {'namespace': namespace} if namespace else None
+        params = {'namespace': namespace} if namespace else {}
+        params['direction'] = 'download'
         data = BytesIO(json.dumps(blobs_id_list))
         response = yield self._client.post(uri, params=params, data=data)
         deferreds = []
@@ -501,7 +502,6 @@ class BlobManager(BlobsSynchronizer):
     def _upstream(self, blobs_id_list, namespace=''):
         local, secret = self.local, self.secret
         uri = urljoin(self.remote_stream, self.user)
-        params = {'namespace': namespace} if namespace else None
         sizes = yield self.local.get_size_list(blobs_id_list, namespace)
         convert = get_unarmored_ciphertext_size
         sizes = map(lambda (blob_id, size): (blob_id, convert(size)), sizes)
diff --git a/src/leap/soledad/server/_streaming_resource.py b/src/leap/soledad/server/_streaming_resource.py
index 3cf798e3316fbaaf837b61a0d947d072f811fdd1..0ad1634395059aeb30b4ce4f57036b5cdbb460ca 100644
--- a/src/leap/soledad/server/_streaming_resource.py
+++ b/src/leap/soledad/server/_streaming_resource.py
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class StreamingResource(Resource):
     def render_POST(self, request):
         user = request.postpath[0]
         namespace = request.args.get('namespace', ['default'])[0]
-        direction = request.args.get('direction', ['download'])[0]
+        direction = request.args['direction'][0]
         if direction == 'download':
             return self._startDownstream(user, namespace, request)
         elif direction == 'upload':