diff --git a/src/api-service/__app__/__init__.py b/src/api-service/__app__/__init__.py
index e69de29bb..91eac26c7 100644
--- a/src/api-service/__app__/__init__.py
+++ b/src/api-service/__app__/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import os
+
+import certifi.core
+
+
+def override_where() -> str:
+    """overrides certifi.core.where to return actual location of cacert.pem"""
+    # see:
+    # https://github.com/Azure/azure-functions-durable-python/issues/194#issuecomment-710670377
+    # change this to match the location of cacert.pem
+    return os.path.abspath(
+        "cacert.pem"
+    )  # or to whatever location you know contains the copy of cacert.pem
+
+
+os.environ["REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE"] = override_where()
+certifi.core.where = override_where