diff --git a/brozzler/cli.py b/brozzler/cli.py
index 32d08b2..dc1f611 100755
--- a/brozzler/cli.py
+++ b/brozzler/cli.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 """
 brozzler/cli.py - brozzler command line executables
 
-Copyright (C) 2014-2024 Internet Archive
+Copyright (C) 2014-2025 Internet Archive
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -611,14 +611,29 @@ def brozzler_worker(argv=None):
             logging.info("running with empty skip_av_seeds")
         return skip_av_seeds
 
+   def get_proxy_endpoints():
+        PROXY_ENDPOINTS_FILE = "/opt/local/brozzler/proxy_endpoints.txt"
+        try:
+            # make list from file
+            with open(PROXY_ENDPOINTS_FILE) as endpoints:
+                proxy_endpoints = [l for l in endpoints.readlines()]
+                if proxy_endpoints:
+                    logging.info("running with proxy endpoints file %s" % PROXY_ENDPOINTS_FILE)
+        except Exception as e:
+            proxy_endpoints = []
+            logging.info("running with empty proxy endpoints file")
+        return proxy_endpoints
+
     rr = rethinker(args)
     frontier = brozzler.RethinkDbFrontier(rr)
     service_registry = doublethink.ServiceRegistry(rr)
     skip_av_seeds_from_file = get_skip_av_seeds()
+    proxy_endpoints_from_file = get_proxy_endpoints()
     worker = brozzler.worker.BrozzlerWorker(
         frontier,
         service_registry,
         skip_av_seeds=skip_av_seeds_from_file,
+        proxy_endpoints=proxy_endpoints_from_file,
         max_browsers=int(args.max_browsers),
         chrome_exe=args.chrome_exe,
         proxy=args.proxy,
diff --git a/brozzler/worker.py b/brozzler/worker.py
index 4abfcd5..7428619 100644
--- a/brozzler/worker.py
+++ b/brozzler/worker.py
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ class BrozzlerWorker:
         frontier,
         service_registry=None,
         skip_av_seeds=None,
+        proxy_endpoints=None,
         max_browsers=1,
         chrome_exe="chromium-browser",
         warcprox_auto=False,
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@ class BrozzlerWorker:
         self._frontier = frontier
         self._service_registry = service_registry
         self._skip_av_seeds = skip_av_seeds
+        self._proxy_endpoints = proxy_endpoints
         self._max_browsers = max_browsers
 
         self._warcprox_auto = warcprox_auto
@@ -287,7 +289,7 @@ class BrozzlerWorker:
                 self.logger.info("page interstitial shown (http auth): %s", page)
 
             if enable_youtube_dl and ydl.should_ytdlp(
-                site, page, status_code, self._skip_av_seeds
+                site, page, status_code, self._skip_av_seeds, self._proxy_endpoints
             ):
                 try:
                     ydl_outlinks = ydl.do_youtube_dl(self, site, page)
diff --git a/brozzler/ydl.py b/brozzler/ydl.py
index 861b6e6..f2b0696 100644
--- a/brozzler/ydl.py
+++ b/brozzler/ydl.py
@@ -34,12 +34,11 @@ import time
 thread_local = threading.local()
 
 
-YTDLP_PROXY = ""
 PROXY_ATTEMPTS = 4
 YTDLP_WAIT = 10
 
 
-def should_ytdlp(site, page, page_status, skip_av_seeds):
+def should_ytdlp(site, page, page_status, skip_av_seeds, proxy_endpoints):
     # called only after we've passed needs_browsing() check
 
     if page_status != 200:
@@ -285,11 +284,11 @@ def _build_youtube_dl(worker, destdir, site, page):
 
     ytdlp_url = page.redirect_url if page.redirect_url else page.url
     is_youtube_host = isyoutubehost(ytdlp_url)
-    if is_youtube_host and YTDLP_PROXY:
-        ydl_opts["proxy"] = YTDLP_PROXY
+    if is_youtube_host and proxy_endpoints:
+        ydl_opts["proxy"] = random.choice(proxy_endpoints)
         # don't log proxy value secrets
         ytdlp_proxy_for_logs = (
-            YTDLP_PROXY.split("@")[1] if "@" in YTDLP_PROXY else "@@@"
+            ydl_opts["proxy"].split("@")[1] if "@" in ydl_opts["proxy"] else "@@@"
         )
         logging.info("using yt-dlp proxy ... %s", ytdlp_proxy_for_logs)