diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/BaseWebTest.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/BaseWebTest.cs
index 20630a7249..8008253db4 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/BaseWebTest.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/BaseWebTest.cs
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ using Umbraco.Core.PropertyEditors;
 using Umbraco.Core.Services;
 using Umbraco.Tests.PublishedContent;
 using Umbraco.Tests.TestHelpers.Stubs;
+using Umbraco.Tests.Testing.Objects.Accessors;
 using Umbraco.Web.Routing;
 
 namespace Umbraco.Tests.TestHelpers
@@ -83,7 +84,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.TestHelpers
             return new PublishedRouter(
                 webRoutingSection,
                 contentFinders ?? new ContentFinderCollection(Enumerable.Empty<IContentFinder>()),
-                new TestLastChanceFinder(),
+                new TestLastChanceFinder(),
+                new TestVariationContextAccessor(),
                 container?.TryGetInstance<ServiceContext>() ?? new ServiceContext(),
                 new ProfilingLogger(Mock.Of<ILogger>(), Mock.Of<IProfiler>()));
         }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/PublishedContent/HttpContextVariationContextAccessor.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/PublishedContent/HttpContextVariationContextAccessor.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..70672e3796
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/PublishedContent/HttpContextVariationContextAccessor.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+using Umbraco.Core.Models.PublishedContent;
+
+namespace Umbraco.Web.Models.PublishedContent
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Implements <see cref="IVariationContextAccessor"/> on top of <see cref="IHttpContextAccessor"/>.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class HttpContextVariationContextAccessor : IVariationContextAccessor
+    {
+        public const string ContextKey = "Umbraco.Web.Models.PublishedContent.DefaultVariationContextAccessor";
+        public readonly IHttpContextAccessor HttpContextAccessor;
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="HttpContextVariationContextAccessor"/> class.
+        /// </summary>
+        public HttpContextVariationContextAccessor(IHttpContextAccessor httpContextAccessor)
+        {
+            HttpContextAccessor = httpContextAccessor;
+        }
+
+        /// <inheritdoc />
+        public VariationContext VariationContext
+        {
+            get => (VariationContext) HttpContextAccessor.HttpContext.Items[ContextKey];
+            set => HttpContextAccessor.HttpContext.Items[ContextKey] = value;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/PublishedRouter.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/PublishedRouter.cs
index 3d712f3abb..fdc8540aa0 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/PublishedRouter.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Routing/PublishedRouter.cs
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
         private readonly IContentLastChanceFinder _contentLastChanceFinder;
         private readonly ServiceContext _services;
         private readonly ProfilingLogger _profilingLogger;
+        private readonly IVariationContextAccessor _variationContextAccessor;
         private readonly ILogger _logger;
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
             IWebRoutingSection webRoutingSection,
             ContentFinderCollection contentFinders,
             IContentLastChanceFinder contentLastChanceFinder,
+            IVariationContextAccessor variationContextAccessor,
             ServiceContext services,
             ProfilingLogger proflog,
             Func<string, IEnumerable<string>> getRolesForLogin = null)
@@ -45,6 +47,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
             _contentLastChanceFinder = contentLastChanceFinder ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(contentLastChanceFinder));
             _services = services ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(services));
             _profilingLogger = proflog ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(proflog));
+            _variationContextAccessor = variationContextAccessor ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(variationContextAccessor));
             _logger = proflog.Logger;
 
             GetRolesForLogin = getRolesForLogin ?? (s => Roles.Provider.GetRolesForUser(s));
@@ -89,6 +92,13 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
             return request.HasPublishedContent;
         }
 
+        private void SetVariationContext(string culture)
+        {
+            var variationContext = _variationContextAccessor.VariationContext;
+            if (variationContext != null && variationContext.Culture == culture) return;
+            _variationContextAccessor.VariationContext = new VariationContext(culture);
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Prepares the request.
         /// </summary>
@@ -123,6 +133,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
 
             // set the culture on the thread - once, so it's set when running document lookups
             Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = request.Culture;
+            SetVariationContext(request.Culture.Name);
 
             //find the published content if it's not assigned. This could be manually assigned with a custom route handler, or
             // with something like EnsurePublishedContentRequestAttribute or UmbracoVirtualNodeRouteHandler. Those in turn call this method
@@ -138,6 +149,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
 
             // set the culture on the thread -- again, 'cos it might have changed due to a finder or wildcard domain
             Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = request.Culture;
+            SetVariationContext(request.Culture.Name);
 
             // trigger the Prepared event - at that point it is still possible to change about anything
             // even though the request might be flagged for redirection - we'll redirect _after_ the event
@@ -173,6 +185,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Routing
 
             // set the culture on the thread -- again, 'cos it might have changed in the event handler
             Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = frequest.Culture;
+            SetVariationContext(frequest.Culture.Name);
 
             // if request has been flagged to redirect, or has no content to display,
             // then return - whoever called us is in charge of actually redirecting
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Runtime/WebRuntimeComponent.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Runtime/WebRuntimeComponent.cs
index 6b9109b7df..a4e5db0767 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Runtime/WebRuntimeComponent.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Runtime/WebRuntimeComponent.cs
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Runtime
 
             // register accessors for cultures
             composition.Container.RegisterSingleton<IDefaultCultureAccessor, DefaultCultureAccessor>();
-            composition.Container.RegisterSingleton<IVariationContextAccessor, ThreadCultureVariationContextAccessor>();
+            composition.Container.RegisterSingleton<IVariationContextAccessor, HttpContextVariationContextAccessor>();
 
             var typeLoader = composition.Container.GetInstance<TypeLoader>();
             var logger = composition.Container.GetInstance<ILogger>();
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj b/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
index b0dc6b7a8b..f9708e5c04 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Models\Mapping\TemplateMapperProfile.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\Mapping\UserGroupDefaultPermissionsResolver.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\Mapping\ContentItemDisplayVariationResolver.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Models\PublishedContent\HttpContextVariationContextAccessor.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\PublishedContent\PublishedValueFallback.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\RelatedLink.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\RelatedLinkBase.cs" />