diff --git a/src/node/utils/Settings.js b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
index 369a4485f..c8f2ec159 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/Settings.js
+++ b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
@@ -42,6 +42,20 @@ var _ = require("underscore");
 exports.root = absolutePaths.findEtherpadRoot();
 console.log(`All relative paths will be interpreted relative to the identified Etherpad base dir: ${exports.root}`);
 
+/*
+ * At each start, Etherpad generates a random string and appends it as query
+ * parameter to the URLs of the static assets, in order to force their reload.
+ * Subsequent requests will be cached, as long as the server is not reloaded.
+ *
+ * For the rationale behind this choice, see
+ * https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite/pull/3958
+ *
+ * ACHTUNG: this may prevent caching HTTP proxies to work
+ * TODO: remove the "?v=randomstring" parameter, and replace with hashed filenames instead
+ */
+exports.randomVersionString = randomString(4);
+console.log(`Random string used for versioning assets: ${exports.randomVersionString}`);
+
 /**
  * The app title, visible e.g. in the browser window
  */
diff --git a/src/templates/index.html b/src/templates/index.html
index 0e36f71cc..4fb810478 100644
--- a/src/templates/index.html
+++ b/src/templates/index.html
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@
         <link rel="shortcut icon" href="<%=settings.favicon%>">
 
         <link rel="localizations" type="application/l10n+json" href="locales.json">
-        <script type="text/javascript" src="static/js/html10n.js"></script>
-        <script type="text/javascript" src="static/js/l10n.js"></script>
+        <script type="text/javascript" src="static/js/html10n.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
+        <script type="text/javascript" src="static/js/l10n.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
         <style>
             html, body {
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@
               }
             }
         </style>
-        <link href="static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/index.css" rel="stylesheet">
+        <link href="static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/index.css?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>" rel="stylesheet">
 
         <div id="wrapper">
         <% e.begin_block("indexWrapper"); %>
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
         <% e.end_block(); %>
         </div>
 
-        <script src="static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/index.js"></script>
+        <script src="static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/index.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
         <script>
             // @license magnet:?xt=urn:btih:8e4f440f4c65981c5bf93c76d35135ba5064d8b7&dn=apache-2.0.txt
             function go2Name()
diff --git a/src/templates/pad.html b/src/templates/pad.html
index 45f9a7d3d..9a6fcef3e 100644
--- a/src/templates/pad.html
+++ b/src/templates/pad.html
@@ -42,18 +42,18 @@
   <link rel="shortcut icon" href="<%=settings.faviconPad%>">
 
   <% e.begin_block("styles"); %>
-  <link href="../static/css/pad.css" rel="stylesheet">
+  <link href="../static/css/pad.css?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>" rel="stylesheet">
 
   <% e.begin_block("customStyles"); %>
-  <link href="../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/pad.css" rel="stylesheet">
+  <link href="../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/pad.css?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>" rel="stylesheet">
   <% e.end_block(); %>
 
   <style title="dynamicsyntax"></style>
   <% e.end_block(); %>
 
   <link rel="localizations" type="application/l10n+json" href="../locales.json" />
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../static/js/html10n.js"></script>
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../static/js/l10n.js"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../static/js/html10n.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../static/js/l10n.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
   <!-- head and body had been removed intentionally -->
 
@@ -435,10 +435,10 @@
 
   <% e.begin_block("scripts"); %>
 
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../static/js/require-kernel.js"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../static/js/require-kernel.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
   <!-- Include pad_utils manually -->
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pad_utils.js?callback=require.define"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pad_utils.js?callback=require.define&v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
   <script type="text/javascript">
       // @license magnet:?xt=urn:btih:8e4f440f4c65981c5bf93c76d35135ba5064d8b7&dn=apache-2.0.txt
@@ -458,14 +458,14 @@
       // @license-end
   </script>
 
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../socket.io/socket.io.js"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../socket.io/socket.io.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
   <!-- Include base packages manually (this help with debugging) -->
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pad.js?callback=require.define"></script>
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/ace2_common.js?callback=require.define"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pad.js?callback=require.define&v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/ace2_common.js?callback=require.define&v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
   <% e.begin_block("customScripts"); %>
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/pad.js"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/pad.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
   <% e.end_block(); %>
 
   <!-- Bootstrap page -->
diff --git a/src/templates/timeslider.html b/src/templates/timeslider.html
index 2368f0ea1..5d826ceeb 100644
--- a/src/templates/timeslider.html
+++ b/src/templates/timeslider.html
@@ -35,18 +35,18 @@
   <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=0">
   <link rel="shortcut icon" href="<%=settings.faviconTimeslider%>">
   <% e.begin_block("timesliderStyles"); %>
-  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/pad.css">
-  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/iframe_editor.css">
-  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/timeslider.css">
-  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/pad.css">
-  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/timeslider.css">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/pad.css?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/iframe_editor.css?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/timeslider.css?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/pad.css?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/timeslider.css?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>">
   <style type="text/css" title="dynamicsyntax"></style>
   <% e.end_block(); %>
 
   <link rel="localizations" type="application/l10n+json" href="../../locales.json" />
   <% e.begin_block("timesliderScripts"); %>
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../../static/js/html10n.js"></script>
-  <script type="text/javascript" src="../../static/js/l10n.js"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../../static/js/html10n.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../../static/js/l10n.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
   <% e.end_block(); %>
 </head>
 
@@ -245,14 +245,14 @@
 <!-------- JAVASCRIPT --------->
 <!----------------------------->
 
-<script type="text/javascript" src="../../static/js/require-kernel.js"></script>
-<script type="text/javascript" src="../../socket.io/socket.io.js"></script>
+<script type="text/javascript" src="../../static/js/require-kernel.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
+<script type="text/javascript" src="../../socket.io/socket.io.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
 <!-- Include base packages manually (this help with debugging) -->
-<script type="text/javascript" src="../../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/timeslider.js?callback=require.define"></script>
-<script type="text/javascript" src="../../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/ace2_common.js?callback=require.define"></script>
+<script type="text/javascript" src="../../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/timeslider.js?callback=require.define&v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
+<script type="text/javascript" src="../../javascripts/lib/ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/ace2_common.js?callback=require.define&v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
-<script type="text/javascript" src="../../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/timeslider.js"></script>
+<script type="text/javascript" src="../../static/skins/<%=encodeURI(settings.skinName)%>/timeslider.js?v=<%=settings.randomVersionString%>"></script>
 
 <!-- Bootstrap -->
 <script type="text/javascript" >