diff --git a/seed/tests/test_media.py b/seed/tests/test_media.py
index 09eef6fb60..9427f8f89e 100644
--- a/seed/tests/test_media.py
+++ b/seed/tests/test_media.py
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@
 
 class TestMeasures(TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
-        self.user_a = User.objects.create(username="user_a")
-        self.user_b = User.objects.create(username="user_b")
+        self.user_details_a = {"username": "user_a@test.com", "password": "test_pass_a", "email": "user_a@test.com"}
+        self.user_a = User.objects.create_user(**self.user_details_a)
+        self.user_details_b = {"username": "user_b@test.com", "password": "test_pass_b", "email": "user_b@test.com"}
+        self.user_b = User.objects.create_user(**self.user_details_b)
         self.org_a = Organization.objects.create()
         self.root_a = AccessLevelInstance.objects.get(organization_id=self.org_a, depth=1)
         self.org_a_sub = Organization.objects.create()
@@ -303,3 +305,68 @@ def test_fails_when_path_does_not_match(self):
         # test bad path
         with pytest.raises(ModelForFileNotFoundError):
             check_file_permission(self.user_a, "")
+
+    def test_retrieve_file_successfully(self):
+        """Test that retrieve endpoint serves files correctly"""
+        # Setup - create an import file
+        import_record = ImportRecord.objects.create(
+            owner=self.user_a, last_modified_by=self.user_a, super_organization=self.org_a, access_level_instance=self.org_a.root
+        )
+        ImportFile.objects.create(
+            import_record=import_record, uploaded_filename=os.path.basename(self.uploads_file), file=self.absolute_uploads_file
+        )
+
+        self.client.login(**self.user_details_a)
+        response = self.client.get(f"/api/v3/media/{self.uploads_file}")
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"Hello world")
+        self.assertIn("Content-Disposition", response)
+        self.assertIn("attachment", response["Content-Disposition"])
+
+    def test_retrieve_file_with_comma_in_filename(self):
+        """Test that files with commas in filename download correctly"""
+        # Setup - create a file with commas in the name
+        absolute_comma_file = get_upload_path("test,file,with,commas.txt")
+        comma_file = os.path.relpath(absolute_comma_file, settings.MEDIA_ROOT)
+        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(absolute_comma_file), exist_ok=True)
+        with open(absolute_comma_file, "w", encoding=locale.getpreferredencoding(False)) as f:
+            f.write("File with commas")
+
+        import_record = ImportRecord.objects.create(
+            owner=self.user_a, last_modified_by=self.user_a, super_organization=self.org_a, access_level_instance=self.org_a.root
+        )
+        ImportFile.objects.create(import_record=import_record, uploaded_filename=os.path.basename(comma_file), file=absolute_comma_file)
+
+        self.client.login(**self.user_details_a)
+        response = self.client.get(f"/api/v3/media/{comma_file}")
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"File with commas")
+        # Verify the download filename is sanitized (commas removed)
+        self.assertIn("Content-Disposition", response)
+        self.assertIn("testfilewithcommas.txt", response["Content-Disposition"])
+        self.assertNotIn(",", response["Content-Disposition"])
+
+    def test_retrieve_file_without_permission_returns_404(self):
+        """Test that users without permission get 404"""
+        # Setup - create an import file for org_a
+        import_record = ImportRecord.objects.create(
+            owner=self.user_a, last_modified_by=self.user_a, super_organization=self.org_a, access_level_instance=self.org_a.root
+        )
+        ImportFile.objects.create(
+            import_record=import_record, uploaded_filename=os.path.basename(self.uploads_file), file=self.absolute_uploads_file
+        )
+
+        # user_b tries to access org_a's file
+        self.client.login(**self.user_details_b)
+        response = self.client.get(f"/api/v3/media/{self.uploads_file}")
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 404)
+
+    def test_retrieve_nonexistent_file_returns_404(self):
+        """Test that requesting non-existent file returns 404"""
+        self.client.login(**self.user_details_a)
+        response = self.client.get("/api/v3/media/uploads/nonexistent.txt")
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 404)
diff --git a/seed/views/v3/media.py b/seed/views/v3/media.py
index 207a92d852..13db56ac8a 100644
--- a/seed/views/v3/media.py
+++ b/seed/views/v3/media.py
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@
 """
 
 import logging
+import mimetypes
 import os
-import re
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.http import HttpResponse
 from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator
+from django.utils.text import get_valid_filename
 from rest_framework import generics
 
 from seed.models import Analysis, AnalysisOutputFile, BuildingFile, ImportFile, InventoryDocument, Organization
@@ -114,20 +115,25 @@ def retrieve(self, request, filepath):
             logger.debug(f"Failed to locate organization for file: {e!s}")
             return HttpResponse(status=404)
 
-        if user_has_permission:
-            # Attempt to remove NamedTemporaryFile suffix
-            filename = os.path.basename(filepath)
-            name, ext = os.path.splitext(filename)
-            pattern = re.compile("(.*?)(_[a-zA-Z0-9]{7})$")
-            match = pattern.match(name)
-            if match:
-                filename = match.groups()[0] + ext
-
-            response = HttpResponse()
-            if ext != ".html":
-                response["Content-Disposition"] = f"attachment; filename={filename}"
-            response["X-Accel-Redirect"] = f"/protected/{filepath}"
-            return response
-        else:
-            # 404 instead of 403 to avoid leaking information
+        if not user_has_permission:
             return HttpResponse(status=404)
+
+        filename = os.path.basename(filepath)
+        ext = os.path.splitext(filename)[1]
+        absolute_filepath = os.path.join(settings.MEDIA_ROOT, filepath)
+
+        if not os.path.exists(absolute_filepath):
+            return HttpResponse(status=404)
+
+        # Serve file through Django
+        with open(absolute_filepath, "rb") as f:
+            file_data = f.read()
+
+        content_type, _ = mimetypes.guess_type(filename)
+        response = HttpResponse(file_data, content_type=content_type or "application/octet-stream")
+
+        if ext != ".html":
+            safe_download_name = get_valid_filename(filename)
+            response["Content-Disposition"] = f'attachment; filename="{safe_download_name}"'
+
+        return response
diff --git a/seed/views/v3/uploads.py b/seed/views/v3/uploads.py
index b53697edcd..b5f215a168 100644
--- a/seed/views/v3/uploads.py
+++ b/seed/views/v3/uploads.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from django.core.files.storage import FileSystemStorage
 from django.http import JsonResponse
 from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator
+from django.utils.text import get_valid_filename
 from drf_yasg.utils import no_body, swagger_auto_schema
 from rest_framework import status, viewsets
 from rest_framework.decorators import action
@@ -90,7 +91,8 @@ def create(self, request):
             the_file = request.data["qqfile"]
         else:
             the_file = request.data["file"]
-        filename = the_file.name
+        # Sanitize filename to remove problematic characters (commas, semicolons, etc.)
+        filename = get_valid_filename(the_file.name)
         path = get_upload_path(filename)
 
         # verify the directory exists