diff --git a/backend/src/api/audit.ts b/backend/src/api/audit.ts
index 6aafc9ded..b6b36dbdc 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/audit.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/audit.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,5 @@
 import config from '../config';
-import bitcoinApi from './bitcoin/bitcoin-api-factory';
-import { Common } from './common';
-import { TransactionExtended, MempoolBlockWithTransactions, AuditScore } from '../mempool.interfaces';
-import blocksRepository from '../repositories/BlocksRepository';
-import blocksAuditsRepository from '../repositories/BlocksAuditsRepository';
-import blocks from '../api/blocks';
+import { TransactionExtended, MempoolBlockWithTransactions } from '../mempool.interfaces';
 
 const PROPAGATION_MARGIN = 180; // in seconds, time since a transaction is first seen after which it is assumed to have propagated to all miners
 
diff --git a/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api-factory.ts b/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api-factory.ts
index f89d07b50..24916b97b 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api-factory.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/bitcoin/bitcoin-api-factory.ts
@@ -17,4 +17,6 @@ function bitcoinApiFactory(): AbstractBitcoinApi {
   }
 }
 
+export const bitcoinCoreApi = new BitcoinApi(bitcoinClient);
+
 export default bitcoinApiFactory();
diff --git a/backend/src/api/blocks.ts b/backend/src/api/blocks.ts
index 472ef48ef..8292fe241 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/blocks.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/blocks.ts
@@ -101,12 +101,23 @@ class Blocks {
           transactions.push(tx);
           transactionsFetched++;
         } catch (e) {
-          if (i === 0) {
-            const msg = `Cannot fetch coinbase tx ${txIds[i]}. Reason: ` + (e instanceof Error ? e.message : e); 
-            logger.err(msg);
-            throw new Error(msg);
-          } else {
-            logger.err(`Cannot fetch tx ${txIds[i]}. Reason: ` + (e instanceof Error ? e.message : e));
+          try {
+            if (config.MEMPOOL.BACKEND === 'esplora') {
+              // Try again with core
+              const tx = await transactionUtils.$getTransactionExtended(txIds[i], false, false, true);
+              transactions.push(tx);
+              transactionsFetched++;
+            } else {
+              throw e;
+            }
+          } catch (e) {
+            if (i === 0) {
+              const msg = `Cannot fetch coinbase tx ${txIds[i]}. Reason: ` + (e instanceof Error ? e.message : e); 
+              logger.err(msg);
+              throw new Error(msg);
+            } else {
+              logger.err(`Cannot fetch tx ${txIds[i]}. Reason: ` + (e instanceof Error ? e.message : e));
+            }
           }
         }
       }
diff --git a/backend/src/api/transaction-utils.ts b/backend/src/api/transaction-utils.ts
index 5b92cea5f..fb5aeea42 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/transaction-utils.ts
+++ b/backend/src/api/transaction-utils.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
-import bitcoinApi from './bitcoin/bitcoin-api-factory';
 import { TransactionExtended, TransactionMinerInfo } from '../mempool.interfaces';
 import { IEsploraApi } from './bitcoin/esplora-api.interface';
-import config from '../config';
 import { Common } from './common';
+import bitcoinApi, { bitcoinCoreApi } from './bitcoin/bitcoin-api-factory';
 
 class TransactionUtils {
   constructor() { }
@@ -21,8 +20,19 @@ class TransactionUtils {
     };
   }
 
-  public async $getTransactionExtended(txId: string, addPrevouts = false, lazyPrevouts = false): Promise<TransactionExtended> {
-    const transaction: IEsploraApi.Transaction = await bitcoinApi.$getRawTransaction(txId, false, addPrevouts, lazyPrevouts);
+  /**
+   * @param txId 
+   * @param addPrevouts 
+   * @param lazyPrevouts 
+   * @param forceCore - See https://github.com/mempool/mempool/issues/2904
+   */
+  public async $getTransactionExtended(txId: string, addPrevouts = false, lazyPrevouts = false, forceCore = false): Promise<TransactionExtended> {
+    let transaction: IEsploraApi.Transaction;
+    if (forceCore === true) {
+      transaction  = await bitcoinCoreApi.$getRawTransaction(txId, true);
+    } else {
+      transaction  = await bitcoinApi.$getRawTransaction(txId, false, addPrevouts, lazyPrevouts);
+    }
     return this.extendTransaction(transaction);
   }