diff --git a/upath/_chain.py b/upath/_chain.py
index 23a25741..b4304775 100644
--- a/upath/_chain.py
+++ b/upath/_chain.py
@@ -175,6 +175,18 @@ def _iter_fileobject_protocol_options(
     yield fileobject, protocol, so
 
 
+def _merge_protocol_options(
+    protocol: str,
+    storage_options: dict[str, Any],
+    /,
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """merges storage options nested under protocol, flat options take precedence"""
+    if protocol not in storage_options:
+        return storage_options
+    so = storage_options.copy()
+    return {**so.pop(protocol), **so}
+
+
 class FSSpecChainParser:
     """parse an fsspec chained urlpath"""
 
@@ -260,7 +272,7 @@ def unchain(
             _iter_fileobject_protocol_options(
                 path_bit if segments else None,
                 protocol or "",
-                storage_options,
+                _merge_protocol_options(segments[0].protocol, storage_options),
             ),
         ):
             t_fo, t_proto, t_so = proto_fo_so or (None, "", {})
diff --git a/upath/tests/test_chain.py b/upath/tests/test_chain.py
index 8d91be4f..14635491 100644
--- a/upath/tests/test_chain.py
+++ b/upath/tests/test_chain.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
+import copy
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
+from fsspec.core import url_to_fs
 from fsspec.implementations.memory import MemoryFileSystem
 
 from upath import UPath
@@ -133,3 +135,71 @@ def test_chain_parser_roundtrip(urlpath: str):
     rechained, kw = parser.chain(segments)
     assert rechained == urlpath
     assert kw == {}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "urlpath,storage_options",
+    [
+        ("simplecache::memory://a/b", {"simplecache": {"same_names": True}}),
+        ("simplecache::memory://a/b", {"same_names": True}),
+        (
+            "simplecache::memory://a/b",
+            {"simplecache": {"same_names": True}, "same_names": False},
+        ),
+        (
+            "simplecache::memory://a/b",
+            {"simplecache": {"same_names": True}, "memory": {"key": "value"}},
+        ),
+        ("memory://a/b", {"memory": {"key": "value"}}),
+    ],
+)
+def test_chaining_upath_storage_options_match_fsspec(urlpath, storage_options):
+    # fsspec mutates the nested dicts
+    fs, _ = url_to_fs(urlpath, **copy.deepcopy(storage_options))
+    pth = UPath(urlpath, **copy.deepcopy(storage_options))
+    assert dict(pth.storage_options) == fs.storage_options
+    assert pth.fs.storage_options == fs.storage_options
+
+
+def test_chaining_upath_storage_options_not_mutated():
+    storage_options = {
+        "simplecache": {"same_names": True},
+        "same_names": False,
+        "memory": {"key": "value"},
+    }
+    expected = copy.deepcopy(storage_options)
+    UPath("simplecache::memory://a/b", **storage_options)
+    assert storage_options == expected
+
+
+def test_read_file_outermost_storage_options(memory_file_urlpath, tmp_path):
+    pth = UPath(
+        f"simplecache::{memory_file_urlpath}",
+        simplecache={"cache_storage": str(tmp_path)},
+    )
+    assert pth.read_bytes() == b"hello world"
+    assert list(tmp_path.iterdir())
+
+
+def test_chain_parser_storage_options():
+    parser = FSSpecChainParser()
+    segments = parser.unchain(
+        "zip://file.txt::memory:///tmp.zip",
+        protocol=None,
+        storage_options={"zip": {"mode": "r"}, "memory": {"key": "value"}},
+    )
+    assert [s.storage_options for s in segments] == [
+        {"mode": "r"},
+        {"key": "value"},
+    ]
+
+
+def test_chain_parser_roundtrip_storage_options():
+    parser = FSSpecChainParser()
+    segments = parser.unchain(
+        "zip://file.txt::memory:///tmp.zip",
+        protocol=None,
+        storage_options={"zip": {"mode": "r"}, "memory": {"key": "value"}},
+    )
+    rechained, kw = parser.chain(segments)
+    assert parser.unchain(rechained, protocol=None, storage_options=kw) == segments