diff --git a/Sources/LiveKit/Core/Room+Engine.swift b/Sources/LiveKit/Core/Room+Engine.swift
index 73d0c9c53..29be75949 100644
--- a/Sources/LiveKit/Core/Room+Engine.swift
+++ b/Sources/LiveKit/Core/Room+Engine.swift
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ public enum StartReconnectReason {
 // Room+ConnectSequences
 extension Room {
     // full connect sequence, doesn't update connection state
-    func fullConnectSequence(_ url: String, _ token: String) async throws {
+    func fullConnectSequence(_ url: URL, _ token: String) async throws {
         let connectResponse = try await signalClient.connect(url,
                                                              token,
                                                              connectOptions: _state.connectOptions,
diff --git a/Sources/LiveKit/Core/Room.swift b/Sources/LiveKit/Core/Room.swift
index b6c2e6818..ee70ee513 100644
--- a/Sources/LiveKit/Core/Room.swift
+++ b/Sources/LiveKit/Core/Room.swift
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class Room: NSObject, ObservableObject, Loggable {
 
     // expose engine's vars
     @objc
-    public var url: String? { _state.url }
+    public var url: String? { _state.url?.absoluteString }
 
     @objc
     public var token: String? { _state.token }
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ public class Room: NSObject, ObservableObject, Loggable {
         var serverInfo: Livekit_ServerInfo?
 
         // Engine
-        var url: String?
+        var url: URL?
         var token: String?
         // preferred reconnect mode which will be used only for next attempt
         var nextReconnectMode: ReconnectMode?
@@ -283,7 +283,12 @@ public class Room: NSObject, ObservableObject, Loggable {
                         connectOptions: ConnectOptions? = nil,
                         roomOptions: RoomOptions? = nil) async throws
     {
-        log("connecting to room...", .info)
+        guard let url = URL(string: url), url.isValidForSocket else {
+            log("URL parse failed", .error)
+            throw LiveKitError(.failedToParseUrl)
+        }
+
+        log("Connecting to room...", .info)
 
         var state = _state.copy()
 
diff --git a/Sources/LiveKit/Core/SignalClient.swift b/Sources/LiveKit/Core/SignalClient.swift
index 73b57b368..8be8642d9 100644
--- a/Sources/LiveKit/Core/SignalClient.swift
+++ b/Sources/LiveKit/Core/SignalClient.swift
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ actor SignalClient: Loggable {
     }
 
     @discardableResult
-    func connect(_ urlString: String,
+    func connect(_ url: URL,
                  _ token: String,
                  connectOptions: ConnectOptions? = nil,
                  reconnectMode: ReconnectMode? = nil,
@@ -122,14 +122,11 @@ actor SignalClient: Loggable {
             log("[Connect] mode: \(String(describing: reconnectMode))")
         }
 
-        guard let url = Utils.buildUrl(urlString,
-                                       token,
-                                       connectOptions: connectOptions,
-                                       reconnectMode: reconnectMode,
-                                       adaptiveStream: adaptiveStream)
-        else {
-            throw LiveKitError(.failedToParseUrl)
-        }
+        let url = try Utils.buildUrl(url,
+                                     token,
+                                     connectOptions: connectOptions,
+                                     reconnectMode: reconnectMode,
+                                     adaptiveStream: adaptiveStream)
 
         if reconnectMode != nil {
             log("[Connect] with url: \(url)")
@@ -179,14 +176,11 @@ actor SignalClient: Loggable {
             await cleanUp(withError: error)
 
             // Validate...
-            guard let validateUrl = Utils.buildUrl(urlString,
-                                                   token,
-                                                   connectOptions: connectOptions,
-                                                   adaptiveStream: adaptiveStream,
-                                                   validate: true)
-            else {
-                throw LiveKitError(.failedToParseUrl, message: "Failed to parse validation url")
-            }
+            let validateUrl = try Utils.buildUrl(url,
+                                                 token,
+                                                 connectOptions: connectOptions,
+                                                 adaptiveStream: adaptiveStream,
+                                                 validate: true)
 
             log("Validating with url: \(validateUrl)...")
             let validationResponse = try await HTTP.requestString(from: validateUrl)
diff --git a/Sources/LiveKit/Extensions/Primitives.swift b/Sources/LiveKit/Extensions/Primitives.swift
index bb5e789c0..a8771556f 100644
--- a/Sources/LiveKit/Extensions/Primitives.swift
+++ b/Sources/LiveKit/Extensions/Primitives.swift
@@ -42,12 +42,6 @@ extension Bool {
     }
 }
 
-extension URL {
-    var isSecure: Bool {
-        scheme == "https" || scheme == "wss"
-    }
-}
-
 public extension Double {
     func rounded(to places: Int) -> Double {
         let divisor = pow(10.0, Double(places))
diff --git a/Sources/LiveKit/Extensions/URL.swift b/Sources/LiveKit/Extensions/URL.swift
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e23a3cb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/LiveKit/Extensions/URL.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2024 LiveKit
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import Foundation
+
+extension URL {
+    var isValidForSocket: Bool {
+        host != nil && (scheme == "ws" || scheme == "wss")
+    }
+
+    var isSecure: Bool {
+        scheme == "https" || scheme == "wss"
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/LiveKit/Support/Utils.swift b/Sources/LiveKit/Support/Utils.swift
index 70c13b05a..3a4657a73 100644
--- a/Sources/LiveKit/Support/Utils.swift
+++ b/Sources/LiveKit/Support/Utils.swift
@@ -128,34 +128,34 @@ class Utils {
     }
 
     static func buildUrl(
-        _ url: String,
+        _ url: URL,
         _ token: String,
         connectOptions: ConnectOptions? = nil,
         reconnectMode: ReconnectMode? = nil,
         adaptiveStream: Bool,
         validate: Bool = false,
         forceSecure: Bool = false
-    ) -> URL? {
+    ) throws -> URL {
         // use default options if nil
         let connectOptions = connectOptions ?? ConnectOptions()
 
-        guard let parsedUrl = URL(string: url) else { return nil }
+        let components = URLComponents(url: url, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false)
 
-        let components = URLComponents(url: parsedUrl, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false)
-
-        guard var builder = components else { return nil }
+        guard var builder = components else {
+            throw LiveKitError(.failedToParseUrl)
+        }
 
-        let useSecure = parsedUrl.isSecure || forceSecure
+        let useSecure = url.isSecure || forceSecure
         let httpScheme = useSecure ? "https" : "http"
         let wsScheme = useSecure ? "wss" : "ws"
 
-        var pathSegments = parsedUrl.pathComponents
+        var pathSegments = url.pathComponents
         // strip empty & slashes
         pathSegments.removeAll(where: { $0.isEmpty || $0 == "/" })
 
         // if already ending with `rtc` or `validate`
         // and is not a dir, remove it
-        if !parsedUrl.hasDirectoryPath,
+        if !url.hasDirectoryPath,
            !pathSegments.isEmpty,
            ["rtc", "validate"].contains(pathSegments.last!)
         {
@@ -196,7 +196,11 @@ class Utils {
 
         builder.queryItems = queryItems
 
-        return builder.url
+        guard let result = builder.url else {
+            throw LiveKitError(.failedToParseUrl)
+        }
+
+        return result
     }
 
     static func computeVideoEncodings(