diff --git a/src/main/java/org/verapdf/rest/resources/ValidateResource.java b/src/main/java/org/verapdf/rest/resources/ValidateResource.java
index b218dbd9..ec1487ec 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/verapdf/rest/resources/ValidateResource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/verapdf/rest/resources/ValidateResource.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * 
+ *
  */
 package org.verapdf.rest.resources;
 
@@ -100,9 +100,8 @@ public static InputStream validateXml(@PathParam("profileId") String profileId,
     @Consumes(MediaType.MULTIPART_FORM_DATA)
     @Produces({ MediaType.APPLICATION_XML })
     public static InputStream validateXml(@PathParam("profileId") String profileId,
-                                          @FormDataParam("url") String urlLink)
-            throws VeraPDFException, IOException {
-        InputStream uploadedInputStream = new URL(urlLink).openStream();
+                                          @FormDataParam("url") String urlLink) throws VeraPDFException {
+        InputStream uploadedInputStream = getInputStreamByUrlLink(urlLink);
 
         return validate(uploadedInputStream, profileId, FormatOption.XML);
     }
@@ -141,9 +140,8 @@ public static InputStream validateJson(@PathParam("profileId") String profileId,
     @Consumes(MediaType.MULTIPART_FORM_DATA)
     @Produces({ MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON })
     public static InputStream validateJson(@PathParam("profileId") String profileId,
-                                          @FormDataParam("url") String urlLink)
-            throws VeraPDFException, IOException {
-        InputStream uploadedInputStream = new URL(urlLink).openStream();
+                                          @FormDataParam("url") String urlLink) throws VeraPDFException {
+        InputStream uploadedInputStream = getInputStreamByUrlLink(urlLink);
 
         return validate(uploadedInputStream, profileId, FormatOption.JSON);
     }
@@ -180,9 +178,8 @@ public static InputStream validateHtml(@PathParam("profileId") String profileId,
     @Consumes(MediaType.MULTIPART_FORM_DATA)
     @Produces({ MediaType.TEXT_HTML })
     public static InputStream validateHtml(@PathParam("profileId") String profileId,
-                                          @FormDataParam("url") String urlLink)
-            throws VeraPDFException, IOException {
-        InputStream uploadedInputStream = new URL(urlLink).openStream();
+                                          @FormDataParam("url") String urlLink) throws VeraPDFException {
+        InputStream uploadedInputStream = getInputStreamByUrlLink(urlLink);
 
         return validate(uploadedInputStream, profileId, FormatOption.HTML);
     }
@@ -286,6 +283,18 @@ private static MessageDigest getDigest() {
         }
     }
 
+    private static InputStream getInputStreamByUrlLink(String urlLink) throws VeraPDFException {
+        try {
+            return new URL(urlLink).openStream();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            if (urlLink.isEmpty()) {
+                throw new VeraPDFException("URL is empty");
+            } else {
+                throw new VeraPDFException("URL is incorrect: " + urlLink);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     private static ProcessorConfig createProcessorConfig(ValidatorConfig validatorConfig) {
         VeraAppConfig veraAppConfig = configManager.getApplicationConfig();
         return ProcessorFactory.fromValues(validatorConfig, configManager.getFeaturesConfig(),