diff --git a/x/upgrade/CHANGELOG.md b/x/upgrade/CHANGELOG.md
index 94422712d9f5..d3524d3022e5 100644
--- a/x/upgrade/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/x/upgrade/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 * [#19443](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19443) `NewKeeper` takes an `appmodule.Environment` instead of individual services.
 
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* [#19706](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19706) Stop treating inline JSON as a URL.
+
 ## [v0.1.1](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/releases/tag/x/upgrade/v0.1.1) - 2023-12-11
 
 ### Improvements
diff --git a/x/upgrade/plan/info.go b/x/upgrade/plan/info.go
index d05c985b5419..6f132032d96d 100644
--- a/x/upgrade/plan/info.go
+++ b/x/upgrade/plan/info.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func ParseInfo(infoStr string, opts ...ParseOption) (*Info, error) {
 	}
 
 	// If it's a url, download it and treat the result as the real info.
-	if _, err := neturl.Parse(infoStr); err == nil {
+	if _, err := neturl.ParseRequestURI(infoStr); err == nil {
 		if err := ValidateURL(infoStr, parseConfig.EnforceChecksum); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/x/upgrade/plan/info_test.go b/x/upgrade/plan/info_test.go
index c74b4e48437e..047cd49defa6 100644
--- a/x/upgrade/plan/info_test.go
+++ b/x/upgrade/plan/info_test.go
@@ -76,6 +76,12 @@ func (s *InfoTestSuite) TestParseInfo() {
 			expectedInfo:    nil,
 			expectedInError: []string{"plan info must not be blank"},
 		},
+		{
+			name:            "empty JSON",
+			infoStrMaker:    makeInfoStrFuncString("{}"),
+			expectedInfo:    &Info{},
+			expectedInError: nil,
+		},
 		{
 			name:            "json binaries is wrong data type",
 			infoStrMaker:    makeInfoStrFuncString(binariesWrongJSON),