diff --git a/Sources/OpenAPIKit/JSONReference.swift b/Sources/OpenAPIKit/JSONReference.swift
index 9d89efd83..bf7edef67 100644
--- a/Sources/OpenAPIKit/JSONReference.swift
+++ b/Sources/OpenAPIKit/JSONReference.swift
@@ -469,7 +469,13 @@ extension JSONReference: Decodable {
             }
             self = .internal(internalReference)
         } else {
-            guard let externalReference = URL(string: referenceString) else {
+            let externalReference: URL?
+            if #available(macOS 14.0, iOS 17.0, watchOS 10.0, tvOS 17.0, *) {
+                externalReference = URL(string: referenceString, encodingInvalidCharacters: false)
+            } else {
+                externalReference = URL(string: referenceString)
+            }
+            guard let externalReference = externalReference else {
                 throw InconsistencyError(
                     subjectName: "JSON Reference",
                     details: "Failed to parse a valid URI for a JSON Reference from '\(referenceString)'",
diff --git a/Sources/OpenAPIKit30/JSONReference.swift b/Sources/OpenAPIKit30/JSONReference.swift
index a544ffd68..ddecc522f 100644
--- a/Sources/OpenAPIKit30/JSONReference.swift
+++ b/Sources/OpenAPIKit30/JSONReference.swift
@@ -333,7 +333,13 @@ extension JSONReference: Decodable {
             }
             self = .internal(internalReference)
         } else {
-            guard let externalReference = URL(string: referenceString) else {
+            let externalReference: URL?
+            if #available(macOS 14.0, iOS 17.0, watchOS 10.0, tvOS 17.0, *) {
+                externalReference = URL(string: referenceString, encodingInvalidCharacters: false)
+            } else {
+                externalReference = URL(string: referenceString)
+            }
+            guard let externalReference = externalReference else {
                 throw InconsistencyError(
                     subjectName: "JSON Reference",
                     details: "Failed to parse a valid URI for a JSON Reference from '\(referenceString)'",