diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7b610eb219f0..f4b7bddbb259 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ Every module contains its own CHANGELOG.md. Please refer to the module you are i
 * (simulation) [#18196](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/18196) Fix the problem of `validator set is empty after InitGenesis` in simulation test.
 * (baseapp) [#18551](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/18551) Fix SelectTxForProposal the calculation method of tx bytes size is inconsistent with CometBFT
 * (server) [#18994](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/18994) Update server context directly rather than a reference to a sub-object
+* (x/upgrade) [#19706](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19706) Stop treating inline JSON as a URL.
 
 ### API Breaking Changes
 
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),