diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/router.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/router.ts
index 072ff76155..85d9670266 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/router.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/router.ts
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ export const navigateTo = (to: RouteLocationRaw | undefined | null, options?: Na
     if (!options?.external) {
       throw new Error('Navigating to an external URL is not allowed by default. Use `navigateTo(url, { external: true })`.')
     }
-    const protocol = parseURL(toPath).protocol
+    const { protocol } = new URL(toPath)
     if (protocol && isScriptProtocol(protocol)) {
       throw new Error(`Cannot navigate to a URL with '${protocol}' protocol.`)
     }
diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/app/plugins/cross-origin-prefetch.client.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/app/plugins/cross-origin-prefetch.client.ts
index 3ae277ab47..66788be26b 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/app/plugins/cross-origin-prefetch.client.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/app/plugins/cross-origin-prefetch.client.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import { ref } from 'vue'
-import { parseURL } from 'ufo'
 import { useHead } from '@unhead/vue'
 import { defineNuxtPlugin } from '../nuxt'
 
+const SUPPORTED_PROTOCOLS = ['http:', 'https:']
+
 export default defineNuxtPlugin({
   name: 'nuxt:cross-origin-prefetch',
   setup (nuxtApp) {
@@ -26,8 +27,7 @@ export default defineNuxtPlugin({
       script: [generateRules()],
     })
     nuxtApp.hook('link:prefetch', (url) => {
-      const { protocol } = parseURL(url)
-      if (protocol && ['http:', 'https:'].includes(protocol)) {
+      if (SUPPORTED_PROTOCOLS.some(p => url.startsWith(p)) && SUPPORTED_PROTOCOLS.includes(new URL(url).protocol)) {
         externalURLs.value.add(url)
         head?.patch({
           script: [generateRules()],