diff --git a/ayon_api/exceptions.py b/ayon_api/exceptions.py
index 6a44e9d9c..c72beb915 100644
--- a/ayon_api/exceptions.py
+++ b/ayon_api/exceptions.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
 import copy
 
 try:
@@ -21,13 +23,23 @@ class UrlError(Exception):
     UI if needed.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, message, title, hints=None):
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        message: str,
+        title: str,
+        hints: list[str] | None = None,
+    ) -> None:
         if hints is None:
             hints = []
 
         self.title = title
         self.hints = hints
-        super(UrlError, self).__init__(message)
+        super().__init__(message)
+
+
+class UrlNotReached(UrlError):
+    pass
 
 
 class ServerError(Exception):
diff --git a/ayon_api/utils.py b/ayon_api/utils.py
index 7294c110b..cd3a9a71a 100644
--- a/ayon_api/utils.py
+++ b/ayon_api/utils.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 )
 from .exceptions import (
     UrlError,
+    UrlNotReached,
     ServerError,
     UnauthorizedError,
     HTTPRequestError,
@@ -570,11 +571,12 @@ def _try_connect_to_server(
         # TODO add validation if the url lead to AYON server
         #   - this won't validate if the url lead to 'google.com'
         response = requests.get(
-            url,
+            f"{url}/api/info",
             timeout=timeout,
             verify=verify,
             cert=cert,
         )
+        _ = response.json()
         if response.history:
             return response.history[-1].headers["location"].rstrip("/")
         return url
@@ -759,24 +761,29 @@ def validate_url(
 
     # Not sure if this is good idea?
     modified_url = stripperd_url.rstrip("/")
+
+    # Make sure url has http scheme
+    if not modified_url.lower().startswith("http"):
+        modified_url = f"http://{modified_url}"
+
     parsed_url = _try_parse_url(modified_url)
     universal_hints = [
         "does the url work in browser?"
     ]
     if parsed_url is None:
         raise UrlError(
-            "Invalid url format. Url cannot be parsed as url \"{}\".".format(
-                modified_url
+            (
+                "Invalid url format. Url cannot be parsed"
+                f" as url \"{modified_url}\"."
             ),
             title="Invalid url format",
             hints=universal_hints
         )
 
-    # Try add 'https://' scheme if is missing
-    # - this will trigger UrlError if both will crash
-    if not parsed_url.scheme:
+    pathless_url = f"{parsed_url.scheme}://{parsed_url.netloc}"
+    if parsed_url.path:
         new_url = _try_connect_to_server(
-            "http://" + modified_url,
+            pathless_url,
             timeout=timeout,
             verify=verify,
             cert=cert,
@@ -794,17 +801,11 @@ def validate_url(
         return new_url
 
     hints = []
-    if "/" in parsed_url.path or not parsed_url.scheme:
-        new_path = parsed_url.path.split("/")[0]
-        if not parsed_url.scheme:
-            new_path = "https://" + new_path
-
-        hints.append(
-            "did you mean \"{}\"?".format(parsed_url.scheme + new_path)
-        )
+    if parsed_url.path:
+        hints.append(f"did you mean \"{pathless_url}\"?")
 
-    raise UrlError(
-        "Couldn't connect to server on \"{}\"".format(url),
+    raise UrlNotReached(
+        f"Couldn't connect to server on \"{url}\"",
         title="Couldn't connect to server",
         hints=hints + universal_hints
     )