diff --git a/src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp b/src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp
index b72f1282..3fad4d92 100644
--- a/src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp
@@ -723,7 +723,7 @@ void BitcoinGUI::dropEvent(QDropEvent *event)
         QList<QUrl> urls = event->mimeData()->urls();
         foreach(const QUrl &url, urls)
         {
-            sendCoinsPage->handleURL(&url);
+            sendCoinsPage->handleURL(url.toString());
         }
     }
 
@@ -733,8 +733,7 @@ void BitcoinGUI::dropEvent(QDropEvent *event)
 void BitcoinGUI::handleURL(QString strURL)
 {
     gotoSendCoinsPage();
-    QUrl url = QUrl(strURL);
-    sendCoinsPage->handleURL(&url);
+    sendCoinsPage->handleURL(strURL);
 }
 
 void BitcoinGUI::setEncryptionStatus(int status)
diff --git a/src/qt/guiutil.cpp b/src/qt/guiutil.cpp
index 29ef554a..02fc3b67 100644
--- a/src/qt/guiutil.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/guiutil.cpp
@@ -49,15 +49,15 @@ void GUIUtil::setupAmountWidget(QLineEdit *widget, QWidget *parent)
     widget->setAlignment(Qt::AlignRight|Qt::AlignVCenter);
 }
 
-bool GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(const QUrl *url, SendCoinsRecipient *out)
+bool GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(const QUrl &url, SendCoinsRecipient *out)
 {
-    if(url->scheme() != QString("bitcoin"))
+    if(url.scheme() != QString("bitcoin"))
         return false;
 
     SendCoinsRecipient rv;
-    rv.address = url->path();
+    rv.address = url.path();
     rv.amount = 0;
-    QList<QPair<QString, QString> > items = url->queryItems();
+    QList<QPair<QString, QString> > items = url.queryItems();
     for (QList<QPair<QString, QString> >::iterator i = items.begin(); i != items.end(); i++)
     {
         bool fShouldReturnFalse = false;
@@ -94,6 +94,20 @@ bool GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(const QUrl *url, SendCoinsRecipient *out)
     return true;
 }
 
+bool GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(QString url, SendCoinsRecipient *out)
+{
+    // Convert bitcoin:// to bitcoin:
+    //
+    //    Cannot handle this later, because bitcoin:// will cause Qt to see the part after // as host,
+    //    which will lowercase it (and thus invalidate the address).
+    if(url.startsWith("bitcoin://"))
+    {
+        url.replace(0, 10, "bitcoin:");
+    }
+    QUrl urlInstance(url);
+    return parseBitcoinURL(urlInstance, out);
+}
+
 QString GUIUtil::HtmlEscape(const QString& str, bool fMultiLine)
 {
     QString escaped = Qt::escape(str);
diff --git a/src/qt/guiutil.h b/src/qt/guiutil.h
index 3a81bd2f..0c8b1718 100644
--- a/src/qt/guiutil.h
+++ b/src/qt/guiutil.h
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ public:
 
     // Parse "bitcoin:" URL into recipient object, return true on succesful parsing
     // See Bitcoin URL definition discussion here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=33490.0
-    static bool parseBitcoinURL(const QUrl *url, SendCoinsRecipient *out);
+    static bool parseBitcoinURL(const QUrl &url, SendCoinsRecipient *out);
+    static bool parseBitcoinURL(QString url, SendCoinsRecipient *out);
 
     // HTML escaping for rich text controls
     static QString HtmlEscape(const QString& str, bool fMultiLine=false);
diff --git a/src/qt/qtipcserver.cpp b/src/qt/qtipcserver.cpp
index 90d5c142..018461a9 100644
--- a/src/qt/qtipcserver.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/qtipcserver.cpp
@@ -30,16 +30,7 @@ void ipcThread(void* parg)
         ptime d = boost::posix_time::microsec_clock::universal_time() + millisec(100);
         if(mq->timed_receive(&strBuf, sizeof(strBuf), nSize, nPriority, d))
         {
-            strBuf[nSize] = '\0';
-            // Convert bitcoin:// URLs to bitcoin: URIs
-            if (strBuf[8] == '/' && strBuf[9] == '/')
-            {
-                for (int i = 8; i < 256; i++)
-                {
-                    strBuf[i] = strBuf[i+2];
-                }
-            }
-            ThreadSafeHandleURL(strBuf);
+            ThreadSafeHandleURL(std::string(strBuf, nSize));
             Sleep(1000);
         }
         if (fShutdown)
@@ -66,16 +57,7 @@ void ipcInit()
             ptime d = boost::posix_time::microsec_clock::universal_time() + millisec(1);
             if(mq->timed_receive(&strBuf, sizeof(strBuf), nSize, nPriority, d))
             {
-                strBuf[nSize] = '\0';
-                // Convert bitcoin:// URLs to bitcoin: URIs
-                if (strBuf[8] == '/' && strBuf[9] == '/')
-                {
-                    for (int i = 8; i < 256; i++)
-                    {
-                        strBuf[i] = strBuf[i+2];
-                    }
-                }
-                ThreadSafeHandleURL(strBuf);
+                ThreadSafeHandleURL(std::string(strBuf, nSize));
             }
             else
                 break;
diff --git a/src/qt/sendcoinsdialog.cpp b/src/qt/sendcoinsdialog.cpp
index 0d9a604d..964313ea 100644
--- a/src/qt/sendcoinsdialog.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/sendcoinsdialog.cpp
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ void SendCoinsDialog::pasteEntry(const SendCoinsRecipient &rv)
 }
 
 
-void SendCoinsDialog::handleURL(const QUrl *url)
+void SendCoinsDialog::handleURL(const QString &url)
 {
     SendCoinsRecipient rv;
     if(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv))
diff --git a/src/qt/sendcoinsdialog.h b/src/qt/sendcoinsdialog.h
index 847ee8b6..4dc3f08b 100644
--- a/src/qt/sendcoinsdialog.h
+++ b/src/qt/sendcoinsdialog.h
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public:
     QWidget *setupTabChain(QWidget *prev);
 
     void pasteEntry(const SendCoinsRecipient &rv);
-    void handleURL(const QUrl *url);
+    void handleURL(const QString &url);
 
 public slots:
     void clear();
diff --git a/src/qt/test/urltests.cpp b/src/qt/test/urltests.cpp
index 5ecc8462..1f11795a 100644
--- a/src/qt/test/urltests.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/test/urltests.cpp
@@ -18,51 +18,54 @@ void URLTests::urlTests()
     SendCoinsRecipient rv;
     QUrl url;
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?req-dontexist="));
-    QVERIFY(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
 
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?dontexist="));
-    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
     QVERIFY(rv.address == QString("175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W"));
     QVERIFY(rv.label == QString());
     QVERIFY(rv.amount == 0);
 
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?label=Wikipedia Example Address"));
-    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
     QVERIFY(rv.address == QString("175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W"));
     QVERIFY(rv.label == QString("Wikipedia Example Address"));
     QVERIFY(rv.amount == 0);
 
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?amount=0.001"));
-    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
     QVERIFY(rv.address == QString("175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W"));
     QVERIFY(rv.label == QString());
     QVERIFY(rv.amount == 100000);
 
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?amount=1.001"));
-    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
     QVERIFY(rv.address == QString("175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W"));
     QVERIFY(rv.label == QString());
     QVERIFY(rv.amount == 100100000);
 
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?amount=100&label=Wikipedia Example"));
-    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
     QVERIFY(rv.address == QString("175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W"));
     QVERIFY(rv.amount == 10000000000);
     QVERIFY(rv.label == QString("Wikipedia Example"));
 
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?message=Wikipedia Example Address"));
-    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
     QVERIFY(rv.address == QString("175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W"));
     QVERIFY(rv.label == QString());
+
+    QVERIFY(GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL("bitcoin://175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?message=Wikipedia Example Address", &rv));
+    QVERIFY(rv.address == QString("175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W"));
     QVERIFY(rv.label == QString());
 
     // We currently dont implement the message paramenter (ok, yea, we break spec...)
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?req-message=Wikipedia Example Address"));
-    QVERIFY(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
 
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?amount=1,000&label=Wikipedia Example"));
-    QVERIFY(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
 
     url.setUrl(QString("bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?amount=1,000.0&label=Wikipedia Example"));
-    QVERIFY(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(&url, &rv));
+    QVERIFY(!GUIUtil::parseBitcoinURL(url, &rv));
 }