diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/payload.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/payload.ts
index 2d56d22ad51..4ac1a99ba90 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/payload.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/payload.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ function _getPayloadURL (url: string, opts: LoadPayloadOptions = {}) {
   if (u.search) {
     throw new Error('Payload URL cannot contain search params: ' + url)
   }
-  if (u.host !== 'localhost' || hasProtocol(url, true)) {
+  if (u.host !== 'localhost' || hasProtocol(u.pathname, true)) {
     throw new Error('Payload URL must not include hostname: ' + url)
   }
   const hash = opts.hash || (opts.fresh ? Date.now() : '')