diff --git a/plugins/deep-link/src/config.rs b/plugins/deep-link/src/config.rs
index ca437a5e6..80f0a4c08 100644
--- a/plugins/deep-link/src/config.rs
+++ b/plugins/deep-link/src/config.rs
@@ -6,15 +6,30 @@
 
 #![allow(dead_code)]
 
-use serde::Deserialize;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer};
 
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
 pub struct AssociatedDomain {
+    #[serde(deserialize_with = "deserialize_associated_host")]
     pub host: String,
     #[serde(default, alias = "path-prefix", rename = "pathPrefix")]
     pub path_prefix: Vec<String>,
 }
 
+fn deserialize_associated_host<'de, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<String, D::Error>
+where
+    D: Deserializer<'de>,
+{
+    let host = String::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+    if let Some((scheme, _host)) = host.split_once("://") {
+        Err(serde::de::Error::custom(format!(
+            "host `{host}` cannot start with a scheme, please remove the `{scheme}://` prefix"
+        )))
+    } else {
+        Ok(host)
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
 pub struct Config {
     pub domains: Vec<AssociatedDomain>,