diff --git a/libraries/entities-renderer/src/RenderableModelEntityItem.cpp b/libraries/entities-renderer/src/RenderableModelEntityItem.cpp
index f1be8611e1..782458894d 100644
--- a/libraries/entities-renderer/src/RenderableModelEntityItem.cpp
+++ b/libraries/entities-renderer/src/RenderableModelEntityItem.cpp
@@ -219,9 +219,11 @@ void RenderableModelEntityItem::render(RenderArgs* args) {
 
     if (hasModel()) {
         if (_model) {
-            if (getModelURL() != _model->getURL().toString()) {
-                qDebug() << "Updating model URL: " << getModelURL();
-                _model->setURL(getModelURL());
+            // check if the URL has changed
+            auto& currentURL = getParsedModelURL();
+            if (currentURL != _model->getURL()) {
+                qDebug().noquote() << "Updating model URL: " << currentURL.toDisplayString();
+                _model->setURL(currentURL);
             }
 
             render::ScenePointer scene = AbstractViewStateInterface::instance()->getMain3DScene();
diff --git a/libraries/entities/src/ModelEntityItem.h b/libraries/entities/src/ModelEntityItem.h
index e8ffcab3e7..fb41ac4b77 100644
--- a/libraries/entities/src/ModelEntityItem.h
+++ b/libraries/entities/src/ModelEntityItem.h
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ public:
 
     static const QString DEFAULT_MODEL_URL;
     const QString& getModelURL() const { return _modelURL; }
+    const QUrl& getParsedModelURL() const { return _parsedModelURL; }
 
     static const QString DEFAULT_COMPOUND_SHAPE_URL;
     const QString& getCompoundShapeURL() const { return _compoundShapeURL; }
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ public:
     }
     
     // model related properties
-    void setModelURL(const QString& url) { _modelURL = url; }
+    void setModelURL(const QString& url) { _modelURL = url; _parsedModelURL = QUrl(url); }
     virtual void setCompoundShapeURL(const QString& url);
 
 
@@ -134,6 +135,7 @@ protected:
 
     rgbColor _color;
     QString _modelURL;
+    QUrl _parsedModelURL;
     QString _compoundShapeURL;
 
     AnimationPropertyGroup _animationProperties;