diff --git a/src/rebar_git_resource.erl b/src/rebar_git_resource.erl
index 45bc0432..ab06836b 100644
--- a/src/rebar_git_resource.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_git_resource.erl
@@ -117,8 +117,8 @@ parse_git_url(Url) ->
     end.
 parse_git_url(not_scp, Url) ->
     UriOpts = [{scheme_defaults, [{git, 9418} | http_uri:scheme_defaults()]}],
-    case http_uri:parse(Url, UriOpts) of
-        {ok, {_Scheme, _User, Host, _Port, Path, _Query}} ->
+    case rebar_uri:parse(Url, UriOpts) of
+        #{path := Path, host := Host} ->
             {ok, {Host, filename:rootname(Path, ".git")}};
         {error, Reason} ->
             {error, Reason}
diff --git a/src/rebar_hex_repos.erl b/src/rebar_hex_repos.erl
index 3377d907..7b1aa908 100644
--- a/src/rebar_hex_repos.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_hex_repos.erl
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ update_organizations(Repos) ->
                       {ok, Parent} = get_repo_config(ParentName, Repos),
                       ParentRepoUrl = rebar_utils:to_list(maps:get(repo_url, Parent)),
                       {ok, _RepoUrl} =
-                          rebar_utils:url_append_path(ParentRepoUrl,
-                                                      filename:join("repos", rebar_utils:to_list(RepoName))),
+                          rebar_uri:append_path(ParentRepoUrl,
+                                                filename:join("repos", rebar_utils:to_list(RepoName))),
                       %% still let the organization config override this constructed repo url
                       maps:merge(Parent#{repo_url => rebar_utils:to_binary(ParentRepoUrl)}, Repo);
                  (Repo) ->
diff --git a/src/rebar_uri.erl b/src/rebar_uri.erl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a6382b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/rebar_uri.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+%%% @doc multi-OTP version compatibility shim for working with URIs
+-module(rebar_uri).
+
+-export([
+         parse/1,
+         append_path/2
+]).
+
+-import(rebar_utils, [to_list/1]).
+
+-ifdef (OTP_RELEASE).
+-spec parse(URIString) -> URIMap when
+    URIString :: uri_string:uri_string(),
+    URIMap :: uri_string:uri_map() | uri_string:error().
+
+parse(URIString) ->
+    uri_string:parse(URIString).
+-else.
+-spec parse(URIString) -> URIMap when
+    URIString :: iodata(),
+    URIMap :: map() | {error, atom(), term()}.
+
+parse(URIString) ->
+    case http_uri:parse(URIString) of
+        {error, Reason} ->
+            %% no additional parser/term info available to us,
+            %% e.g. see what uri_string returns in
+            %% uri_string:parse(<<"h$ttp:::://////lolz">>).
+            {error, Reason, ""};
+        {ok, {Scheme, UserInfo, Host, Port, Path, Query}} ->
+            #{
+                scheme => rebar_utils:to_list(Scheme),
+                host => Host,
+                port => Port,
+                path => Path,
+                %% http_uri:parse/1 includes the leading question mark
+                %% in query string but uri_string:parse/1 leaves it out.
+                %% string:slice/2 isn't available in OTP <= 19.
+                query => case Query of
+                           [] -> "";
+                           _  -> string:substr(Query, 2)
+                         end,
+                userinfo => UserInfo
+            }
+    end.
+-endif.
+
+%% OTP 21+
+-ifdef (OTP_RELEASE).
+append_path(Url, ExtraPath) ->
+     case parse(Url) of
+         #{path := Path} = Map ->
+             FullPath = filename:join(Path, ExtraPath),
+             {ok, uri_string:recompose(maps:update(path, FullPath, Map))};
+         _ ->
+             error
+     end.
+-else.
+append_path(Url, ExtraPath) ->
+     case parse(Url) of
+         #{scheme := Scheme, userinfo := UserInfo, host := Host, port := Port, path := Path, query := Query} ->
+             PrefixedQuery = case Query of
+                               []    -> [];
+                               Other -> lists:append(["?", Other])
+                             end,
+             {ok, lists:append([to_list(Scheme), "://", UserInfo, Host, ":", to_list(Port),
+                                filename:join(Path, ExtraPath), PrefixedQuery])};
+         _ ->
+             error
+     end.
+-endif.
diff --git a/src/rebar_utils.erl b/src/rebar_utils.erl
index c587363d..e0ffc0ec 100644
--- a/src/rebar_utils.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_utils.erl
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@
          tup_find/2,
          line_count/1,
          set_httpc_options/0,
-         url_append_path/2,
          escape_chars/1,
          escape_double_quotes/1,
          escape_double_quotes_weak/1,
@@ -266,6 +265,8 @@ to_binary(A) when is_atom(A) -> atom_to_binary(A, unicode);
 to_binary(Str) -> unicode:characters_to_binary(Str).
 
 to_list(A) when is_atom(A) -> atom_to_list(A);
+to_list(B) when is_binary(B) -> unicode:characters_to_list(B);
+to_list(I) when is_integer(I) -> integer_to_list(I);
 to_list(Str) -> unicode:characters_to_list(Str).
 
 tup_dedup(List) ->
@@ -910,8 +911,7 @@ get_http_vars(Scheme) ->
 
 -ifdef (OTP_RELEASE).
   -if(?OTP_RELEASE >= 23).
-    -compile({nowarn_deprecated_function, [{http_uri, parse, 1},
-                                           {http_uri, decode, 1}]}).
+    -compile({nowarn_deprecated_function, [{http_uri, decode, 1}]}).
   -endif.
 -endif.
 
@@ -924,7 +924,10 @@ set_httpc_options(_, []) ->
 
 set_httpc_options(Scheme, Proxy) ->
     URI = normalise_proxy(Scheme, Proxy),
-    {ok, {_, UserInfo, Host, Port, _, _}} = http_uri:parse(URI),
+    Parts = rebar_uri:parse(URI),
+    Host = maps:get(host, Parts, []),
+    Port = maps:get(port, Parts, []),
+    UserInfo = maps:get(userinfo, Parts, []),
     httpc:set_options([{Scheme, {{Host, Port}, []}}], rebar),
     set_proxy_auth(UserInfo).
 
@@ -935,15 +938,6 @@ normalise_proxy(Scheme, URI) ->
         _ -> URI
     end.
 
-url_append_path(Url, ExtraPath) ->
-     case http_uri:parse(Url) of
-         {ok, {Scheme, UserInfo, Host, Port, Path, Query}} ->
-             {ok, lists:append([atom_to_list(Scheme), "://", UserInfo, Host, ":", integer_to_list(Port),
-                                filename:join(Path, ExtraPath), Query])};
-         _ ->
-             error
-     end.
-
 %% escape\ as\ a\ shell\?
 escape_chars(Str) when is_atom(Str) ->
     escape_chars(atom_to_list(Str));
@@ -1028,8 +1022,7 @@ ssl_opts(Url) ->
 ssl_opts(ssl_verify_enabled, Url) ->
     case check_ssl_version() of
         true ->
-            {ok, {_, _, Hostname, _, _, _}} =
-                http_uri:parse(rebar_utils:to_list(Url)),
+            #{host := Hostname} = rebar_uri:parse(rebar_utils:to_list(Url)),
             VerifyFun = {fun ssl_verify_hostname:verify_fun/3,
                          [{check_hostname, Hostname}]},
             CACerts = certifi:cacerts(),
diff --git a/test/rebar_uri_SUITE.erl b/test/rebar_uri_SUITE.erl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4db93690
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/rebar_uri_SUITE.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+-module(rebar_uri_SUITE).
+
+-export([all/0,
+         parse/1,
+         append_path/1]).
+
+-include_lib("common_test/include/ct.hrl").
+-include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
+-include_lib("kernel/include/file.hrl").
+
+all() ->
+    [parse].
+
+parse(_Config) ->
+    #{scheme := Scheme, host := Host, path := Path} = rebar_uri:parse("https://repo.hex.pm"),
+    ?assertEqual("https", Scheme),
+    ?assertEqual("repo.hex.pm", Host),
+    ?assert(lists:member(Path, ["", "/"])),
+
+    #{scheme := Scheme2, host := Host2, port := Port2, path := Path2, query := Query2} =
+        rebar_uri:parse("https://repo.hex.pm:443?foo=bar"),
+    ?assertEqual("https", Scheme2),
+    ?assertEqual("repo.hex.pm", Host2),
+    ?assertEqual(443, Port2),
+    ?assert(lists:member(Path2, ["", "/"])),
+    ?assertEqual("foo=bar", Query2),
+
+    #{scheme := Scheme3, host := Host3, path := Path3, query := Query3} =
+        rebar_uri:parse("https://repo.hex.pm/over/here?foo=bar"),
+    ?assertEqual("https", Scheme3),
+    ?assertEqual("repo.hex.pm", Host3),
+    ?assertEqual("/over/here", Path3),
+    ?assertEqual("foo=bar", Query3).
+
+append_path(_Config) ->
+    %% OTP version differences
+    {ok, Val1} = rebar_utils:append_path("https://repo.hex.pm", "/repos/org"),
+    ?assert(lists:member(Val1, [
+        "https://repo.hex.pm/repos/org",
+        "https://repo.hex.pm:443/repos/org"
+    ])),
+    {ok, Val2} = rebar_utils:append_path("https://repo.hex.pm?foo=bar", "/repos/org"),
+    ?assert(lists:member(Val2, [
+        "https://repo.hex.pm/repos/org?foo=bar",
+        "https://repo.hex.pm:443/repos/org?foo=bar"
+    ])),
+    ?assertEqual({ok, "https://repo.hex.pm:443/repos/org?foo=bar"},
+                 rebar_utils:append_path("https://repo.hex.pm:443?foo=bar", "/repos/org")).
diff --git a/test/rebar_utils_SUITE.erl b/test/rebar_utils_SUITE.erl
index 4901f40c..233fcff3 100644
--- a/test/rebar_utils_SUITE.erl
+++ b/test/rebar_utils_SUITE.erl
@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@
          sh_does_not_miss_messages/1,
          tup_merge/1,
          proxy_auth/1,
-        is_list_of_strings/1,
-        url_append_path/1]).
+        is_list_of_strings/1]).
 
 -include_lib("common_test/include/ct.hrl").
 -include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
@@ -50,7 +49,7 @@ all() ->
     [{group, args_to_tasks},
      sh_does_not_miss_messages,
      tup_merge,
-     proxy_auth, is_list_of_strings, url_append_path].
+     proxy_auth, is_list_of_strings].
 
 groups() ->
     [{args_to_tasks, [], [empty_arglist,
@@ -320,8 +319,3 @@ is_list_of_strings(_Config) ->
     ?assert(rebar_utils:is_list_of_strings([])),
     ?assert(rebar_utils:is_list_of_strings("")),
     ?assert(rebar_utils:is_list_of_strings("foo") == false).
-
-url_append_path(_Config) ->
-    ?assertEqual({ok, "https://repo.hex.pm:443/repos/org"}, rebar_utils:url_append_path("https://repo.hex.pm", "/repos/org")),
-    ?assertEqual({ok, "https://repo.hex.pm:443/repos/org?foo=bar"}, rebar_utils:url_append_path("https://repo.hex.pm",
-                                                                                      "/repos/org?foo=bar")).