diff --git a/src/gui/ogr/qgsgdalguiutils.cpp b/src/gui/ogr/qgsgdalguiutils.cpp
index d5a097cbc7e04..5a5ef2ffab99d 100644
--- a/src/gui/ogr/qgsgdalguiutils.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/ogr/qgsgdalguiutils.cpp
@@ -222,16 +222,20 @@ QString QgsGdalGuiUtils::createDatabaseURI( const QString &connectionType, const
 
 QString QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( const QString &type, const QString &url, const QString &configId, const QString &username, const QString &password, bool expandAuthConfig )
 {
-  QString uri;
+  QString uri = url;
+  QString prefix;
   if ( type == QLatin1String( "vsicurl" ) )
   {
-    uri = url;
-    // If no protocol is provided in the URL, default to HTTP
-    if ( !uri.startsWith( "http://" ) && !uri.startsWith( "https://" ) && !uri.startsWith( "ftp://" ) )
+    prefix = QStringLiteral( "/vsicurl/" );
+    if ( !uri.startsWith( prefix ) )
     {
-      uri.prepend( QStringLiteral( "http://" ) );
+      // If no protocol is provided in the URL, default to HTTP
+      if ( !uri.startsWith( QLatin1String( "http://" ) ) && !uri.startsWith( QLatin1String( "https://" ) ) && !uri.startsWith( QLatin1String( "ftp://" ) ) )
+      {
+        uri.prepend( QStringLiteral( "http://" ) );
+      }
+      uri.prepend( prefix );
     }
-    uri.prepend( QStringLiteral( "/vsicurl/" ) );
   }
   else if ( type == QLatin1String( "vsis3" )
             || type == QLatin1String( "vsigs" )
@@ -241,25 +245,40 @@ QString QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( const QString &type, const QString &
             || type == QLatin1String( "vsiswift" )
             || type == QLatin1String( "vsihdfs" ) )
   {
-    uri = url;
-    uri.prepend( QStringLiteral( "/%1/" ).arg( type ) );
+    prefix = QStringLiteral( "/%1/" ).arg( type );
+    if ( !uri.startsWith( prefix ) )
+    {
+      uri.prepend( prefix );
+    }
   }
   // catching both GeoJSON and GeoJSONSeq
   else if ( type.startsWith( QLatin1String( "GeoJSON" ) ) )
   {
-    uri = url;
+    // no change needed for now
   }
   else if ( type == QLatin1String( "CouchDB" ) )
   {
-    uri = QStringLiteral( "couchdb:%1" ).arg( url );
+    prefix = QStringLiteral( "couchdb:" );
+    if ( !uri.startsWith( prefix ) )
+    {
+      uri.prepend( prefix );
+    }
   }
   else if ( type == QLatin1String( "DODS/OPeNDAP" ) )
   {
-    uri = QStringLiteral( "DODS:%1" ).arg( url );
+    prefix = QStringLiteral( "DODS:" );
+    if ( !uri.startsWith( prefix ) )
+    {
+      uri.prepend( prefix );
+    }
   }
   else if ( type == QLatin1String( "WFS3" ) )
   {
-    uri = QStringLiteral( "WFS3:%1" ).arg( url );
+    prefix = QStringLiteral( "WFS3:" );
+    if ( !uri.startsWith( prefix ) )
+    {
+      uri.prepend( prefix );
+    }
   }
   QgsDebugMsgLevel( "Connection type is=" + type + " and uri=" + uri, 2 );
   // Update URI with authentication information
diff --git a/tests/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
index 61ac05b31bedc..198b1d33de955 100644
--- a/tests/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ set(TESTS
   testqgsmessagebar.cpp
   testprojectionissues.cpp
   testqgsgui.cpp
+  testqgsgdalguiutils.cpp
   testprocessinggui.cpp
   testqgsprocessingmodel.cpp
   testqgsrubberband.cpp
diff --git a/tests/src/gui/testqgsgdalguiutils.cpp b/tests/src/gui/testqgsgdalguiutils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..840baa6ac94b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/src/gui/testqgsgdalguiutils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,337 @@
+/***************************************************************************
+    testqgsgdalguiutils.cpp
+     --------------------------------------
+    Date                 : 12.11.2024
+    Copyright            : (C) 2024 Abdullaev Ruslan
+    Email                : caboose7 at yandex dot com
+ ***************************************************************************
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  *
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or     *
+ *   (at your option) any later version.                                   *
+ *                                                                         *
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+#include "qgstest.h"
+#include "qgsgdalguiutils.h"
+#include "qgsproject.h"
+#include "qgsauthmethod.h"
+#include "qgsauthconfig.h"
+#include "qgsapplication.h"
+#include "qgsauthmanager.h"
+
+class TestQgsGdalGuiUtils : public QObject
+{
+    Q_OBJECT
+
+  public:
+    TestQgsGdalGuiUtils();
+
+  private slots:
+    void initTestCase();
+    void cleanupTestCase();
+
+    void checkUriBuilding();
+
+  private:
+    void cleanupTempDir();
+
+    QList<QgsAuthMethodConfig> registerAuthConfigs();
+
+  private:
+    QString mTempDir;
+    const char *mPass = nullptr;
+};
+
+TestQgsGdalGuiUtils::TestQgsGdalGuiUtils()
+  : QObject()
+  , mTempDir( QDir::tempPath() + "/auth" )
+  , mPass( "pass" )
+{
+}
+
+void TestQgsGdalGuiUtils::initTestCase()
+{
+  cleanupTempDir();
+
+  // make QGIS_AUTH_DB_DIR_PATH temp dir for qgis-auth.db and master password file
+  const QDir tmpDir = QDir::temp();
+  QVERIFY2( tmpDir.mkpath( mTempDir ), "Couldn't make temp directory" );
+  qputenv( "QGIS_AUTH_DB_DIR_PATH", mTempDir.toLatin1() );
+
+  // init app and auth manager
+  QgsApplication::init();
+  QgsApplication::initQgis();
+  QVERIFY2( !QgsApplication::authManager()->isDisabled(), "Authentication system is DISABLED" );
+
+  // verify QGIS_AUTH_DB_DIR_PATH (temp auth db path) worked
+  Q_NOWARN_DEPRECATED_PUSH
+  const QString db1( QFileInfo( QgsApplication::authManager()->authenticationDatabasePath() ).canonicalFilePath() );
+  Q_NOWARN_DEPRECATED_POP
+  const QString db2( QFileInfo( mTempDir + "/qgis-auth.db" ).canonicalFilePath() );
+  QCOMPARE( db1, db2 );
+
+  // verify master pass can be set manually
+  // (this also creates a fresh password hash in the new temp database)
+  QVERIFY2( QgsApplication::authManager()->setMasterPassword( mPass, true ), "Master password could not be set" );
+  QVERIFY2( QgsApplication::authManager()->masterPasswordIsSet(), "Auth master password not set from passed string" );
+
+  // create QGIS_AUTH_PASSWORD_FILE file
+  const QString passfilepath = mTempDir + "/passfile";
+  QFile passfile( passfilepath );
+  if ( passfile.open( QIODevice::WriteOnly | QIODevice::Text | QIODevice::Truncate ) )
+  {
+    QTextStream fout( &passfile );
+    fout << QString( mPass ) << "\r\n";
+    passfile.close();
+    qputenv( "QGIS_AUTH_PASSWORD_FILE", passfilepath.toLatin1() );
+  }
+  // qDebug( "QGIS_AUTH_PASSWORD_FILE=%s", qgetenv( "QGIS_AUTH_PASSWORD_FILE" ).constData() );
+
+  // re-init app and auth manager
+  QgsApplication::quit();
+  // QTest::qSleep( 3000 );
+  QgsApplication::init();
+  QgsApplication::initQgis();
+  QVERIFY2( !QgsApplication::authManager()->isDisabled(), "Authentication system is DISABLED" );
+
+  // verify QGIS_AUTH_PASSWORD_FILE worked, when compared against hash in db
+  QVERIFY2( QgsApplication::authManager()->masterPasswordIsSet(), "Auth master password not set from QGIS_AUTH_PASSWORD_FILE" );
+
+  // all tests should now have a valid qgis-auth.db and stored/set master password
+}
+
+void TestQgsGdalGuiUtils::checkUriBuilding()
+{
+  QList<QgsAuthMethodConfig> lAuthConfigs = registerAuthConfigs();
+  for ( auto &authcfg : lAuthConfigs )
+  {
+    QgsApplication::instance()->authManager()->storeAuthenticationConfig( authcfg, true );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsicurl: no protocol -> should default to http
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsicurl" ), QLatin1String( "www.test.com" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsicurl/http://www.test.com" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsicurl: with http already specified
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsicurl" ), QLatin1String( "http://www.test.com" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    // Already has protocol, just add prefix
+    QString expected( "/vsicurl/http://www.test.com" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsicurl: with https
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsicurl" ), QLatin1String( "https://data.test.com/path" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsicurl/https://data.test.com/path" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsicurl: with ftp
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsicurl" ), QLatin1String( "ftp://files.test.com" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsicurl/ftp://files.test.com" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsicurl: prefix already included
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsicurl" ), QLatin1String( "/vsicurl/http://already.prefixed.com" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    // No change expected
+    QString expected( "/vsicurl/http://already.prefixed.com" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsis3: no prefix yet
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsis3" ), QLatin1String( "bucket/key" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsis3/bucket/key" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsis3: prefix already included
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsis3" ), QLatin1String( "/vsis3/mydata" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsis3/mydata" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsigs
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsigs" ), QLatin1String( "gs://mybucket/data" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    // Even if gs:// is specified, code only prepends /vsigs/ if not present
+    QString expected( "/vsigs/gs://mybucket/data" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsiaz
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsiaz" ), QLatin1String( "mycontainer/myfile" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsiaz/mycontainer/myfile" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsiadls
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsiadls" ), QLatin1String( "adls_path" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsiadls/adls_path" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsioss
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsioss" ), QLatin1String( "my_oss_bucket/file" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsioss/my_oss_bucket/file" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsiswift
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsiswift" ), QLatin1String( "swift_container/object" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsiswift/swift_container/object" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test vsihdfs
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsihdfs" ), QLatin1String( "hdfs_path" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "/vsihdfs/hdfs_path" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test GeoJSON
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "GeoJSON" ), QLatin1String( "file.json" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    // No prefix changes for GeoJSON
+    QString expected( "file.json" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test GeoJSONSeq
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "GeoJSONSeq" ), QLatin1String( "seq_file.json" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    // No prefix changes for GeoJSONSeq
+    QString expected( "seq_file.json" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test CouchDB: no prefix yet
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "CouchDB" ), QLatin1String( "localhost:5984/db" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "couchdb:localhost:5984/db" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test CouchDB: prefix already included
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "CouchDB" ), QLatin1String( "couchdb:localhost:5984/db" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "couchdb:localhost:5984/db" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test DODS/OPeNDAP: no prefix
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "DODS/OPeNDAP" ), QLatin1String( "http://opendap.data" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "DODS:http://opendap.data" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test DODS/OPeNDAP: prefix already included
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "DODS/OPeNDAP" ), QLatin1String( "DODS:http://opendap.data" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "DODS:http://opendap.data" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test WFS3: no prefix
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "WFS3" ), QLatin1String( "https://mywfs3.org" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "WFS3:https://mywfs3.org" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test WFS3: prefix already
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "WFS3" ), QLatin1String( "WFS3:https://mywfs3.org" ), QString(), QString(), QString(), false );
+    QString expected( "WFS3:https://mywfs3.org" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test with configId and expandAuthConfig = false
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsicurl" ), QLatin1String( "mydata.com" ), QLatin1String( "myconfig" ), QString(), QString(), false );
+    // Should prepend prefix and protocol
+    QString expected( "/vsicurl/http://mydata.com authcfg='myconfig'" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test with configId and no username/password, expandAuthConfig = true
+  // Without a real auth manager, we just test returned format. Assume no replacement occurs.
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "CouchDB" ), QLatin1String( "mydb" ), QLatin1String( "ab34567" ), QString(), QString(), true );
+    // Prefix is added, then authcfg updated. If no real auth expansion, it remains as is.
+    // Actual code tries to expand, if fails, it returns with authcfg.
+    // Without a real auth manager, we assume no expansion:
+    QString expected( "couchdb:mydb" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+
+  // Test with username/password and no configId
+  {
+    QString actual = QgsGdalGuiUtils::createProtocolURI( QLatin1String( "vsicurl" ), QLatin1String( "https://securedata.com" ), QString(), QLatin1String( "user" ), QLatin1String( "pass" ), false );
+    // Insert credentials into the URI after "://"
+    QString expected( "/vsicurl/https://user:pass@securedata.com" );
+    QCOMPARE( actual, expected );
+  }
+}
+
+void TestQgsGdalGuiUtils::cleanupTestCase()
+{
+  QgsApplication::exitQgis();
+  cleanupTempDir();
+}
+
+void TestQgsGdalGuiUtils::cleanupTempDir()
+{
+  QString mTempDir = QDir::tempPath() + "/auth";
+
+  QDir tmpDir = QDir( mTempDir );
+  if ( tmpDir.exists() )
+  {
+    for ( const QString &tf : tmpDir.entryList( QDir::NoDotAndDotDot | QDir::Files ) )
+    {
+      QVERIFY2( tmpDir.remove( mTempDir + '/' + tf ), qPrintable( "Could not remove " + mTempDir + '/' + tf ) );
+    }
+    QVERIFY2( tmpDir.rmdir( mTempDir ), qPrintable( "Could not remove directory " + mTempDir ) );
+  }
+}
+
+QList<QgsAuthMethodConfig> TestQgsGdalGuiUtils::registerAuthConfigs()
+{
+  QList<QgsAuthMethodConfig> configs;
+
+  // Basic
+  QgsAuthMethodConfig b_config;
+  b_config.setName( QStringLiteral( "Basic" ) );
+  b_config.setMethod( QStringLiteral( "Basic" ) );
+  b_config.setUri( QStringLiteral( "http://example.com" ) );
+  b_config.setConfig( QStringLiteral( "username" ), QStringLiteral( "username" ) );
+  b_config.setConfig( QStringLiteral( "password" ), QStringLiteral( "password" ) );
+  b_config.setConfig( QStringLiteral( "realm" ), QStringLiteral( "Realm" ) );
+  b_config.setId( QStringLiteral( "ab34567" ) );
+  if ( !b_config.isValid() )
+  {
+    return configs;
+  }
+
+  configs << b_config;
+  return configs;
+}
+
+QGSTEST_MAIN( TestQgsGdalGuiUtils )
+#include "testqgsgdalguiutils.moc"