diff --git a/.changeset/honest-steaks-beam.md b/.changeset/honest-steaks-beam.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..71c3193c99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/honest-steaks-beam.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/catalog-model': patch
+---
+
+Add parseLocationReference, stringifyLocationReference
diff --git a/.changeset/little-crabs-burn.md b/.changeset/little-crabs-burn.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2bc3fe9e96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/little-crabs-burn.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+'@backstage/catalog-client': patch
+'@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend': patch
+'@backstage/plugin-catalog': patch
+'@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend': patch
+'@backstage/techdocs-common': patch
+---
+
+Make use of parseLocationReference/stringifyLocationReference
diff --git a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
index 04206edcdb..a1af0240f6 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
@@ -19,15 +19,16 @@ import {
   EntityName,
   Location,
   LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
+  stringifyLocationReference,
 } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import fetch from 'cross-fetch';
 import {
   AddLocationRequest,
   AddLocationResponse,
-  CatalogRequestOptions,
   CatalogApi,
   CatalogEntitiesRequest,
   CatalogListResponse,
+  CatalogRequestOptions,
   DiscoveryApi,
 } from './types';
 
@@ -135,7 +136,7 @@ export class CatalogClient implements CatalogApi {
     );
     return all
       .map(r => r.data)
-      .find(l => locationCompound === `${l.type}:${l.target}`);
+      .find(l => locationCompound === stringifyLocationReference(l));
   }
 
   async removeEntityByUid(
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/location/helpers.test.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/location/helpers.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..888c79b328
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/location/helpers.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2021 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { parseLocationReference, stringifyLocationReference } from './helpers';
+
+describe('parseLocationReference', () => {
+  it('works for the simple case', () => {
+    expect(parseLocationReference('url:https://www.google.com')).toEqual({
+      type: 'url',
+      target: 'https://www.google.com',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('rejects faulty inputs', () => {
+    expect(() => parseLocationReference(7 as any)).toThrow(
+      "Unable to parse location reference '7', unexpected argument number",
+    );
+    expect(() => parseLocationReference('')).toThrow(
+      "Unable to parse location reference '', expected '<type>:<target>', e.g. 'url:https://host/path'",
+    );
+    expect(() => parseLocationReference('hello')).toThrow(
+      "Unable to parse location reference 'hello', expected '<type>:<target>', e.g. 'url:https://host/path'",
+    );
+    expect(() => parseLocationReference(':hello')).toThrow(
+      "Unable to parse location reference ':hello', expected '<type>:<target>', e.g. 'url:https://host/path'",
+    );
+    expect(() => parseLocationReference('hello:')).toThrow(
+      "Unable to parse location reference 'hello:', expected '<type>:<target>', e.g. 'url:https://host/path'",
+    );
+    expect(() => parseLocationReference('http://blah')).toThrow(
+      "Invalid location reference 'http://blah', please prefix it with 'url:', e.g. 'url:http://blah'",
+    );
+    expect(() => parseLocationReference('https://bleh')).toThrow(
+      "Invalid location reference 'https://bleh', please prefix it with 'url:', e.g. 'url:https://bleh'",
+    );
+  });
+});
+
+describe('stringifyLocationReference', () => {
+  it('works for the simple case', () => {
+    expect(
+      stringifyLocationReference({
+        type: 'url',
+        target: 'https://www.google.com',
+      }),
+    ).toEqual('url:https://www.google.com');
+  });
+
+  it('rejects faulty inputs', () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      stringifyLocationReference({ type: '', target: 'hello' }),
+    ).toThrow('Unable to stringify location reference, empty type');
+    expect(() =>
+      stringifyLocationReference({ type: 'hello', target: '' }),
+    ).toThrow('Unable to stringify location reference, empty target');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/location/helpers.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/location/helpers.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fb1be5abad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/location/helpers.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2021 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Parses a string form location reference.
+ *
+ * Note that the return type is not `LocationSpec`, because we do not want to
+ * conflate the string form with the additional properties of that type.
+ *
+ * @param ref A string-form location reference, e.g. 'url:https://host'
+ * @returns A location reference, e.g. { type: 'url', target: 'https://host' }
+ */
+export function parseLocationReference(
+  ref: string,
+): { type: string; target: string } {
+  if (typeof ref !== 'string') {
+    throw new TypeError(
+      `Unable to parse location reference '${ref}', unexpected argument ${typeof ref}`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const splitIndex = ref.indexOf(':');
+  if (splitIndex < 0) {
+    throw new TypeError(
+      `Unable to parse location reference '${ref}', expected '<type>:<target>', e.g. 'url:https://host/path'`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const type = ref.substr(0, splitIndex).trim();
+  const target = ref.substr(splitIndex + 1).trim();
+
+  if (!type || !target) {
+    throw new TypeError(
+      `Unable to parse location reference '${ref}', expected '<type>:<target>', e.g. 'url:https://host/path'`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  if (type === 'http' || type === 'https') {
+    throw new TypeError(
+      `Invalid location reference '${ref}', please prefix it with 'url:', e.g. 'url:${ref}'`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  return { type, target };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Turns a location reference into its string form.
+ *
+ * Note that the input type is not `LocationSpec`, because we do not want to
+ * conflate the string form with the additional properties of that type.
+ *
+ * @param ref A location reference, e.g. { type: 'url', target: 'https://host' }
+ * @returns A string-form location reference, e.g. 'url:https://host'
+ */
+export function stringifyLocationReference(ref: {
+  type: string;
+  target: string;
+}): string {
+  const { type, target } = ref;
+
+  if (!type) {
+    throw new TypeError(`Unable to stringify location reference, empty type`);
+  } else if (!target) {
+    throw new TypeError(`Unable to stringify location reference, empty target`);
+  }
+
+  return `${type}:${target}`;
+}
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/location/index.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/location/index.ts
index 6cfb074613..fddc8bde37 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/location/index.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/location/index.ts
@@ -14,14 +14,15 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-export type { Location, LocationSpec } from './types';
-export {
-  locationSchema,
-  locationSpecSchema,
-  analyzeLocationSchema,
-} from './validation';
 export {
   LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
   ORIGIN_LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
   SOURCE_LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
 } from './annotation';
+export { parseLocationReference, stringifyLocationReference } from './helpers';
+export type { Location, LocationSpec } from './types';
+export {
+  analyzeLocationSchema,
+  locationSchema,
+  locationSpecSchema,
+} from './validation';
diff --git a/packages/techdocs-common/src/helpers.test.ts b/packages/techdocs-common/src/helpers.test.ts
index 6520f0f8e4..c31b1266fa 100644
--- a/packages/techdocs-common/src/helpers.test.ts
+++ b/packages/techdocs-common/src/helpers.test.ts
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ describe('parseReferenceAnnotation', () => {
         'backstage.io/techdocs-ref',
         mockEntityWithBadAnnotation,
       );
-    }).toThrow(/Failure to parse/);
+    }).toThrow(/Unable to parse/);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/techdocs-common/src/helpers.ts b/packages/techdocs-common/src/helpers.ts
index 16f2876efb..856624c568 100644
--- a/packages/techdocs-common/src/helpers.ts
+++ b/packages/techdocs-common/src/helpers.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 import { Git, InputError, UrlReader } from '@backstage/backend-common';
-import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { Entity, parseLocationReference } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import parseGitUrl from 'git-url-parse';
@@ -36,28 +36,15 @@ export const parseReferenceAnnotation = (
   entity: Entity,
 ): ParsedLocationAnnotation => {
   const annotation = entity.metadata.annotations?.[annotationName];
-
   if (!annotation) {
     throw new InputError(
       `No location annotation provided in entity: ${entity.metadata.name}`,
     );
   }
 
-  // split on the first colon for the protocol and the rest after the first split
-  // is the location.
-  const [type, target] = annotation.split(/:(.+)/) as [
-    RemoteProtocol?,
-    string?,
-  ];
-
-  if (!type || !target) {
-    throw new InputError(
-      `Failure to parse either protocol or location for entity: ${entity.metadata.name}`,
-    );
-  }
-
+  const { type, target } = parseLocationReference(annotation);
   return {
-    type,
+    type: type as RemoteProtocol,
     target,
   };
 };
@@ -77,8 +64,9 @@ export const getLocationForEntity = (
     case 'url':
       return { type, target };
     case 'dir':
-      if (path.isAbsolute(target)) return { type, target };
-
+      if (path.isAbsolute(target)) {
+        return { type, target };
+      }
       return parseReferenceAnnotation(
         'backstage.io/managed-by-location',
         entity,
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/HigherOrderOperations.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/HigherOrderOperations.ts
index 467c0eb2e8..9d167603d0 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/HigherOrderOperations.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/HigherOrderOperations.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,11 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Location, LocationSpec } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import {
+  Location,
+  LocationSpec,
+  stringifyLocationReference,
+} from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid';
 import { Logger } from 'winston';
 import { EntitiesCatalog, LocationsCatalog } from '../catalog';
@@ -127,14 +131,18 @@ export class HigherOrderOperations implements HigherOrderOperation {
 
     for (const { data: location } of locations) {
       logger.info(
-        `Locations Refresh: Refreshing location ${location.type}:${location.target}`,
+        `Locations Refresh: Refreshing location ${stringifyLocationReference(
+          location,
+        )}`,
       );
       try {
         await this.refreshSingleLocation(location, logger);
         await this.locationsCatalog.logUpdateSuccess(location.id, undefined);
       } catch (e) {
         logger.warn(
-          `Locations Refresh: Failed to refresh location ${location.type}:${location.target}, ${e.stack}`,
+          `Locations Refresh: Failed to refresh location ${stringifyLocationReference(
+            location,
+          )}, ${e.stack}`,
         );
         await this.locationsCatalog.logUpdateFailure(location.id, e);
       }
@@ -162,14 +170,18 @@ export class HigherOrderOperations implements HigherOrderOperation {
 
     for (const item of readerOutput.errors) {
       logger.warn(
-        `Failed item in location ${item.location.type}:${item.location.target}, ${item.error.stack}`,
+        `Failed item in location ${stringifyLocationReference(
+          item.location,
+        )}, ${item.error.stack}`,
       );
     }
 
     logger.info(
-      `Read ${readerOutput.entities.length} entities from location ${
-        location.type
-      }:${location.target} in ${durationText(startTimestamp)}`,
+      `Read ${
+        readerOutput.entities.length
+      } entities from location ${stringifyLocationReference(
+        location,
+      )} in ${durationText(startTimestamp)}`,
     );
 
     startTimestamp = process.hrtime();
@@ -198,9 +210,11 @@ export class HigherOrderOperations implements HigherOrderOperation {
     );
 
     logger.info(
-      `Wrote ${readerOutput.entities.length} entities from location ${
-        location.type
-      }:${location.target} in ${durationText(startTimestamp)}`,
+      `Wrote ${
+        readerOutput.entities.length
+      } entities from location ${stringifyLocationReference(
+        location,
+      )} in ${durationText(startTimestamp)}`,
     );
   }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/AnnotateLocationEntityProcessor.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/AnnotateLocationEntityProcessor.ts
index b40378226a..1d941e0040 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/AnnotateLocationEntityProcessor.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/AnnotateLocationEntityProcessor.ts
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@
 
 import {
   Entity,
-  LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
   LocationSpec,
+  LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
   ORIGIN_LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
+  stringifyLocationReference,
 } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import lodash from 'lodash';
 import { CatalogProcessor, CatalogProcessorEmit } from './types';
@@ -34,8 +35,10 @@ export class AnnotateLocationEntityProcessor implements CatalogProcessor {
       {
         metadata: {
           annotations: {
-            [LOCATION_ANNOTATION]: `${location.type}:${location.target}`,
-            [ORIGIN_LOCATION_ANNOTATION]: `${originLocation.type}:${originLocation.target}`,
+            [LOCATION_ANNOTATION]: stringifyLocationReference(location),
+            [ORIGIN_LOCATION_ANNOTATION]: stringifyLocationReference(
+              originLocation,
+            ),
           },
         },
       },
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/CodeOwnersProcessor.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/CodeOwnersProcessor.ts
index e1d7e22ccf..8a3951428e 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/CodeOwnersProcessor.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/CodeOwnersProcessor.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
  */
 
 import { NotFoundError, UrlReader } from '@backstage/backend-common';
-import { Entity, LocationSpec } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import {
+  Entity,
+  LocationSpec,
+  stringifyLocationReference,
+} from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import * as codeowners from 'codeowners-utils';
 import { CodeOwnersEntry } from 'codeowners-utils';
 // NOTE: This can be removed when ES2021 is implemented
@@ -108,11 +112,15 @@ export async function findRawCodeOwners(
     );
     if (hardError) {
       options.logger.warn(
-        `Failed to read codeowners for location ${location.type}:${location.target}, ${hardError}`,
+        `Failed to read codeowners for location ${stringifyLocationReference(
+          location,
+        )}, ${hardError}`,
       );
     } else {
       options.logger.debug(
-        `Failed to find codeowners for location ${location.type}:${location.target}`,
+        `Failed to find codeowners for location ${stringifyLocationReference(
+          location,
+        )}`,
       );
     }
     return undefined;
diff --git a/plugins/catalog/src/data/utils.ts b/plugins/catalog/src/data/utils.ts
index ec63d94754..60b9144599 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog/src/data/utils.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog/src/data/utils.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import {
   EntityMeta,
   LocationSpec,
   LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
+  parseLocationReference,
 } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 
 export function findLocationForEntityMeta(
@@ -36,13 +37,9 @@ export function findLocationForEntityMeta(
 }
 
 export function parseLocation(reference: string): LocationSpec | undefined {
-  const separatorIndex = reference.indexOf(':');
-  if (separatorIndex === -1) {
+  try {
+    return parseLocationReference(reference);
+  } catch {
     return undefined;
   }
-
-  return {
-    type: reference.substring(0, separatorIndex),
-    target: reference.substring(separatorIndex + 1),
-  };
 }
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/helpers.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/helpers.test.ts
index 5c809d229e..fc36eb64e5 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/helpers.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/helpers.test.ts
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-import { parseLocationAnnotation, joinGitUrlPath } from './helpers';
 import {
-  TemplateEntityV1alpha1,
   LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
+  TemplateEntityV1alpha1,
 } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { joinGitUrlPath, parseLocationAnnotation } from './helpers';
 
 describe('Helpers', () => {
   describe('parseLocationAnnotation', () => {
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ describe('Helpers', () => {
           name: 'graphql-starter',
           title: 'GraphQL Service',
           description:
-            'A GraphQL starter template for backstage to get you up and running\nthe best pracices with GraphQL\n',
+            'A GraphQL starter template for backstage to get you up and running\nthe best practices with GraphQL\n',
           uid: '9cf16bad-16e0-4213-b314-c4eec773c50b',
           etag: 'ZTkxMjUxMjUtYWY3Yi00MjU2LWFkYWMtZTZjNjU5ZjJhOWM2',
           generation: 1,
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ describe('Helpers', () => {
           name: 'graphql-starter',
           title: 'GraphQL Service',
           description:
-            'A GraphQL starter template for backstage to get you up and running\nthe best pracices with GraphQL\n',
+            'A GraphQL starter template for backstage to get you up and running\nthe best practices with GraphQL\n',
           uid: '9cf16bad-16e0-4213-b314-c4eec773c50b',
           etag: 'ZTkxMjUxMjUtYWY3Yi00MjU2LWFkYWMtZTZjNjU5ZjJhOWM2',
           generation: 1,
@@ -108,11 +108,13 @@ describe('Helpers', () => {
 
       expect(() => parseLocationAnnotation(mockEntity)).toThrow(
         expect.objectContaining({
-          name: 'InputError',
-          message: `Failure to parse either protocol or location for entity: ${mockEntity.metadata.name}`,
+          name: 'TypeError',
+          message:
+            "Unable to parse location reference ':https://github.com/o/r/blob/master/template.yaml', expected '<type>:<target>', e.g. 'url:https://host/path'",
         }),
       );
     });
+
     it('should throw an error when the location part is not set in the location annotation', () => {
       const mockEntity: TemplateEntityV1alpha1 = {
         apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1alpha1',
@@ -124,7 +126,7 @@ describe('Helpers', () => {
           name: 'graphql-starter',
           title: 'GraphQL Service',
           description:
-            'A GraphQL starter template for backstage to get you up and running\nthe best pracices with GraphQL\n',
+            'A GraphQL starter template for backstage to get you up and running\nthe best practices with GraphQL\n',
           uid: '9cf16bad-16e0-4213-b314-c4eec773c50b',
           etag: 'ZTkxMjUxMjUtYWY3Yi00MjU2LWFkYWMtZTZjNjU5ZjJhOWM2',
           generation: 1,
@@ -154,8 +156,8 @@ describe('Helpers', () => {
 
       expect(() => parseLocationAnnotation(mockEntity)).toThrow(
         expect.objectContaining({
-          name: 'InputError',
-          message: `Failure to parse either protocol or location for entity: ${mockEntity.metadata.name}`,
+          name: 'TypeError',
+          message: `Unable to parse location reference 'github:', expected '<type>:<target>', e.g. 'url:https://host/path'`,
         }),
       );
     });
@@ -216,7 +218,7 @@ describe('Helpers', () => {
           name: 'graphql-starter',
           title: 'GraphQL Service',
           description:
-            'A GraphQL starter template for backstage to get you up and running\nthe best pracices with GraphQL\n',
+            'A GraphQL starter template for backstage to get you up and running\nthe best practices with GraphQL\n',
           uid: '9cf16bad-16e0-4213-b314-c4eec773c50b',
           etag: 'ZTkxMjUxMjUtYWY3Yi00MjU2LWFkYWMtZTZjNjU5ZjJhOWM2',
           generation: 1,
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/helpers.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/helpers.ts
index 784e72ca87..924b9f5811 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/helpers.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/helpers.ts
@@ -14,12 +14,13 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { posix as posixPath } from 'path';
-import {
-  TemplateEntityV1alpha1,
-  LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
-} from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { InputError } from '@backstage/backend-common';
+import {
+  LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
+  parseLocationReference,
+  TemplateEntityV1alpha1,
+} from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { posix as posixPath } from 'path';
 
 export type ParsedLocationAnnotation = {
   protocol: 'file' | 'url';
@@ -30,29 +31,16 @@ export const parseLocationAnnotation = (
   entity: TemplateEntityV1alpha1,
 ): ParsedLocationAnnotation => {
   const annotation = entity.metadata.annotations?.[LOCATION_ANNOTATION];
-
   if (!annotation) {
     throw new InputError(
       `No location annotation provided in entity: ${entity.metadata.name}`,
     );
   }
 
-  // split on the first colon for the protocol and the rest after the first split
-  // is the location.
-  const [protocol, location] = annotation.split(/:(.+)/) as [
-    ('file' | 'url')?,
-    string?,
-  ];
-
-  if (!protocol || !location) {
-    throw new InputError(
-      `Failure to parse either protocol or location for entity: ${entity.metadata.name}`,
-    );
-  }
-
+  const { type, target } = parseLocationReference(annotation);
   return {
-    protocol,
-    location,
+    protocol: type as 'file' | 'url',
+    location: target,
   };
 };
 
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/service/helpers.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/service/helpers.ts
index 905d85c35d..cc0e2f3aaf 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/service/helpers.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/service/helpers.ts
@@ -14,15 +14,16 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import os from 'os';
-import fs from 'fs-extra';
-import { Logger } from 'winston';
-import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
 import {
   Entity,
   LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
+  parseLocationReference,
   SOURCE_LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
 } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import os from 'os';
+import { Logger } from 'winston';
 
 export async function getWorkingDirectory(
   config: Config,
@@ -64,16 +65,13 @@ export function getEntityBaseUrl(entity: Entity): string | undefined {
     return undefined;
   }
 
-  const [type, url] = location.split(/:(.+)/);
-  if (!url) {
-    return undefined;
+  const { type, target } = parseLocationReference(location);
+  if (type === 'url') {
+    return target;
+  } else if (type === 'file') {
+    return `file://${target}`;
   }
 
-  if (type === 'url') {
-    return url;
-  } else if (type === 'file') {
-    return `file://${url}`;
-  }
   // Only url and file location are handled, as we otherwise don't know if
   // what the url is pointing to makes sense to use as a baseUrl
   return undefined;